Founders Fund

Founders Fund, Inc. is a venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco, California, established in 2005. The firm specializes in investing across various stages, including seed, early, mid, and growth stages, with a focus on transformative technologies. Founders Fund targets a wide range of sectors, such as aerospace, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, biotechnology, cybersecurity, energy, fintech, and consumer internet. The firm aims to support companies that are developing revolutionary technologies and typically invests between $500,000 and $300 million in its portfolio companies. Founders Fund's partners have a strong background in technology, having been investors, founders, and early employees of notable technology companies, including PayPal. The firm seeks to make investments globally, emphasizing innovation and impact.

Delian Asparouhov

Principal

Leigh Marie Braswell

Principal

Lauren Gross

Partner and COO

Jeffrey Lonsdale

Managing Director, Asia

John Luttig

Principal

Amin Mirzadegan

Principal

Scott Nolan

Partner

Luke Nosek

Managing Partner

Neil Ruthven

CFO

Brian Singerman

Partner

Napoleon Ta

Partner

Matias Van Thienen

Principal

Past deals in Augmented Reality

Icon

Venture Round in 2025
Icon is a technology company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven advertising solutions. It offers a platform known as the AI Admaker, which leverages advanced algorithms to create and optimize advertisements for various brands. Additionally, Icon is involved in the development of smart hardware, particularly smart mirrors that integrate with Alexa Voice Service. As an Amazon-approved system integrator, Icon enables brands to incorporate voice capabilities into screen-based devices, including smart display speakers and smart home devices. The company prides itself on providing customized hardware and software solutions tailored to clients' needs, supported by a skilled technology development team. Icon's innovative designs have garnered industry recognition, including accolades at the CES Innovation Awards, highlighting its commitment to merging technology with user-friendly applications.

Icon

Venture Round in 2025
Icon is a technology company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven advertising solutions. It offers a platform known as the AI Admaker, which leverages advanced algorithms to create and optimize advertisements for various brands. Additionally, Icon is involved in the development of smart hardware, particularly smart mirrors that integrate with Alexa Voice Service. As an Amazon-approved system integrator, Icon enables brands to incorporate voice capabilities into screen-based devices, including smart display speakers and smart home devices. The company prides itself on providing customized hardware and software solutions tailored to clients' needs, supported by a skilled technology development team. Icon's innovative designs have garnered industry recognition, including accolades at the CES Innovation Awards, highlighting its commitment to merging technology with user-friendly applications.

Formatech

Seed Round in 2020
Forma is building photorealistic avatars that are a dynamic and deeply personal form for people’s online identity. We believe that as our online lives grow in importance, people look for more authenticity and relatability - and for everybody on the planet there is nothing more familiar than an image of themselves. Through Forma’s computer vision and graphics technology, users can create a flexible visual identity from a single photo of themselves, instantly and photorealistically. ​Today they can try on any outfit whether just for fun or before buying on e-commerce, and soon they will be able star in a movie, video game, TV show, YouTube clip, billboard ad, VR/AR, etc. The company was founded in late 2017, early in the commercialization of the recent breakthroughs in deep learning. We’ve raised seed funding from top VCs and angels and are SF-based by the Caltrain station.

Massless

Seed Round in 2019
Massless Limited is a company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, that specializes in developing hardware and software for three-dimensional interactions within augmented and virtual reality. Founded in 2014, Massless produces the Massless Pen, a device that enhances the capabilities of designers and engineers by facilitating intuitive interactions in 3D digital environments. This pen features high precision, optical tracking at 60 Hz, tactile feedback, and surface and orientation sensing, enabling users to create and manipulate large 3D models in real time. Beyond its core technology, Massless is also engaged in the evolving creator economy, working to empower creatives in media and entertainment by supporting the launch of independent studios and fostering new content on blockchain platforms. The company's team comprises physicists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and creatives, all dedicated to advancing the intersection of technology and creativity.

CTRL-Labs

Series B in 2018
CTRL-Labs Corporation, founded in 2015 and based in New York City, specializes in developing non-invasive neural interface technology aimed at enhancing the interaction between humans and machines. The company's flagship product, the CTRL-kit, is a wireless wristband equipped with sensors that captures neural signals, allowing users to control digital devices through simple electronic pulses. This innovative platform is designed to support various applications in virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics, productivity, and clinical research. By providing developers with a software development kit (SDK) and application programming interface (API), CTRL-Labs enables the integration of neural control into their applications. The company's long-term vision focuses on fostering mass consumer adoption of neural interfaces, establishing a new standard for human-machine collaboration that transforms how users engage with technology.

Niantic

Series B in 2017
Niantic is a developer of augmented reality games that promote outdoor activity and social interaction. The company creates products that encourage movement and exploration, fostering face-to-face engagement among users. Niantic is best known for its popular games, including Ingress and Pokémon GO, which utilize its augmented reality platform to enhance mobile gaming experiences. This platform integrates features such as shared state, communication, security, and mapping, allowing users to interact within virtual environments that are seamlessly connected to the real world. Through its innovative approach, Niantic aims to enrich gaming by blending digital experiences with physical exploration.

Escher Reality

Seed Round in 2017
Escher Reality, Inc. is a developer of augmented reality technology based in Sunnyvale, California, established in 2016. The company specializes in creating a cross-platform toolkit and custom backend services aimed at mobile augmented reality developers. Its innovative platform allows for interactive, multi-user, multisession augmented reality experiences, leveraging machine learning to enhance the creation of virtual and augmented content. Escher Reality enables users to share videos and engage in multimedia games through its advanced 3D AR engine. As of February 2018, Escher Reality operates as a subsidiary of Niantic, Inc., further solidifying its position in the AR industry.

Leap Motion

Series C in 2017
Leap Motion, Inc. is a company that specializes in designing and developing motion-control hardware and software, particularly for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Leap Motion focuses on creating advanced 3D motion-control technology that allows users to interact with digital environments through natural hand and finger movements. The company serves various sectors, including healthcare, education, gaming, automotive, retail, and the arts, and collaborates with major VR manufacturers to integrate its technology into mobile VR and AR headsets. In May 2012, Leap Motion changed its name from OcuSpec Inc. and has since operated as a subsidiary of Ultrahaptics Limited. The company's mission is to eliminate barriers between people and technology, enabling more intuitive and dynamic interactions in virtual spaces.

Leap Motion

Series B in 2013
Leap Motion, Inc. is a company that specializes in designing and developing motion-control hardware and software, particularly for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Leap Motion focuses on creating advanced 3D motion-control technology that allows users to interact with digital environments through natural hand and finger movements. The company serves various sectors, including healthcare, education, gaming, automotive, retail, and the arts, and collaborates with major VR manufacturers to integrate its technology into mobile VR and AR headsets. In May 2012, Leap Motion changed its name from OcuSpec Inc. and has since operated as a subsidiary of Ultrahaptics Limited. The company's mission is to eliminate barriers between people and technology, enabling more intuitive and dynamic interactions in virtual spaces.

Leap Motion

Seed Round in 2011
Leap Motion, Inc. is a company that specializes in designing and developing motion-control hardware and software, particularly for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Leap Motion focuses on creating advanced 3D motion-control technology that allows users to interact with digital environments through natural hand and finger movements. The company serves various sectors, including healthcare, education, gaming, automotive, retail, and the arts, and collaborates with major VR manufacturers to integrate its technology into mobile VR and AR headsets. In May 2012, Leap Motion changed its name from OcuSpec Inc. and has since operated as a subsidiary of Ultrahaptics Limited. The company's mission is to eliminate barriers between people and technology, enabling more intuitive and dynamic interactions in virtual spaces.
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