Pathbreaker Ventures closes $12 million for emerging technologies

I’m thrilled to announce the final close of Pathbreaker’s first fund —
$12.9 million to invest during an unprecedented period in technology history — and 10 initial portfolio companies spanning VR, robotics, deep learning, 3D printing, video, productivity, & logistics. Company list below.

New platforms have historically emerged in distinct waves, largely one at a time: the PC in the 1980s — the Internet in the 1990s — Mobile & Smartphone in the 2000s and 2010s. Yet today we are in the midst of a transition: falling hardware costs, the explosion of accessible data, and inexpensive computational ability have catalyzed a surge in new technology platforms…simultaneously. I believe this dynamic represents the most promising time for technology companies — small and large — ever.

6 emerging areas in which Pathbreaker is actively investing include:

1) Virtual & Augmented Reality — together a $120 billion market by 2020. I had the pleasure of working on the Oculus acquisition team at Facebook, and I remain bullish that VR/AR/MR will become the next ubiquitous computing platform.
2) Robotics — a $135 billion market by 2019. Opportunities for vertical integration across task execution, data capture, and data analysis make this sector particularly attractive.
3) Artificial Intelligence (ML, DL, RL, NLP, NLU, etc.)— When disciplines of AI and cognitive computing are integrated into consumer and enterprise applications (especially when vertical-specific), output and value improve by orders of magnitude. While safe to say this is a $20 billion+ market in 4–5 years, it’s difficult to price due to the overlap of disciplines.
4) Connected Homes & Cars — together a $280 billion market by 2020. Admittedly challenging for startups relative to large companies (ie. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, car manufacturers), I believe meaningful opportunities exist in the vertical application layer.
5) Autonomous Vehicles — a $42 billion car sales market by 2025, an estimate which does not include autonomous trucking. Numerous fields including insurance, real estate, parking, entertainment, labor, and productivity will be impacted when transportation no longer relies upon human drivers. Startups will have space to create the norms for this new world.
6) Space Technologies— $330 billion was spent in space-related industries in 2014. Areas such as small sats, analysis of space-captured data, consumer transport, space mining, etc…are particularly interesting.

While these are sectors of focus, Pathbreaker will invest in specialized founders solving big technical problems regardless of sector — full stop.

With experiences as a corporate development deal lead at Facebook
(ie. acquisitions), early stage investor at Azure Capital & operator within Azure portfolio companies, and co-founder of H.E.R.O. for Children, I’ve worked within what I view as the three primary startup phases — building, funding, and achieving liquidity. Pathbreaker’s investment thesis, strategy, and operating style are informed by learnings and relationships built along this path. To provide additional support to our companies, nearly all of Pathbreaker’s Investors and Advisors are actively building products, investing in technology companies, or operating at startups and large companies including Facebook, Google, Uber, LinkedIn, Twitch, Twitter, Square, etc.

Pathbreaker invests in

…specialized engineering and product founders building differentiated technology & IP to push the world forward — whether through the enterprise or consumer.

…pre-seed and seed stage startups. The earlier the better. We’re happy to be the initial capital that catalyzes a job switch, first hire, or hardware purchase. We’re also happy to follow larger funds leading a round.

…check sizes of $150,000 to $350,000 with reserves as companies grow.

We get excited when founders

…keep voting control of their companies. We back founders who we believe should run their companies over the long term. This control creates space for long-term decision making and helps align us to pursue the biggest opportunities.

…keep the talent bar extremely high. Refusing to settle may elongate your search, and we’re comfortable with that.

…invest in solving hard technical problems and protect their product achievements through patents and IP.

…filter guidance from investors and advisors. Information asymmetry will always exist, and that’s how it should be. Founders are armed with the best intelligence about team, code, customers, competition, etc… We are happy to share from our experiences, but we will never have enough information to pound the table. That’s your job.

We’re proud investors in…

1. Iron Ox — robotic greenhouses with real-time data capture for growing sustainable produce led by senior robotics engineers from Google X and Willow Garage. Learn more
2. Mux — video streaming analytics and performance tools led by the creators of Video.js and Zencoder (acquired by Brightcove for $30M in 2012). Learn more
3. nTopology — modular CAD software for advanced manufacturing and 3D printing. It’s led by a specialized team of designers, mathematicians, and engineers. Learn more
4. OptimoRoute — people routing and fleet management for mobile work forces. Its founders were early engineers at Google and built machine learning products for Yelp. Learn more
5. Rheo — video targeting and personalization technology for AppleTV and the connected television ecosystem. Its founders are senior engineering and product leaders from Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. Learn more
6. Simbe Robotics —autonomous robotic systems for data capture and analytics in retail environments led by robotics engineering and product leaders from Willow Garage and Silver Spring Networks. Learn more
7. Superhuman — the fastest email experience in the world. Its founders started Rapportive (acquired by LinkedIn in 2012) and LiveRamp (acquired by Acxiom for $310M in 2014). Learn more
8. Text IQ — deep learning-based solutions for document intelligence in legal, insurance, and pharma led by a team of PhD and Masters level computer scientists from Columbia University. Learn more
9. Uncorporeal — volumetric capture systems for VR & AR content creation. The team includes a technical Oscar-winner and engineering & product leadership from WETA, Google X, Lucas ILM, and Wikimedia. Learn more
10. Visby — holographic light field technology, codecs and capture solutions, for VR & AR. It is led by a PhD in Particle Physics, Masters in Applied Mathematics, and BA lightfield expert from Harvard University.

We’re thrilled to support these founders and plan to welcome 20 to 30 more companies to our team.

To Pathbreaker’s founders, investors, advisors, c0-investors, colleagues, friends and family, I thank you for your continuous support and participation in this vision. It is a tremendous honor to build this with you.

I believe historians will analyze the hardware and software platforms created during the 2010 to 2020 decade and be astonished by its impact on industry and humanity. Pathbreaker’s risk tolerance is high and aligned with founders willing to forge into these uncertain markets in pursuit of impact that spans generations.

Here’s to breaking new paths together! — Ryan

PS: For more information on the fund, visit www.pathbreakervc.com. To stay up to date with us, please like on facebook & follow on twitter.

Sources: VR/AR market size: Digital Capital; Robotics market size: IDC Forecast; Cognitive computing market size: Tractica, Markets & Markets; Autonomous vehicles market size: Boston Consulting Group; Space technologies market size: The Space Foundation;