FAQ
Browse the sections below to find answers to common questions about Untapped Ventures — our investment focus, how to pitch us, and what we look for in AI-native founders.
If you need more help, feel free to reach out.
The Autonomous Economy is where billions of AI agents (digital workers) and billions of robots (physical workers) execute economic work end-to-end and securely transact — without humans in the loop. It is the shift from tools that make humans more productive to systems that perform the work entirely on their own. Extropic sits at the foundation of this shift — building the compute substrate that makes autonomous AI economically viable at scale.
Untapped invests at pre-seed and seed in AE-native companies — founders building AI that executes work end-to-end, not assists it. We back founders before categories have names, before there is consensus, and before the opportunity is obvious to everyone else. If you are building the Autonomous Economy, we want to hear from you.
Piris Labs' seed round was led by Link Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator and a syndicate of strategic operators from OpenAI and Groq. Piris Labs graduated from Y Combinator's S25 batch. Untapped Ventures also participated in the round.
Untapped backs founders who see a category before it exists. The pattern we look for: rare domain credibility combined with genuine AI-first thinking — people who understand the industry they are disrupting at an operational level and are rebuilding it from first principles rather than bolting AI onto legacy infrastructure. Team comes first, always.
The Autonomous Economy is where billions of AI agents (digital workers) and billions of robots (physical workers) execute economic work end-to-end and securely transact — without humans in the loop. It is the shift from tools that make humans more productive to systems that perform the work entirely on their own. Harper is an example of this in action: an AI-native brokerage that executes the insurance workflow end-to-end, rather than assisting a human broker.
Untapped invests at pre-seed and seed in AE-native companies — founders building AI that executes work end-to-end, not assists it. We back founders before categories have names, before there is consensus, and before the opportunity is obvious to everyone else. If you are building the Autonomous Economy, we want to hear from you.
Extropic's $14.1M seed round was led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Buckley Ventures, HOF Capital, OSS Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Untapped Ventures. Angel investors include Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Garry Tan, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, Tobias Lutke, and Aidan Gomez. The round was announced in March 2024.
Untapped backs founders who see a category before it exists. The pattern we look for: rare domain credibility combined with genuine AI-first thinking — people who understand the industry they are disrupting at an operational level and are rebuilding it from first principles rather than bolting AI onto legacy infrastructure. Team comes first, always.
The Autonomous Economy is where billions of AI agents (digital workers) and billions of robots (physical workers) execute economic work end-to-end and securely transact — without humans in the loop. It is the shift from tools that make humans more productive to systems that perform the work entirely on their own. Harper is an example of this in action: an AI-native brokerage that executes the insurance workflow end-to-end, rather than assisting a human broker.
Untapped invests at pre-seed and seed in AE-native companies — founders building AI that executes work end-to-end, not assists it. We back founders before categories have names, before there is consensus, and before the opportunity is obvious to everyone else. If you are building the Autonomous Economy, we want to hear from you.
Harper's Series A was led by Emergence Capital, with Y Combinator, Peak XV, Antler, 10X Founders, Fellows Fund, Outset Capital, and Untapped Ventures participating. The round brought total funding to $47M and was announced in early 2026.
Untapped backs founders who see a category before it exists. The pattern we look for: rare domain credibility combined with genuine AI-first thinking — people who understand the industry they are disrupting at an operational level and are rebuilding it from first principles rather than bolting AI onto legacy infrastructure. Team comes first, always.
The Autonomous Economy is the economic era where billions of digital agents and physical robots execute work end-to-end, transact with each other, and create value without a human in the loop. It is not AI as a tool - it is AI as the primary economic actor, completing tasks, negotiating contracts, and settling payments autonomously.
Untapped Ventures invests at pre-seed and seed in AE-native companies - founders building AI that executes work end-to-end, not just assists it. Initial checks range from $500K to $2M, with follow-on into later rounds for portfolio companies executing at pace.
Untapped Ventures backs founders before categories have names - that is the only way to capture the asymmetric upside the Autonomous Economy offers.
If you are building the Autonomous Economy, we want to hear from you.
88.8% of all global VC deal value went to AI in Q1 2026 — up from 63.5% in 2025, 36% in 2024, and 16% in 2021 (PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, Q1 2026). In a single quarter, AI companies raised $242B of the $297B in total global venture capital (PitchBook AI VC Trends, Q1 2026). AI has become the VC asset class.
88% of organisations now use AI in at least one business function, up from 78% in 2024 (McKinsey State of AI, 2025). By 2028, IDC forecasts 1.3 billion AI agents deployed globally — exceeding the number of human knowledge workers (IDC, via Lantern, 2026). The venture window for pre-consensus AI investments is open now and narrowing.
Untapped Ventures invests specifically in AE-native companies. Most AI funds back anything using AI. Untapped only backs companies where AI removes the human from the execution loop entirely. That distinction drives every investment decision.
The second difference is the LP network. Untapped's 100+ Enterprise CEO LPs are active participants who help with sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support - and who are buyers in the exact markets Untapped Ventures' portfolio companies are targeting.
Untapped Ventures is an early-stage AI venture capital fund investing in AI-native startups at the pre-seed and seed stage. We back founders building breakthrough technology that uplifts human potential.
We combine capital with deep, hands-on support — GTM, company-building, fundraising strategy, and direct access to a powerful network of operators, technical experts, and LPs. We move fast, decide fast, and partner closely with founders.
Untapped Ventures leads, co-leads, and follows pre-seed and seed rounds with $500K-$2M checks for AI Startups with a focus on Native AI, Frontier AI, Embodied AI, Deep Tech AI, and AI Convergence.
We primarily invest in pre-seed and seed rounds. Initial checks range from $500K–$2M depending on traction and team strength.
Yes — especially if they’re technical and moving quickly. AI-native companies often begin as solo technical founders.
Not always. We invest in strong teams, unique insights, and early technical breakthroughs, even if the startup is pre-traction.
Our strongest founders typically are:
Technical founders with AI/ML/engineering depth
Former FAANG / AI lab / top-tier tech operators
Founders with an “earned secret” about their market
Builders who move fast and learn even faster
Mission-driven leaders building products that uplift humanity
Yes — as long as they bring strong technical ability and exceptional clarity around their product and market.
Founder quality, rate of execution, early technical edge, clarity of insight, and the potential to build a category-defining AI company.
Submit your startup through our Pitch Form. We review every submission and respond quickly.
Usually within a week. We move fast when something fits our thesis.
We recommend covering:
Team background + technical depth
Product demo or prototype
Traction or early proof-of-demand
Market insight and problem clarity
Vision for scale and category creation
A deck helps, but you can also pitch through a clear written overview and demo.
1. Pitch form review
2. Intro call with a partner
3. Deep dive on product, tech, and founder story
4. Optional technical review
5. Decision + terms
We keep the process fast, transparent, and founder-friendly.
Yes — especially pre-seed. We also co-lead when the round structure fits.
Yes. We reserve capital to support founders through seed and beyond.
Monthly CEO masterminds
Go-to-market and sales strategy
Fundraising prep + investor introductions
Product strategy and roadmap clarity
A tight founder community and access to the Core 100 network
Only when helpful. We keep governance flexible and founder-first.
Highly involved on strategy, fundraising, and GTM — without slowing founders down with unnecessary meetings or oversight.
Yes — we consider founders worldwide if they meet our criteria. One of the main requirements is that their company is registered as a Delaware C corp.
Absolutely. We encourage founders to return as their product evolves.