Safar Partners
Venture capitalActively deployingCambridge · Pre-Seed–Late Stage · 20 people tracked
Investment thesis
Safar Partners invests in technology companies developed at leading universities, leveraging deep institutional ties to MIT, Harvard, and the University of Rochester to source and commercialize research-driven startups. Its principals act as board members, trustees, and partners of these institutions. The firm concentrates on three areas: cleantech and advanced materials, AI/IT and robotics, and life sciences. It applies a flexible, early-stage model designed to take technologies from inception to global scale, supported by a network of academic and operating experts. Safar targets a return multiple above 4x and a net IRR above 20%, while formally incorporating ESG considerations and publishing annual sustainability reports as a UN PRI signatory.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 20 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 30 of 67 portfolio companiesDeep Tech ×13AI & Machine Learning ×9Biotech ×9Healthtech ×6Medical Devices ×6Advanced Manufacturing ×5Cleantech ×5New Materials ×5
HQs:United States×27Italy×1
Investments · showing 65 of 67
founders shown can be your intro pathClerio Vision is a development-stage medical device company developing LIRIC, a femtosecond laser technology that changes the refractive index of lens materials or corneal tissue without cutting or removing tissue.
Deep TechHealthtechMedical DevicesRochester, US
J. Mikael Totterman(Chairman)Alex Zapesochny(CEO)Alissa Seidman(CFO)Len Zheleznyak(Chief Scientific Officer)Wayne Knox(Chief Research Officer)
HealthtechLowell, US
Kristin Nuckols(Executive Officer)Conor James Walsh(Director)Gene Tacy(Executive Officer)Chris Dugan(Executive Officer, Director)Tom Hunter(Executive Officer)
Board seatArunas A. Chesonis· per SEC Form D · $2.5M raise · filed Jul 2024
Quaise Energy develops superhot geothermal drilling technology using millimeter-wave powered drilling to access deep geothermal energy sources at unprecedented depths and temperatures for large-scale clean power generation globally.
CleantechDeep TechEnergyHouston, US
Carlos Araque(Executive Officer, Director)Colleen Calhoun(Director)Vinod Khosla(Director)William Restrepo(Director)Frohman Anderson(Director)Ali Azad(Director)
Board seatArunas Chesonis· per SEC Form D · $52M raise · filed Jun 2022
Somerville, US
Board seatArunas ChesonisArunas Chesonis· per SEC Form D · $25M raise · filed Apr 2022
Woburn, US
Hiep Le(Executive Officer, Director)Anurag Bajpayee(Director)Arunas Chesonis(Director)
Board seatArunas Chesonis· per SEC Form D · $14M raise · filed Mar 2025
Cambridge, US
Brent Keller(Executive Officer, Director)Katie Rae(Director)Shreya Dave(Executive Officer, Director)Arunas Chesonis(Director)
Board seatArunas Chesonis· per SEC Form D
Foundation Alloy engineers custom metal alloys and components using solid-state processing that avoids melting, enabling microstructures and contaminant control that conventional metallurgy cannot achieve.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechNew Materials
Jasper Lienhard(Cofounder)
Acoustica.bio develops acoustophoretic technology and microgel suspension formulations that concentrate biologic drugs (such as monoclonal antibodies) to ultra-high concentrations exceeding 500 mg/mL for small-volume subcutaneous injection.
BiotechDeep TechMedical Devices
Daniele Foresti(Founder)
Agility Robotics develops and deploys humanoid robots for warehouse automation and logistics operations.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareLogistics & Supply ChainRoboticsSalem, US
Jonathan Hurst(Co-founder & Chief Robot Officer)inDamion Shelton(Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board)inBruce Leak(Director)Matthew Ocko(Director)
Ancilia uses CRISPR technology to engineer bacterial products with resistance to destructive viruses, enabling their use as live biotherapeutics.
Biotech
Axoft develops soft neural implants and brain-computer interface technology for research and clinical applications.
BiotechDeep TechMedical DevicesCambridge, US
Paul Le Floch(Executive Officer, Director)inChia An Lee(Director)Benjamin Pless(Director)Rachel Sha(Director)Tianyang Ye(Director)
C3D Materials develops an additive manufacturing platform called RX-AM™ that enables 3D printing of industrial-strength elastomeric parts, particularly thermoset polyurethane, using chemical reactions without melting or lasers.
Advanced ManufacturingHardwareNew Materials
Cogito, now part of Verint, provides real-time AI coaching and monitoring solutions for contact centers to improve customer and employee experience.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSBoston, US
Krishna Gupta(Director)Joshua Feast(Executive Officer, Director)Dustin Pederson(Executive Officer)Ali Azarbayejani(Executive Officer, Director)
Commonwealth Fusion Systems develops commercial fusion power plants using high-temperature superconducting magnet technology to provide grid-scale energy.
CleantechClimate TechDeep TechEnergyUnknown, US
Brandon Sorbom(Founder)Robert Mumgaard(Executive Officer, Director)Daniel Brunner(Executive Officer)Massimiliano Pieri(Director)Katie Rae(Director)Alan Eustace(Director)
Droplet has developed a platform to collect and profile patient lymph fluid from routine surgical drain fluid, enabling a lymph-based liquid biopsy.
BiotechHealthtechMedical Devices
Boston, US
Samuel Shames(Executive Officer)Elizabeth Gazda(Executive Officer, Director)David Cohen-Tanugi(Executive Officer, Director)Matthew J. Smith(Executive Officer, Director)Michael Gibson(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardWilliam Schroeder(Director)
Daniel Carballo(Cofounder)Allison Davanzo(Cofounder)Kyle Pina(Cofounder)
Formic develops automation and robotics solutions for factories to increase production capacity and reliability while reducing costs, downtime, and safety risks.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningRoboticsChicago, US
Saman Farid(Founder & CEO)Garry Tan(Director)
Gradiant provides water management solutions for industrial operations, including freshwater conservation, wastewater resource recovery, and on-site water recycling technologies that reduce dependency on external water supplies.
Advanced ManufacturingCircular EconomyCleantechWoburn, US
Mark Danchak(Director)Jeff Luse(Director)Keith Wilson(Director)Ashok Belani(Director)Anurag Bajpayee(Executive Officer, Director)Luke Johnson(Executive Officer, Director)
MetOx develops Xeus, a proprietary high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire that carries high electrical current with near-zero energy loss.
Deep TechEnergyNew Materials
Humanyze offers an AI-powered platform providing workforce analytics and market intelligence for business leaders, with two products: Insights for internal workforce behavior and collaboration analytics, and Pulse for tracking market trends, hiring patterns, and talent signals.
AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkHR Tech
Imago Rehab provides at-home virtual stroke rehabilitation, offering one-on-one remote therapy sessions with therapists alongside soft robotics and gamified therapy to help people with physical impairments restore arm and body function.
Digital HealthHealthtechRobotics
Kebotix uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and laboratory automation to discover and develop new materials and molecules.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechNew MaterialsCambridge, US
Dennis Sheberla(Executive Officer)Semion Saykin(Executive Officer)Ashish Kulkarni(Executive Officer, Director)Alan Aspuru-Guzik(Executive Officer)
BoardTong Hui(Director)Andrew Krowne(Director)
Lightsynq develops optical quantum interconnects using integrated diamond photonic circuits to enable scaling of fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Deep TechQuantum Computing
Membrion develops electrochemical disinfection (ECD) solutions for wastewater treatment in critical industries, enabling water reuse and mineral recovery.
CleantechSeattle, US
Nic Pannekeet(Director)Bob Warshawer(Director)Thomas Mitchell(Executive Officer)Greg Newbloom(Executive Officer, Director)Wayne Byrne(Executive Officer, Director)John Plaza(Executive Officer, Director)
Pirouette develops OnePush, a fully automatic hidden-needle auto-injector platform paired with drug programs across chronic and rescue care indications.
Advanced ManufacturingBiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesBoston, US
Conor Cullinane(Founder)inMatthew Kane(Founder)inElijah Kapas(Founder)inPARINAZ MOTAMEDY(Director)JOSEPH NEMMERS(Director)
QuEra develops neutral-atom quantum computers, building both the quantum hardware and the classical control systems that operate them, along with related software and applications.
Deep TechHardwareQuantum Computing
Nate Gemelke(Co-founder, Chief Technology Strategist)Vladan Vuletić(Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer)Mikhail Lukin(Co-founder & Chief Scientist)Markus Greiner(Co-founder)Takuya Kitagawa(President)Dean Bogdanovic(SVP Engineering)
RightHand Robotics develops an AI-powered robotic piece-picking platform for order fulfillment in e-commerce and supply chain operations.
AI & Machine LearningLogistics & Supply ChainRoboticsSomerville, US
Seaspire develops safe and sustainable suncare and skincare products using Xanthochrome®, a proprietary class of biomolecules inspired by oceanic compounds.
BiotechConsumerDirect to ConsumerWellness & FitnessCambridge, US
Camille A. Martin(CEO and co-founder)Leila Deravi(Co-founder and scientific advisor)
Soufflé Therapeutics develops nucleic acid medicines that precisely target and deliver genetic therapeutics to specific cell types to treat disease.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep Tech
Victor Kotelianski(Founder)Daniel Anderson(Founder)Robert Langer(Founder)Marino Zerial(Founder)Brad Pentelute(Founder)Amir Nashat(Chief Executive Officer)
Syntis Bio develops bioengineered polymer coatings for oral drug delivery, specifically targeting gastrointestinal tissues to enhance bioavailability of therapeutics in low-resource settings.
BiotechDeep TechDigital HealthBoston, US
Rahul Dhanda(Executive Officer, Director)Carlo Giovanni Traverso(Director)Robert Langer(Director)TEYMOUR BOUTROS-GHALI(Director)
BoardTeymour Boutros-Ghali(Director)Martin Madaus(Director)
Rows marked “SEC filing” are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D — public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Safar Partners invest at?
- Safar Partners invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.
- What sectors does Safar Partners focus on?
- Safar Partners focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Cleantech, Climate Tech, Deep Tech, Energy, Enterprise Software, Hardware, Healthtech, Medical Devices, New Materials, Robotics, SaaS, Semiconductors.
- Where is Safar Partners located?
- Safar Partners is headquartered in Cambridge, US.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamPodcast E003 | Vera Schroeder of Safar Partners
Female VC Lab · Vera Schroeder
E003: Vera Schroeder: Safar Partners | E003: Vera Schroeder, Safar Partners Featured Guest Bio: Vera Schroeder is an early stage tech investor at Safar Partners. As an associate at Safar,... | By Trailyn Ventures
Vera Schroeder · facebook.com
Co-investors · 21
Helium-3 Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs founders building innovative companies across earth-based and space-focused technologies.
Starlight Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in companies addressing global challenges and opportunities.
Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm known for backing bold, contrarian bets in world-class teams that can reshape entire industries.
Breakthrough Energy is a global platform founded to accelerate clean energy innovation and build climate-focused industries, supporting innovators developing affordable, reliable, clean energy technologies.
Baruch Future Ventures is a climate-tech focused family investment firm that backs entrepreneurs building companies in the climate economy.
Preston-Werner Ventures is a venture capital firm associated with Tom Preston-Werner, cofounder of GitHub, who has moved into venture investing.
HOF Capital is a New York-based venture capital firm investing in companies transforming foundational industries through advanced software and AI.
Construct Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm backing founders that apply technology to modernize foundational industries such as manufacturing, logistics, defense, and energy.
Gigascale Capital is an early-stage investment firm backing founders building physical systems and infrastructure across energy, factories, supply chains, and infrastructure for climate impact.
Samsung Next is the venture investing arm that backs early-stage founders building bold, ambitious technology companies.
Prelude Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in and supports early-stage startups with the potential to mitigate climate change.
Strawberry Creek Ventures is a private venture investing community for UC Berkeley alumni, part of Alumni Ventures, offering a diversified annual fund and deal-by-deal syndications that co-invest alongside leading VC firms.
▶9 more co-investors
8090 IndustriesBold Capital PartnersNeva Sgr.Alpha JWC VenturesGV (Google Ventures)Innovation EndeavorsGalaxy Digital Assets FundBain Capital Venture7BC Venture Capital
Firms observed investing alongside Safar Partners, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Safar Partners's recorded portfolio.
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