🦊/Investors

Machina Ventures

Venture capitalActively deploying

San Francisco · 2 people tracked

Find your way into Machina Ventures

1,368 people in our graph share verified history with the Machina Ventures team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Nancy Wangunlockedknows Matthew Stepka · together at Google (overlapped)
×4knows the team · via Google
knows the team · via Aura
×2knows the team · via McKinsey & Company
×2knows the team · via Case Western Reserve University
knows the team · via University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business
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Investment thesis

The firm focuses on the 'programmable economy' — leveraging AI to take autonomous action directly within preset systems and rules, with particular emphasis on blockchain-integrated applications. This thesis reflects a focus on combining artificial intelligence with decentralized infrastructure to enable autonomous decision-making and execution within constrained environments.

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

HQ
San Francisco, CA, US
Founded
2024
Last 12 months
1 investment
Tracked investments
26
Unicorns
2
IPOs
2
Acquisitions
1

Team · 2 people

from the firm's website

What they invest in

from 19 of 26 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×8SaaS ×5Cybersecurity ×4Enterprise Software ×4Hardware ×3Climate Tech ×2Deep Tech ×2Digital Health ×2

HQs:United States×12Australia×1

Who they back

founder profiles across 15 portfolio companies
80%
solo founders
12 of 15 mapped founding teams
64%
repeat founders
of 11 founders with career history

Founding team size:solo founder×122 founders×23 founders×1

Where their founders worked beforefrom 11 founders with career history

McKinsey & Company ×3

Investments · 26 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2025 · 22019 · 12017 · 14 dated

Auraoportun.cominAustralian Securities Exchange (ASX): AXQ

Smart, simple online safety.

CybersecurityBoston, US

Hari Ravichandran(Founder and Chief Executive Officer)Brian DeCenzo(President & Chief Financial Officer)inThomas Clayton(President & Chief Operating Officer)Adam Medros(Chief Product Officer)inSarah Cherng(Chief AI Officer)Kristin Lewis(Chief Product Officer (prior to May 2026 CPO reorganization; promoted from SVP Product, May 2022))in

Co-investorsAccelCore Venture CapitalCRV (Charles River Ventures)Dag VenturesFJ LabsGeneral Catalyst+6 more

Space Xspacex.comNASDAQ: SPCX

Revolutionizing space technology to make life multi-planetary

Hawthorne, US

Elon Musk(Founder, CEO & Chief Engineer)inBret Johnsen(Executive Officer)inGwynne Shotwell(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardAntonio Gracias(Director)inSteve Jurvetson(Director)inDonald Harrison(Director)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investors1/1 Capital137 Ventures2080 Ventures4DX Ventures7BC Venture CapitalA*+147 more

7Sugar7sugar.com

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Aifoundationaifoundation.comin𝕏

The AI Foundation develops personal AI systems designed to align with each individual's values and goals.

AI & Machine LearningImpact & Social Good

Lars Buttler(Founder)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsAbstract VenturesAlpha EdisonFounders FundMaC Venture Capital

Aircaptureaircapture.cominMay 2025

Aircapture builds direct air capture systems that provide commercial and industrial customers with beverage-grade CO2 captured on-site from the atmosphere, offering an alternative to traditional CO2 distribution.

CleantechClimate TechHardwareBerkeley, US

Matt Atwood(Founder)inMichael DeDomenico(Director)inJerald Tenenbaum(Director)Kris Lotlikar(Director)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Akash Systemsakashsystems.comin𝕏

Akash Systems develops thermal management technology called Diamond Cooling, which integrates diamond with semiconductors to dissipate heat and improve efficiency in AI servers.

Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors

Alex Carter(Founder & CEO)Felix Ejeckam(Co-founder & CEO)inTy Mitchell(Co-Founder & Board Director)inPamit Surana(Chief Commercial Officer)inDaniel Francis(Chief Technology Officer)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsFounders FundKhosla VenturesACME CapitalAngel Collective Opportunity FundARC Angel FundBackstage Capital+11 more

Akili Interactiveakiliinteractive.comin𝕏

Akili Interactive develops digital therapeutics that use video game-based interventions to target attentional control deficits in patients with ADHD, delivered through proprietary technology featuring adaptive difficulty algorithms.

AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthGamingHealthtechMedical Devices

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsDG Daiwa VenturesEvidity Health CapitalJAZZ Venture PartnersWalnut Venture AssociatesM Ventures

Averonaveron.comin

Averon provides authentication technology that verifies mobile users' identities without passwords or SMS codes, serving businesses and their customers who need secure and frictionless digital identity verification.

CybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Wendell(Chief Executive Officer)Lea(COO & President)Hershey(Chief Technology Officer)Taro(Chief Creative Officer)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Companionjoincompanion.com

Companion connects animal health and wellness professionals with expertise and resources in animal pain management.

AgTechHealthtech

John Honchariw(Founder)in

BoardRoss PalmerStacy BurdickDuncan LascellesMike McFarlandMarty Becker

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsJazzya InvestmentsLerer HippeauMyelin VC

Endless Westendlesswest.comin

Endless West produces spirits using scientific flavor recreation methods, combining natural ingredients to replicate premium beverages while reducing production waste.

Circular EconomyFoodTechNew MaterialsDetroit, US

MardonnAlec

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsBascom VenturesBloom8Casa Verde CapitalCollaborative FundHorizons VenturesLevel One Fund+2 more

Everfesteverfest.comMay 2017

Austin, US

Paul Cross(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Sanjay Manickam(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)

BoardChristopher Shonk(Director)Charlie Walker(Director)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsATX Seed Ventures

Hamsahamsa.comin𝕏

Hamsa provides blockchain-based financial infrastructure for banks and central banks to support faster, cheaper clearing and settlement through its Unified Ledger platform.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingData & InfrastructureFintechNot stated, US

Adam Zbar(Founder, CEO)inHubert Wu(Founder, CTO)inWenhao Lin, PhD(Head of Hamsa Unified Ledger team)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsAmino CapitalCommerce VenturesFlyover CapitalGateCap VenturesGreycroftHAVEN VENTURES+5 more

IdeaFlowideaflow.ioin𝕏Dec 2019

Ideaflow is a notebook application that aggregates knowledge from Slack, meetings, and documents to surface relevant information at the point of need.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSPalo Alto, US

Jacob Cole(Executive Officer, Director)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsDraper AssociatesFour Acres CapitalRaptor GroupSeraph GroupStreamlined VenturesSupernode Ventures+1 more

Intelligentbrandsintelligentbrands.com

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Levellevelgoals.comDefunct

Level was a financial services provider that offered advances and related products to very small businesses.

Fintech

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsAscend Venture CapitalLightspeed Venture PartnersKhosla Ventures

Lexilexi.tech

LEXI develops smart lighting systems and IoT-enabled hardware for industrial and commercial facilities, enabling facility-wide connectivity and data-driven insights through networked lighting infrastructure.

Advanced ManufacturingClimate TechEnterprise SoftwareHardwareIoTPropTech

Scott Cahill(Chief Executive Officer (CEO))Deepak Saxena(Chief Technology Officer (CTO))Kelvin Ngan(VP, Operations, China)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsFuture Perfect Ventures

Ligandalligandal.comin

Ligandal develops precision medicine targeting technology, including its Peptide Direct Conjugate (PDC) platform driven by LigandAI and Predictive Interactomics, to guide therapeutics to specific disease sites at the molecular level.

AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep Tech

Andre Watson(Founder & CEO)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsFlucas VenturesHemisphere Ventures LLCSommet ABLearn Capital

Pexpex.comin𝕏Acquired

Pex develops AI-powered audio and video content identification technology used to detect copyrighted content and user-generated content across digital platforms, serving music companies, rightsholders, and online platforms for licensing, royalty attribution, and fraud prevention.

AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyMedia & EntertainmentSaaSSilicon Valley, US

Rasty Turek(Founder)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsEvolution VC PartnersPartners ResoluteRockaway VenturesIlluminate Ventures

Polygrafpolygraf.aiin𝕏Sep 2025

Polygraf AI provides an inline data-governance and security platform that enforces organizational AI policies in real time, removing PII, secrets, and regulated content from prompts before they reach external LLMs and restoring it afterward.

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareAustin, US

Yagub Rahimov(Executive Officer, Director)inVignesh Karumbaya(Executive Officer, Director)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsDOMiNO VenturesALLEGIS CAPITALAllegisCyber CapitalAlumni Ventures

Properlygetproperly.comin𝕏

Properly provides vacation rental management tools and services for hosts, including self-service platforms and full property management operations across 45+ countries.

PropTechSaaS

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsAsset Management CompanyFJ LabsAlleyCorpBain Capital VenturesGolden VenturesIndustry Ventures+3 more

Qoriaqoria.com

Qoria provides digital safety and wellbeing solutions for schools, helping educators, parents, and students work together to protect children online and support their mental health.

CybersecurityDigital HealthEdTechSaaS

Tim Levy(Managing Director)Crispin SwanBen TriggerPaul Robinson

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Skillprintskillprint.coin𝕏

Skillprint provides an AI platform and SDK that analyzes gameplay signals in real time to build cognitive and behavioral profiles of players, offering assessments for cognitive performance, learning, and mental wellness.

AI & Machine LearningGamingWellness & FitnessOakland, US

Chethan Ramachandran(Founder)in

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsChaos VenturesDaft CapitalLearnStartNIREMIA CollectiveShanda Capital

Sun Basketsunbasket.com𝕏

Sunbasket delivers weekly meal kits and pre-made meals made with organic produce and clean ingredients to residential customers.

Direct to ConsumerE-commerceFoodTechSan Jose, US

Braxton Woodham(Director)Isobel Jones(Executive Officer)Donald Barnett(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardTim Connors(Director)Kevin Diestel(Director)inAdam Zbar(Executive Officer, Director)

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsAugust CapitalFounders Circle CapitalRembrandt Venture PartnersSapphire VenturesSQN Venture Partners, LLCUnilever Ventures

Tarana Reliable Fixed Wireless Accesstaranawireless.com

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsKinetic Ventures, L.L.C.Prime Movers Lab

Withregardwithregard.com

Regard builds an AI clinical insights platform that reviews EHR data to suggest diagnoses and draft clinical notes for physicians.

PartnerMatthew Stepka· solo GP

Co-investorsPLG VenturesCalibrate VenturesSusa VenturesWavemaker Three-Sixty Health

Exits · 3

2 IPOs · 1 acquisitions · showing 2

AuraAustralian Securities Exchange (ASX): AXQSpace XNASDAQ: SPCX

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has Machina Ventures made?
Machina Ventures has 26 tracked investments, 3 of which have exited, including 2 dated in the last 24 months.
What sectors does Machina Ventures focus on?
Machina Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Crypto & Web3.
Where is Machina Ventures located?
Machina Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
Who does Machina Ventures co-invest with?
Machina Ventures most often shares deals with FJ Labs, Flucas Ventures, Hemisphere Ventures LLC, among 75 tracked co-investors.

Images

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