Chemistry

Chemistry Research

Investment Thesis

Chemistry is positioning itself as an early-stage software firm built around a very specific promise: founders should get experienced, high-touch partners who stay close enough to help in the trenches, but broad enough in prior exposure to support many different software categories. The site repeatedly says the firm leads investments from the first check through Series B, and its public writing reinforces that the partners want to back technical teams building products with real commercial traction potential.

The clearest pattern across the website, portfolio, and recent posts is that Chemistry likes software companies where product depth matters and where technical execution can create a durable wedge. That shows up in enterprise AI, developer tools, workflow automation, healthcare operations, and other software layers that sit close to a buyer’s core pain point. The firm also seems comfortable with AI-native products when the product is not just a wrapper, but a system that changes how work gets done. Their 2025 thesis post emphasized developer platforms, voice agents, fintech rails, data moats, and new revenue models for content, which suggests they are tracking where the AI stack changes user behavior rather than just where it creates incremental feature growth.

Chemistry’s own launch post says the firm exists to align itself tightly with founders, and the team bios suggest that alignment is not marketing copy. The partners came from Bessemer, Index, and Andreessen Horowitz, and their pages repeatedly emphasize commercial instincts, board-level help, and hands-on support. That combination points to a firm that wants to be a lead or co-lead partner rather than a passive follower.

Stage Focus

Chemistry publicly says it invests from the first check through Series B, but its public portfolio and recent announcements show the strongest concentration at Seed and Series A. The firm’s launch materials describe Fund 1 as backing Seed and Series A software companies, and the portfolio page tags many older holdings as pre-Chemistry investments while the newer content highlights company-building at the earliest institutional rounds.

The practical reading is that Chemistry is an early-stage investor with latitude to move slightly earlier or later when the founder and product fit are unusually strong. The evidence supports Seed and Series A as the core focus, with selective pre-seed and Series B participation as extensions of that core.

Check Size

Chemistry does not publicly publish a check-size range on the site pages reviewed here.

Lead Tendency

Chemistry clearly behaves like a lead investor. The homepage says the firm leads investments from the first check through Series B, and the recent posts repeatedly use language such as “leading” or “co-leading” rounds. That matters because it tells founders what sort of process to expect: Chemistry is not framing itself as a pure access fund or a lightweight co-investor.

Recent Activity

The most recent public activity on the Chemistry site is concentrated in 2026.

• May 5, 2026: Chemistry announced and led Nova Intelligence’s Series A.
• April 6, 2026: Chemistry announced that it was co-leading Yuzu Health’s $35M Series A.
• April 2, 2026: Chemistry announced Noon’s Series A and described the company as part of the AI-native design tool wave.
• February 12, 2026: Chemistry announced a co-led $30M Series A in Didero.
• April 16, 2025: Chemistry announced its investment in Assort Health, highlighting healthcare voice automation.
• May 6, 2025: Chemistry welcomed Ivory Tang and Shayan Shafii to the investing team.
• January 7, 2025: Chemistry published a 2025 focus note that highlighted developer platforms, voice agents, fintech, AI infrastructure, content monetization, data moats, and consumer reinvention.
• October 22, 2024: Chemistry introduced itself publicly with Fund 1 and $350M of capital.

Portfolio Highlights

Chemistry’s portfolio spans several overlapping software categories, but the strongest clusters are enterprise software, developer tools, AI-native workflow products, and healthcare operations.

• Nova Intelligence: AI for SAP and a clear enterprise software / AI-in-workflows example.
• Yuzu Health: health insurance infrastructure and administration automation.
• Noon: AI-native design and product creation tooling.
• Didero: agentic procurement and supply chain operations.
• Assort Health: generative AI for healthcare phone workflows.
• Granola: AI note-taking and meeting intelligence.
• Decagon: customer-facing AI agents.
• Datacurve: high-quality AI training data.
• Anrok: sales tax automation.
• Bridge: global money movement infrastructure.
• Plaid, Persona, LaunchDarkly, PagerDuty, Intercom, Twilio, and others: the long tail on the site reinforces a software-heavy orientation that blends enterprise, infrastructure, and products with strong product-led growth characteristics.

Team

• Mark Goldberg, Managing Partner. Former Partner at Index Ventures, where he led early-stage software and fintech investments.
• Kristina Shen, Managing Partner. Former General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where she led the B2B software practice.
• Ethan Kurzweil, Managing Partner. Former Managing Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, focused on developer platforms, data infrastructure, gaming, and tools for knowledge workers.
• Ivory Tang, EIR. Former first growth hire at Cartesia, with prior voice-agent startup experience and MIT CSAIL robotics research.
• Bohan Lou, Investor. Former EIR at Bain Capital Ventures, previously PM at Tome and Lyft.

Decision Process

The public materials suggest a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-partner model. Chemistry repeatedly emphasizes that all three co-founders support each investment, and the launch post frames the firm as a compact team that brings cumulative expertise to every company. The most reasonable read is that founders are meeting a small group of experienced investors who expect to collaborate closely and move quickly once conviction is high.

Founder Preferences

Chemistry appears to prefer technical founders with strong product instincts and enough commercial sense to translate technology into category leadership. Across the portfolio and essays, the firm gravitates toward founders who are building against a real operational bottleneck, not just chasing a theme. The public writing suggests they like teams that can explain why now, why this product, and why the market pain is severe enough to justify a new software layer.

The partners also seem to value founders who want a genuine partner. The team pages and testimonials emphasize responsiveness, clear-eyed feedback, and hands-on support. Chemistry’s founder preference is therefore not just about domain fit; it is also about whether the founding team wants an active, opinionated investor at the table.

Geographic Focus

Chemistry is based in San Francisco and the public site does not show a narrow geography beyond that. The portfolio and posts suggest a mostly US focus, with companies in San Francisco, New York, and other major US software hubs. The site does not present a strong regional specialization, so the safest summary is that Chemistry is US-first with the flexibility to back companies wherever the strongest software founders are building.