Touring Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Touring Capital is a San Francisco venture firm founded in 2023 by Nagraj Kashyap, Priya Saiprasad and Samir Kumar. The firm's stated conviction is that AI is redefining the software landscape and that lasting value will come from teams tackling concrete, industry-specific problems. Its homepage describes investing in cutting-edge software companies harnessing the power of AI to supercharge the workforce. In its Fund I announcement the partners say they back builders who win with data moats, product flywheels and domain-specific expertise, and that in every investment they look for clear customer pain, measurable ROI, strong tailwinds on adoption and a credible path to scale, prioritizing results over hype.
Stage Focus
The site says Touring invests in early-stage companies approaching product-market fit in their categories. The Fund I post describes the focus as early-growth AI-powered software companies across existing and emerging AI hubs. Evidence from the portfolio, such as a $23M Series A in Checkbox in January 2026, suggests the practical range runs from seed through Series A, with some later-stage exposure.
Check Size
The firm does not publish a check size. With a $330M first fund and roughly a dozen to fifteen investments, checks are likely in the low-to-mid single-digit millions, but this is an inference and is left unset in structured fields.
Lead Tendency
Press and portfolio write-ups show Touring both leading and participating. The firm publishes a "Why we invested" post for most deals, which suggests meaningful conviction positions. The partners also say 50% of the portfolio is led by founders they have backed before. Lead tendency is recorded as both.
Recent Activity
Touring closed its oversubscribed $330M Fund I on 25 September 2025 (Fortune exclusive, PR Newswire). At close the firm reported 12 investments, 5 up-rounds and 1 exit (SafeBase, acquired by Drata, February 2025). Since then it has published investment posts on Checkbox (January 2026), Parasail (April 2026) and Infinity (July 2026), and PitchBook lists a further investment in Clark in August 2026. The firm is actively deploying Fund I. Partners are also visible in the press, including a Unite AI interview with Priya Saiprasad (October 2026) and frequent commentary in Axios on legal tech venture activity.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio listed on the site includes Infinity (AI chip software automation), Parasail (AI supercloud and inference), Checkbox (legal intake and workflow), ProRata (ethical AI search and attribution for publishers), Wingspan (payroll for contingent work), Blinq (digital business cards and professional identity), Exaforce (agentic SOC platform), SlashExperts (customer-proof platform for B2B sales), Netradyne (AI fleet safety video telematics), SafelyYou (AI for senior living care), Numa (AI platform for auto dealerships), CuspAI (generative AI for materials discovery), Daloopa (AI financial data for analysts), SafeBase (security trust centers, exited to Drata) and Pixis (codeless AI infrastructure for marketers). The mix is vertical and horizontal AI applications with a handful of AI infrastructure bets.
Team
Nagraj Kashyap founded and was Global Head of M12 (Microsoft's venture fund), was a founding partner and Global Head of Qualcomm Ventures, and was most recently a Managing Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund; his investments include Zoom, Outreach, Livongo, Kahoot!, Waze and Fitbit. Priya Saiprasad was a Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund (Pixis, Vendr, Observe.ai, CommerceIQ, Sendoso), previously at Mayfield and a founding member of M12. Samir Kumar was a Managing Partner at M12 (Applied Intuition, PsiQuantum, Netradyne, d-Matrix) and held roles at Qualcomm, Samsung and Microsoft. Evan Wijaya is a Principal formerly of SoftBank Vision Fund. Lee Feldman is Operating Partner (ex-M12), Max Zhang is an Associate, Carol Yi is Business Manager, and Eddie Washington is CFO. Abhishek Kumar and Ray Cao are Venture Partners, and the advisory bench includes Dr. Rajarshi Gupta and Sydney Meheula of Anthropic.
Decision Process
Three equal co-founding general partners who have worked together for years, so decisions are partnership-based. The firm frames itself as an extension of the founder's team (operator, recruiter, compliance officer) and offers an operating partner for platform support. It also reported using AI internally to scout deals (WSJ, September 2025).
Founder Preferences
Nagraj says he looks for entrepreneurs who are highly adaptable, deeply people-oriented and product-obsessed. Priya values scrappy, adaptable, voracious learners. Samir is drawn to companies with a strong technical vision. The firm's pillars are authentic intelligence, extending possibilities, and steadfast excellence.
Geographic Focus
Based in San Francisco's South Park, with partners in Menlo Park and Miami. The portfolio is global, with companies in the US, UK (CuspAI), India (Netradyne, Pixis) and Australia (Blinq), and the site's Global pillar signals willingness to invest across AI hubs worldwide.
Warm Intro and Contact
The site invites founders to share their vision at [email protected]. No explicit warm intro requirement is stated, though the firm leans on its network of more than 30 former founders as LPs.