Investing
at the
Outset

backing AI, deeptech, future of work

Josh AlbrechtKanjun QiuAli Rohde

Our founders

"I'm a solo founder, so their support has been a gamechanger. They are my first call."

Michelle Lee, PhD - CEO, Medra

"Single highest value add investors on our cap table so far."

Banks Hunter - CEO, Charge Robotics

"Having Ali, Kanjun and Josh on your cap table is a superpower. They're incredibly trustworthy, high integrity and super-smart operators. More than anything, they're good people that take good care of their founders."

Niya Dragova - CEO, Candor

"I have consistently felt supported by Kanjun, Ali and the whole team at Outset. I really value being able to turn to them when wading through some of the stickier, harder founder experience, and know it will be met with actionable advice and nonjudgmental support."

Justine Palefsky - Co-Founder, Kindred

Our backers

Drew Houston

Co-founder, Dropbox

Adam D'Angelo

Co-founder, Quora

Arash Ferdowsi

Co-founder, Dropbox

Jonathan Frankle, PhD

Chief Scientist, MosaicML

Dorothy Chou

Head of Public Affairs, Deepmind

Kevin Hartz

Co-founder, Eventbrite

Joshua Ma

Co-founder, Airplane; former CTO, Benchling

Jeffrey Katzenberg

Co-founder, Dreamworks

Our team

Together, we — Kanjun, Ali, and Josh — write anywhere between $25-500K checks into pre-seed, seed, and Series A companies.

We are interested in markets that are new and growing or where there has been a recent change that opens up new opportunities, such as AI, deeptech, and future of work.

We also love bringing people together — for potlucks, small group dinners, or fireside chats. In the past, our events have included a four-week Builder Hour series for those thinking about starting something new, a happy hour for women in STEM, a dinner for biotech founders, and a Q&A with Andrej Karpathy.

If you're based in the Bay or visit the area, get added to the list for future events HERE.