Caffeinated Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Caffeinated Capital is a San Francisco and New York-based venture firm founded by Howie Liu (CEO/Co-Founder of Airtable) and operates under a philosophy of long-term partnership with founders. The firm explicitly rejects the hype cycle, positioning itself as offering founders "the luxury of long-term thinking." They support founders building "category-defining companies across all sectors that will last for lifetimes."
The firm is aggressively optimistic about the future and takes genuine early-stage risk alongside founders, committing to be a lifetime partner investing time, effort, and capital throughout the company lifecycle.
Stage Focus
Caffeinated Capital is primarily a seed and Series A investor, though they provide follow-on capital through later stages:
- Seed: Primary focus, often co-leading or leading rounds
- Series A: Leading rounds with hands-on involvement
- Series B through Series E: Follow-on investing in existing portfolio companies
They explicitly state they "lead seed and Series A rounds and invest throughout the life of technology companies."
Check Size
Based on portfolio analysis:
- Seed: $1M-$3M (lead/co-lead typical)
- Series A: $2M-$5M+ typical participation
- Follow-on reserves significant for later stage support
Recent Activity & Portfolio
Notable Portfolio Companies:
- Airtable (Howie Liu CEO) - Invested seed (co-lead), Series A, Series B (lead), through Series F
- Varda Space Industries (Will Bruey CEO) - Invested seed, Series A (co-lead), Series B (lead), Series C
- Onebrief (Jack Burlinson CEO) - Invested seed (lead), Series A (lead), Series B, Series C
- Saronic (autonomous vessels) - Invested Series A (lead), Series B, Series C
- CloudTrucks (Tobenna Arodiogbu CEO) - Invested Series A (lead), Series B
- Virta Health (Sami Inkinen CEO) - Invested seed, Series A, Series B-E
- Federato (insurance AI) - Invested seed (lead), Series A, Series B (lead), Series C
- Aven (credit platform) - Invested seed (co-lead), Series A, Series B, Series C (lead), Series D
- Human Intelligence (World Models) - Invested seed (lead), Series A (lead)
- Affirm (fintech) - Invested seed, Series D, Series E, IPO 2021
- Kindred (travel accessibility) - Multiple rounds
- Advanced Manufacturing Company of America - Early investor
Fund Status: Actively deploying with significant follow-on commitments
Team
Key Partners:
- Howie Liu - Founder/General Partner (CEO/Co-Founder of Airtable, category-defining platform founder)
- Sami Inkinen - Co-Founder/Partner (CEO/Co-Founder of Virta Health, healthcare founder)
- Raymond Tonsing - Partner
- Tasneem Amina - President & Co-Founder
- Nick Marwell - Head of Computer Use at Anthropic, Caffeinated Scout Fund Manager
The team is composed of successful founders and operators who understand the long-term building journey firsthand.
Decision Process
Partnership-driven decision making with emphasis on founder fit and long-term vision. The firm takes personal risk alongside founders and commits to hands-on support throughout the company lifecycle.
Founder Preferences
Caffeinated seeks founders who are:
- Building category-defining companies ("edit entire industries")
- Pursuing their life's work with genuine conviction
- Aggressively optimistic about the future
- Willing to commit to long-term partnerships
- Working across all sectors (no artificial constraints)
Geographic Focus
Primary: San Francisco, New York Secondary: Selective national and international investments (portfolio includes companies across US)
Investment Model
Caffeinated operates as a lifetime partner fund:
- Personal commitment from partners to founders
- Willingness to take early-stage risk
- Follow-on capital through later stages
- Hands-on operational support
- Long-term thinking vs. exit optimization