Jeff Herbst
InvestorFounding Managing Partner at GFT Ventures
San Francisco Bay Area
Writes $100K – $10M checks · typically $1M
About
Former Nvidia executive who built its startup and VC programs, led 40+ investments, 20+ acquisitions (~$8B), scaled Nvidia Inception to 10,000+ AI startups, combining legal, early‑internet and AI‑hardware expertise.
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningCrypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareRobotics
Experience
- GFT VenturesFounding Managing Partnercurrent2021 — presentPalo Alto, California, United States
- Higgsfield AIBoard Membercurrent2025 — present
- KnitBoard Membercurrent2025 — present
- WethosAIBoard Membercurrent2024 — present
- QortexBoard Membercurrent2023 — presentNew York, United States
- Switchboard SoftwareBoard Membercurrent2022 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
- Mars Auto, Inc.Board Membercurrent2022 — presentSeoul, South Korea
- MperativBoard Membercurrent2021 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- ArtisightSenior Advisor/Board Observercurrent2020 — presentChicago, Illinois, United States
- MicroVisionBoard Membercurrent2022 — presentRedmond, Washington
- SK hynixGlobal CEO Advisory Boardcurrent2024 — presentGlobal
- NVIDIAVice President of Business Development and Head of Nvidia Inception GPU Ventures2001 — 2021Santa Clara, CA
- H2O.aiBoard Observer2017 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- WeRide.aiBoard Observer2017 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- Deep InstinctBoard Observer2017 — 2021Tel Aviv District, Israel
- FASTDATA.ioBoard Observer2017 — 2021Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
- HEAVY.AIBoard Observer2016 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- TuSimpleBoard Observer2016 — 2021Beijing, China
- ElementBoard Observer2017 — 2021Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area
- Rocketick Technologies Ltd.Board Observer2011 — 2016Tel Aviv District, Israel
Education
- Brown UniversityB.S. with Honors, Computer Science
- Stanford UniversityJ.D.
Skills & more
Strategic Partnerships99M&A experience51Start-ups99Product Management43Business Development79Mergers & Acquisitions84Strategy99Business Strategy30Mergers11Go-to-market Strategy19Venture Capital51Licensing9
+12 more
Cloud ComputingIntegrationCorporate DevelopmentBusiness PlanningManagementHigh Performance ComputingProduct MarketingMobile DevicesSaaSEnterprise SoftwareSoftware as a Service (SaaS)P&L ManagementFrom Jeff's professional profile.
Same school
Also attended Brown University301
Alexis AbramsPartner, General Counsel at Felicis VenturesJohn KimInvestor Relations at General CatalystAli Fisher SweetInvestor at Index VenturesMark GoldbergInvestor at Index VenturesKarim FarisInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Dylan FieldCo-founder and CEO of Figma
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+ 295 more
Also attended Stanford University1,575
Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders FundReid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockDavid SacksCo-founder & General Partner at Craft Ventures; former White House AI & Crypto CzarKeith RaboisManaging Director at Khosla VenturesGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorAlfred LinPartner at Sequoia Capital
+ 1,569 more
Shared employers
Also worked at MicroVision1
Also worked at Deep Instinct5
Also worked at FASTDATA.io2
Also worked at TuSimple1
Deals · 1
Watch FantomBoard seat
via GFT Ventures · filed Aug 2023 · $10M raise
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
