Leonis Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Leonis Capital is a research-driven venture firm based in San Francisco that backs AI-native companies at the earliest stages. Its stated mission is to turn groundbreaking AI research into investment conviction, backing companies before the category is obvious. The firm calls itself the first partner for technical founders and says its long-form technical research is not marketing but how it invests. Its research has been cited by Nature, The New York Times, Bloomberg and CNBC. Notable pieces include the Zero or Hero essay on valuing foundation models and AI applications, a 40+ page report on OpenAI's evolution, the Leonis AI 100 benchmark of important AI startups (Nov 2025), and recent essays on decision models, neolabs and token economics. Leonis also describes building an internal AI system called Alfa and proprietary signal tracking across GitHub contributions, academic papers and research conference presentations to find technical talent before company formation.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed. The firm says it is usually the first institutional check into a startup. Fund II is described as targeting pre-seed and seed AI-native infrastructure and agentic software. Follow-ons into later rounds happen with winners such as MaintainX and Motion.
Check Size
Third-party sources put typical checks at roughly $250K to $2M. The firm does not publish check sizes on its own site, so this is medium confidence.
Lead Tendency
The firm describes leading with conviction and often being the first institutional check. Founder testimonials describe Leonis as one of their earliest believers. Whether it formally leads rounds in every case is not stated, so lead tendency is recorded as both.
Recent Activity
Leonis closed a fully subscribed $25M Fund II in September 2025 (reported by Bloomberg in August 2025), three years after Fund I, a 2021 vintage fund. Press cites roughly $35M to $40M total across funds. Fund I is reported to be in the top 1% of its vintage per PitchBook. Recent portfolio news includes Autodesk's agreed purchase of MaintainX for about $3.6B in cash (May 2026), Viktor's $75M raise reported by Fortune (May 2026), and the Viktor and MaintainX retrospectives published in June 2026. The firm is actively deploying Fund II.
Portfolio Highlights
- MaintainX: AI-powered maintenance operations platform, acquired by Autodesk for about $3.6B.
- Motion: AI productivity and project management suite, Y Combinator alum, later backed by Scale Venture Partners and Sam Altman.
- Viktor: AI employee product, raised $75M in 2026.
- Spline: real-time collaborative 3D design tool.
- Method Financial: financial connectivity and repayment API for consumer liabilities.
- Spectro Cloud: enterprise Kubernetes management.
- Marqeta: card issuing, IPO; Jay Zhao served on its board with an earlier fund.
- Other exits and companies include acquisitions by Nvidia and Google, Blank Bio, General Analysis, Paradigm Study, Scalestack, Paysponge, Introspection, Kylon and Panta Insurance.
Team
- Jay Zhao, Managing Partner: Founder of Leonis. Over a decade as a venture investor in enterprise, mobile, fintech and cloud, formerly at T Fund, Walden and Granite Ventures. Early backer and board member of Marqeta; has backed 11 unicorns.
- Jenny Xiao, Partner: Early employee and researcher at OpenAI, PhD in AI and economics from Columbia, Forbes 30 Under 30.
- Liang Wu, Senior Research Fellow: Research team.
- Austin Levitt: Listed on the team page; title not stated.
- Leonis also has about 8 research fellows including PhDs from Stanford, MIT, Berkeley and Harvard.
Decision Process
Partnership between the two partners, with research fellows feeding technical diligence. The firm engages at the level of architecture and roadmap and applies questions on technical defensibility to AI startup founders, described in Business Insider in January 2026.
Founder Preferences
Technical founders, often PhDs and researchers, who sound early. The Leonis AI 100 analysis found AI startups increasingly led by younger, more technical founders. The firm wants founders with unique insights and technical expertise, and values market and technical depth over consensus.
Geographic Focus
Based in San Francisco and focused on the US AI ecosystem, with some global engagement. Research touches China, Europe and Japan, and the team has been interviewed by Japanese media.
The firm's public message is consistent: research first, conviction before consensus, and long-term support beyond capital from idea to breakout. The firm's public message is consistent: research first, conviction before consensus, and long-term support beyond capital from idea to breakout. The firm's public message is consistent: research first, conviction before consensus, and long-term support beyond capital from idea to breakout.