HalfCourt Capital Research
Investment Thesis
HalfCourt Capital is an AI-first venture capital firm co-founded by Rob May and Todd Earwood, dedicated to being the earliest believers in an AI founder's vision and supporting them as they transform the world with technology. The firm's conviction is that applied artificial intelligence is the defining technology of the era, and the best returns come from backing technical founders building AI-native products across enterprise software, healthcare, robotics, and infrastructure.
HalfCourt operates under the philosophy that operator-investors — founders who have themselves built and exited technology companies — provide uniquely differentiated support to portfolio companies. Both GPs bring deep AI and technology operating experience, which they apply hands-on to advise on product development, go-to-market strategy, and fundraising. This is not passive capital.
The firm has invested across three funds since its founding in 2016, deploying into 100+ AI companies. HalfCourt also cultivates a broader AI ecosystem through Rob May's "Investing in AI" newsletter (3,000+ subscribers, twice-monthly), the AI Innovator's Podcast on Spotify, and the AI Innovators Community platform — underscoring the firm's thought-leadership approach.
Stage Focus
HalfCourt Capital invests primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages, occasionally participating in seed-plus and Series A rounds for breakout portfolio companies. The firm positions itself as the "first believer" — entering at the earliest stage when the AI thesis is forming and the founding team is establishing product-market fit.
- Pre-Seed: Concept validation, founding team established, early prototype
- Seed: Initial product built, early customers or demonstrated traction
- Seed Plus / Series A: Follow-on investments in portfolio outperformers
Check Size
HalfCourt Capital does not publicly disclose specific check sizes. Based on portfolio round data (average seed round ~$2.3M per Tracxn, average follow-on round ~$13.8M), HalfCourt likely writes initial checks in the range of $100K–$500K at pre-seed and $250K–$1.5M at seed. The firm led Jozu's $4M seed round in May 2025, demonstrating capacity for larger lead checks when conviction is high.
Lead Tendency
HalfCourt Capital leads investment rounds. The most recently confirmed lead was the $4M seed round for Jozu in May 2025, with Mozilla Ventures, BrightSpark, AlleyCorp, Sentiero, and Union Bay Partners co-investing. The firm's early-stage mandate and operator-investor identity align with a lead role.
Geographic Focus
HalfCourt Capital invests primarily in US-based companies, reflecting both managing partners' domestic bases — Todd Earwood in Louisville, KY and Rob May in New York, NY. The firm has selectively backed UK-based companies (Open Bionics). Portfolio companies cluster in major tech hubs including Boston, San Francisco, and New York, but HalfCourt's Louisville roots suggest genuine geographic flexibility within the US.
Sector Focus
HalfCourt Capital invests exclusively in AI-driven companies across multiple verticals:
- Enterprise software and B2B SaaS powered by AI (Botkeeper, Jellyfish, Consensus, LeadIQ, LinkSquares)
- Healthcare AI and digital health (ClosedLoop AI, Mymee, Woebot Health, Aikium, Biobot Analytics)
- Robotics and automation (Simbe Robotics, Aescape, Open Bionics, Rain AI)
- Developer tools and AI infrastructure (Jozu, Efabless, Consensus)
- Cybersecurity powered by AI (Deep Sentinel, Virgo SVS)
- Biotech and life sciences enabled by AI (Beacon Bio, Eglint Bio, ReviVeMed, Koniku)
- Fintech and crypto infrastructure (ZeroHash)
- Consumer and marketplace (Jobble, OpenIgloo, Haddy)
The unifying theme is AI/ML technology applied to established industry verticals rather than horizontal AI infrastructure plays, though developer tooling investments like Jozu show range.
Portfolio Highlights
- Jozu — Enterprise AI orchestration platform; HalfCourt led $4M seed (May 2025), co-investors include Mozilla Ventures and AlleyCorp
- Simbe Robotics — Autonomous retail inventory robotics; $104M total funding through Series C (Oct 2024)
- Botkeeper — AI-powered bookkeeping for accounting firms; $89.5M total funding through Series C, backed by Greycroft
- Biobot Analytics — Wastewater epidemiology platform for public health; $42.7M total funding through Series A (May 2025)
- ZeroHash — Crypto settlement infrastructure for enterprise
- Jellyfish — Engineering management analytics for software teams
- LeadIQ — AI-powered sales prospecting and contact intelligence
- LinkSquares — AI contract analysis and management for legal teams
- Consensus — AI research paper discovery engine for academics and professionals
- Woebot Health — AI-powered mental health support chatbot
- ClosedLoop AI — Predictive analytics for healthcare payers
- Cloud Trucks — Autonomous and semi-autonomous freight platform
- Deep Sentinel — AI-powered live-monitoring security cameras
- Rain AI — Neuromorphic AI processor startup (Gordon Wilson, HalfCourt Venture Partner, is founding CEO)
- Invisible (exit) — AI-enabled process automation; acquired by Perplexity (Aug 2025)
- Phiar Technologies (exit) — AR navigation for autonomous vehicles; acquired (Jan 2023)
- Root AI (exit) — Autonomous agricultural robots; acquired by AppHarvest (Apr 2021)
Team
- Rob May, General Partner — Co-founder of HalfCourt Capital. Serial entrepreneur who built Backupify (world's first cloud-to-cloud backup, acquired by Datto, 9,000+ customers, 90 employees), Talla (acquired by Seva), Dianthus, and BrandGuard.ai. B.S. Electrical Engineering and M.B.A. from University of Kentucky. Publishes the "Investing in AI" newsletter (3,000+ subscribers) and hosts the AI Innovator's Podcast. Based in New York. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robmay. Twitter: @robmay.
- Todd Earwood, General Partner — Co-founder of HalfCourt Capital. Serial entrepreneur with multiple exits in IT services and B2B SaaS. Founded Integrate IQ, an industry-leading data integration platform syncing 12 billion CRM-to-ERP fields per year, which he exited in 2023. Serves on multiple corporate boards and is a nationally recognized speaker at technology events. Based in Louisville, KY. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/toddearwood/
- Don Keyser, Investing Partner — 22-year CFO at Fiduciary Trust. MBA from NYU Stern, BA from Princeton. Based in Boston/Cambridge area.
- Neil Stanley, Venture Partner — Goldman Sachs background. MBA from London Business School. Based in London.
- Eric Koziol, AI Partner — Top 0.5% in Kaggle ML competitions. Consulting background at Bain and KPMG. University of Illinois.
- Byron Galbraith, AI Partner — Co-founder of Talla AI (Rob May's prior company). PhD from Boston University, MS from Marquette, BS from University of Illinois Chicago. Based in Boston.
- Howard Greene, Chief Financial Officer — 4x Startup CFO/COO. University of New Hampshire.
- Gordon Wilson, Venture Partner — Founding CEO of Rain AI (neuromorphic processor, HalfCourt portfolio company). University of Florida. Based in Santa Monica.
- George Lin, AI Partner — Morgan Stanley and Deloitte Consulting background. BS from The Wharton School.
- Karim Lakhani, Advisor — Professor at Harvard Business School; leading researcher in AI, crowdsourcing, and digital transformation.
- Sophie Vanderbook, Advisor — COO at IBM Research. Cornell graduate.
- Mac Thornberry, Advisor — Former US Congressman (1995–2021) and former House Armed Services Committee Chairman; relevant for government AI and defense portfolio applications.
Decision Process
HalfCourt Capital operates as a two-GP partnership with Rob May and Todd Earwood making final investment decisions. The firm has a flat, operator-centric structure; AI specialist partners (Eric Koziol, Byron Galbraith, George Lin) contribute domain expertise and technical diligence. The GP partnership structure and small team size suggest quick decision-making with both co-founders aligned.
Founder Preferences
Based on portfolio patterns and the GPs' own operating backgrounds, HalfCourt Capital targets:
- Technical AI founders with engineering or machine learning research backgrounds
- Operators who understand both product development and go-to-market strategy
- Founders building AI-native applications with genuine technical differentiation
- Teams with domain expertise in their target industry vertical
- US-based companies primarily, with selective international exceptions
Rob May's operating background in applied AI (Talla for NLP/customer support, BrandGuard.ai for marketing AI) and Todd Earwood's B2B SaaS exits make them particularly relevant mentors for AI-native B2B founders navigating early commercialization.
Recent Activity
HalfCourt Capital is actively deploying from its current fund (Fund III, estimated 2023–2024 inception):
- May 2025: Led Jozu's $4M seed round (enterprise AI orchestration, co-investors: Mozilla Ventures, BrightSpark, AlleyCorp, Sentiero, Union Bay Partners)
- December 2024: Participated in Guidesly's Series A
- May 2024: Participated in Light Frame's seed round
- March 2025: Rob May and Todd Earwood headlined the inaugural AI Emergence Summit in New York City
The firm maintains strong thought-leadership presence with Rob May's twice-monthly "Investing in AI" Substack newsletter publishing market analysis and AI company deep-dives to 3,000+ subscribers, complemented by the AI Innovator's Podcast on Spotify.