Fundraising FoxUpScaleX
Venture capitalSeed · 2 people tracked
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Investment thesis
UpScaleX is a seed fund with offices in San Francisco and Palo Alto that invests at the earliest stages in AI, specifically agentic ecosystems, vertical intelligence and frontier infrastructure. Initial checks range from $500,000 to $1 million, and the fund works with founders on product-market fit, growth and subsequent fundraising rounds. It does not invest internationally.
Team · 2 people
from public directoriesAlan Zong is a Partner at UpScaleX, a seed fund based in Palo Alto and San Francisco that invests in agentic AI, vertical intelligence, and frontier infrastructure. He works closely with portfolio founders on go-to-market, fundraising, and hiring, and has backed several companies that went on to reach unicorn and decacorn valuations.
What they invest in
from 24 of 25 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×16SaaS ×7Consumer ×6Enterprise Software ×6Deep Tech ×4E-commerce ×4Media & Entertainment ×4Creator Economy ×3
HQs:United States×9Hong Kong×1
Investments · 25 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 12024 · 12 dated
Astorie is an AI video creation platform offering AI video workflows, team collaboration, and reusable "Recipes" built on advanced AI models.
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyMedia & Entertainment
BeFreed is a learning app designed to be engaging and to help users improve concentration.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerEdTechSan Francisco, US
Jisong L(Founder)
Blueberry builds AI agents that send personalized direct messages to consumers who engage with a brand's organic posts and paid ads, converting social interactions into attributed revenue, email/SMS list growth, and first-party data.
AI & Machine LearningE-commerceMarketing Tech
Ada Liu(Founder)
Co-investorsMarketplacePear VCMAGIC FundStartupbootcamp FinTech Mexico
Conifer provides a routing system that runs large language models locally on user machines first, then intelligently routes queries to cloud models only when needed, reducing token costs and improving inference speed through optimized GPU kernels.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Michael Jeffords(CGO)inCharles Muehlberger(CTO)inAnkit Somani(Founder)Yateendra Deshpande(Founder)Yavuz Inan
Co-investorsLink VenturesLyra Capital Pty LtdPerceptive Ventures Management Company, LlcVela PartnersY CombinatorMaC Venture Capital
Curator provides AI agent "teammates" that work alongside staff in shared department rooms to handle tasks like ad budgets, merchandising, purchase orders, deductions, and trade spend, with every change requiring human approval.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Daxo Robotics develops a highly dexterous, tendon-driven robotic hand with 120 tendens and high degrees of freedom, offered with a Python-first API, ROS wrapper, and simulation assets.
Deep TechHardwareRobotics
Tom Zhang Jiahao(Founder)in
Co-investorsBig Brain HoldingsDeep FutureNextFab VenturesUnshackled Ventures
Dex makes a handheld, screen-free camera for children that photographs real-world objects and tells kids the word for them in another language, turning outdoor exploration into language learning.
ConsumerEdTechHardware
Dimension provides a tech-enabled platform to simplify waste management for companies of any size through customizable, on-demand pickup and disposal services managed via an online interface.
AI & Machine LearningB2B MarketplacesCircular EconomyCleantechClimate TechEnterprise SoftwareLogistics & Supply ChainSaaS
Lily Danqi SheninLumin Chen
Co-investors500 GlobalAlumni VenturesModerne VenturesHPS Investment Partners, LLCLombardstreet VenturesLong Run Capital+1 more
Dimension provides software and full-service support for brands, agencies, and creators selling on TikTok Shop, helping manage shops and grow GMV.
Creator EconomyE-commerceSaaS
Co-investorsOpenSky Ventures
ExpertiseAI builds enterprise AI agents for sales and support that are grounded in a company's own knowledge, systems, and workflows and operate across chat, voice, video, phone, and multiple languages.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Co-investorsAmino CapitalUpHonest Capital
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Fluxion builds an inference engine ("Fluxion Edge") that runs multi-model AI agent stacks — LLMs, embedding, and guardrail models — locally on existing enterprise edge hardware across chip families (Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Apple Silicon), reaching the cloud only when needed.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise Software
Co-investorsSAV (Scale Asia Ventures)
Garner operates a self-learning recommendation engine that surfaces exclusive, member-only offers from pre-approved, non-competitive brands to a merchant's customers based on their purchase history.
AdTechE-commerceRetail Tech
Cupertino, US
Yuchen W(Founder)
Co-investorsAmino CapitalKleiner PerkinsUpHonest Capital
Make the Dot is an AI-native product development platform for wholesale fashion that connects design, development, and merchandising in one workflow, letting teams build production-ready collections virtually and reduce reliance on physical samples.
AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkRetail TechSaaSNew York, US
Andrew Pickles(Founder)inEmilie HoTheren Moodley(Founder)inJeremiah M.(Founder)in
Co-investors500 GlobalCorteza Capital
Novvy provides contextual advertising for AI-native apps, using an engine that reads a live AI experience's context to insert brand integrations as native elements rather than interruptive banners or ad breaks.
AdTechAI & Machine LearningMarketing Tech
The Physical Superintelligence (PSI) Lab at USC is a research group developing robotic systems, including multimodal data engines, learning pipelines, and deployment software that let humanoids and mobile platforms perform dexterous, contact-rich tasks.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechRobotics
Simba provides year-round healthcare literacy training for employees, delivered as short videos covering plan selection, claims, prescriptions, HSAs, and using the healthcare system.
EdTechHealthtechHR Tech
Sourcy is an AI-powered global sourcing platform that helps brands discover products, validate suppliers, and move ideas into production, combining technology with supplier relationships and human expertise.
AI & Machine LearningB2B MarketplacesE-commerceLogistics & Supply ChainSaaSHong Kong, HK
Karl Chan(Founder)in
Co-investorsFoxmont Capital PartnersKaya FoundersNazcaPKSHA Technology Capital
Swishables makes single-use mouthwash sachets as a plastic-free, alcohol- and dye-free alternative to traditional bottled mouthwash, marketed for travel and on-the-go oral care.
Circular EconomyConsumerDirect to Consumer
Crow provides AI tools for the commercial real estate industry.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Aryan Vij(CEO)inJai Bhatia(CTO)in
Co-investorsPioneerY CombinatorBBG VenturesBlast.ClubRobinhoodStart Equity Ventures
Turnstone is a Mac app that lets users create AI agents which run on the user's existing AI subscriptions (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or OpenRouter) and hand tasks to one another.
AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkSaaS
Wellworthy produces health and wellness content and product recommendations developed with health and fitness professionals, using research and testing to vet brands and products.
ConsumerMedia & EntertainmentWellness & Fitness
WorldEngine is working on physical artificial general intelligence (AGI), developing AI systems aimed at the physical world.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechRobotics
YouArt provides a platform for monetizing AI-generated original content and artworks, enabling creators to sell their digital creations.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerCreator EconomyMedia & EntertainmentSan Francisco, US
Harry Zheng(CEO)inEdward Ma(CTO)inKeith Zhang
Co-investorsTranspose Platform ManagementY CombinatorAmino CapitalBeta CapitalBlast.Club
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Expertise · newswire.ca · Sep 18, 2026
Conifer · ycombinator.com · Jul 15, 2026
YouArt · ycombinator.com · May 14, 2026
Turnstone · ycombinator.com · Jan 19, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has UpScaleX made?
- UpScaleX has 25 tracked investments, including 1 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does UpScaleX invest at?
- UpScaleX invests at the Seed stage.
- What sectors does UpScaleX focus on?
- UpScaleX focuses on Consumer, Enterprise Software.
- Who does UpScaleX co-invest with?
- UpScaleX most often shares deals with CincyTech, Kleiner Perkins, NextFab Ventures, among 18 tracked co-investors.
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