United States · Investor

National Science Foundation

Last cheque observed Sep 2026; 1869 cheques on record.

Deploying nowGovernment

Pre-seedSeedSeries ASemiconductorNew MaterialsNanotechnology

Deploying now
68%of best year164cheques in 12 months, 1,869 on record
Since the last cheque55days00hrs00min00sec
Median round$926KRounds led0 of 1,869Sole investor866 roundsExits6 from the portfolioMostly inUnited States, 100%
Pitch National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation highlights

  1. 01

    164 cheques in the last 12 months

  2. 02

    Mostly Grant and Venture: 80% of its rounds

  3. 03

    Sole investor in 866 rounds, median $599K

  4. 04

    6 exits from the portfolio

What they do

NSF is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories.From their own website
Type
Government
Cheque size
Not stated
Stages
Pre-seedSeedSeries ASeries B
Sectors
SemiconductorNew MaterialsNanotechnology
Based in
Alexandria, United States
Cold pitches
Not stated

The record

Every round we can evidence, newest first1,869 appearances

  1. 2026

    128 rounds

  2. Sept
    BeamlinkVenture · US$2.3MSole investor
  3. Sept
    Spearhead BioSeed · US · AgFunderNews$1.6MWith 6 others
  4. Sept
    Partillion BioscienceGrant · US$2.1MWith 3 others
  5. Sept
    Talus BioSeed · US$11MWith 4 others
  6. Sept
    InformutaGrant · US$1.3MSole investor
  7. Sept
    NLM PhotonicsVenture · USUndisclosedWith 3 others
  8. Sept
    Tempo TherapeuticsGrant · US$2.3MSole investor
  9. Sept
    Celadyne TechnologiesGrant · US$250KWith 2 others
  10. Sept
    InformAIGrant · US$1.0MWith 3 others
  11. Sept
    RamonaSeries A · US$25MWith 2 others
  12. Sept
    ZymochemGrant · US$4.0MWith 2 others
  13. Sept
    MALCOVASeed · US$1.2MWith 1 other
  14. Sept
    ReseluteGrant · US$75KWith 1 other
  15. Sept
    Atlantic Fish CompanyGrant · US$75KWith 2 others
  16. Sept
    InterluneSeed · US$5.0MWith 4 others
  17. Sept
    ProviviDebt · US$2.5MWith 2 others
  18. Sept
    Capienda BiotechGrant · US$1.4MWith 1 other
  19. Sept
    VibronixSeries B · US$15MWith 2 others
  20. Sept
    RoboligentSeed · US$2.5MWith 2 others
  21. Sept
    Marel Power SolutionsGrant · US$1.9MWith 2 others
  22. Sept
    Winter InnovationsVenture · US$1.3MSole investor
  23. Sept
    Primrose BioVenture · US$2.0MSole investor
  24. Aug
    QuintessentSeries A · US · Ventureburn$40MWith 12 others
  25. Aug
    Princeton Critical MineralsSeries A · US · HAX$16MWith 3 others
  26. Aug
    Princeton Critical MineralsGrant$5.0MWith 2 others
  27. Aug
    Tandem PVGrant · US$7.7MWith 2 others
  28. Aug
    DexMatVenture · US$1.0MWith 2 others
  29. Aug
    Astek DiagnosticsSeed · US$750KWith 2 others
  30. Aug
    Beken BioGrant · US$1.3MSole investor
  31. Aug
    Nth CycleGrant · US$100MWith 3 others
  32. Jul
    SilaGrowth · US · TechCrunch$300MWith 7 others
  33. Jul
    Carbice CorporationVenture · USUndisclosedWith 2 others
  34. Jul
    NALA MembranesGrowth · US$11MWith 2 others
  35. Jul
    XL BatteriesVenture · US$13MWith 1 other
  36. Jul
    CoreMapSeries C · US$37MSole investor
  37. Jul
    EELI TechnologyPre-seed · US$2.0MWith 3 others
  38. Jul
    Sharper SenseGrant · US$100KWith 3 others
  39. Jul
    CleanFiberUS$4.5MWith 2 others
  40. Jul
    Infinite CoolingVenture · US$5.3MWith 2 others
  41. Jul
    Spero TherapeuticsDebt · US · HealthCare Royalty$105MWith 3 others

An announcement gives the size of the round, not the size of this investor's cheque: the only rounds that imply a cheque are those where they were the sole named investor.

The team

We hold 12 people at this firm from the lists this database was built from: a weaker source than the filings, since a list does not say when a title ended. Login to see them.

What they claim to have backed

From their own portfolio page (on their website)

0 of 6 we have independently watched raise

Grants.govInspector GeneralNSF Public Access RepositoryNcsesResearch.govUSA.gov

Weaker than a round we watched, stronger than a list somebody sold us. A firm is far less willing to put a company on its own site that it never funded.

Exits from the portfolio

Companies it backed that were later bought or listed6 in all

Nimble VRBought by Oculus VRUndisclosedDec 2014
SifteoBought by 3D RoboticsUndisclosedJul 2014
TagArrayBought by Maxim IntegratedUndisclosedJul 2013
Bluefin LabsBought by Twitter$80MFeb 2013
VivisimoBought by IBM (International Business Machines)UndisclosedApr 2012
CleverSetBought by ATG (Art Technology Group)$10MJan 2008

An exit counts when it came after the firm's first round in the company. From historical deal records.

Who they invest alongside

The investors most often in the same rounds as National Science Foundation. A count of rooms they were both in, not a relationship either has claimed.

MassChallengeAccelerator104rounds togetherUS Department of EnergyGovernment89rounds togetherNational Institutes of HealthGovernment71rounds togetherTechstarsVC firm58rounds togetherY CombinatorAccelerator48rounds togetherSOSVVC firm42rounds togetherMassVenturesVC firm38rounds togetherCleantech OpenAccelerator36rounds togetherAlumni VenturesVC firm34rounds togetherCreative Destruction LabAccelerator26rounds togetherOne North Carolina Small Business ProgramInvestment firm25rounds togetherSmall Business Innovation ResearchGovernment25rounds together

Recently backed

The latest companies National Science Foundation put money into.

Beamlink$2.3M · Sept 2026Spearhead Bio$1.6M · Sept 2026Partillion Bioscience$2.1M · Sept 2026Talus Bio$11M · Sept 2026Informuta$1.3M · Sept 2026NLM PhotonicsSept 2026

Mentioned on podcasts

Episodes that name National Science Foundation in their description, not their title.

Quick answers about National Science Foundation

What does National Science Foundation invest in?

National Science Foundation invests most often at Grant and Venture (80% of the rounds on record), in sectors such as Semiconductor, New Materials and Nanotechnology.

How active is National Science Foundation?

1,869 investments on record, 164 of them in the last 12 months. The most recent was in Sept 2026.

What has National Science Foundation invested in recently?

Its most recent investments on record: Beamlink (Venture, Sept 2026), Spearhead Bio (Seed, Sept 2026) and Partillion Bioscience (Grant, Sept 2026).

How big are National Science Foundation's cheques?

The median round it joins is $926K.

Does National Science Foundation lead rounds?

Rarely, if at all: none of its 1,869 investments on record names it as the lead.

Where does National Science Foundation invest?

Most of the companies it backs are in the United States (100%).

Is National Science Foundation investing now?

Yes: it is actively investing, with 164 investments in the last 12 months.

Who does National Science Foundation invest alongside?

Most often MassChallenge (104 rounds together), US Department of Energy (89 rounds together) and National Institutes of Health (71 rounds together).

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Built from the rounds we watched, its filings and its own website, refreshed every night. How we count · Report a correction · Is this your firm? Claim it