# Pre-seed AI investors (2026 list)

> 1,286 pre-seed AI investors, 88% active in the last 12 months. Led by Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Global. Ranked by what they funded.

Source: https://millionrounds.com/lists/pre-seed-ai-investors (Millionrounds; every figure on the page links to its filing or article)

[Investor Lists](https://millionrounds.com/lists)

# Pre-seed AI investors

Updated 7 November 2026

Firms we have watched take part in a pre-seed round raised by an AI company in the last two years. Both the stage and the sector are what they did, not what their website says.

[See all 1,286 *→*](https://millionrounds.com/login?join=1&next=%2Fapp%2Finvestor-lists%2Fpre-seed-ai-investors)The top 25

**1,286** investors on the list *+41* this week

**15,232** cheques in 12 months *-15%* against the market

**$3.8M** median round they joined *-52%* against the market median

**88%** wrote a cheque in 12 months

**40%** have led a round

## The Top 25

Ordered by cheques observed, never by anything anyone paid for

Deploying now (25)

- 1 [Y Combinator](https://millionrounds.com/fund/y-combinator) *Deploying now* Accelerator · United States **6,412** **$3M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 2 [Techstars](https://millionrounds.com/fund/techstars) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **2,989** **$1.2M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 3 [500 Global](https://millionrounds.com/fund/500-startups) *Deploying now* Angel · United States **2,140** **$3.6M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 4 [Sequoia Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/sequoia-capital) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **2,099** **$35M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 5 [National Science Foundation](https://millionrounds.com/fund/nsf-small-business-innovation-research-small-business-techno) *Deploying now* Government · United States **1,869** **$926K** median round **Sept 2026** last seen
- 6 [Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,661** **$27M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 7 [Alumni Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/us-strategic-tech-fund-an-alumni-ventures-fund) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,598** **$12M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 8 [Plug and Play](https://millionrounds.com/fund/plug-and-play) *Deploying now* Accelerator · United States **1,561** **$5M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 9 [General Catalyst](https://millionrounds.com/fund/general-catalyst) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,387** **$27M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 10 [SV Angel](https://millionrounds.com/fund/sv-angel) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,349** **$18M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 11 [Accel](https://millionrounds.com/fund/accel) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,341** **$32M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 12 [Lightspeed Venture Partners](https://millionrounds.com/fund/lightspeed-venture-partners) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,341** **$35M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 13 [Wayra](https://millionrounds.com/fund/wayra) *Deploying now* Corporate VC · Germany **1,160** **$2M** median round **Sept 2026** last seen
- 14 [Bpifrance](https://millionrounds.com/fund/bpifrance) *Deploying now* Government · France **1,151** **$4.5M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 15 [Khosla Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/khosla-ventures) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,128** **$26M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 16 [Founders Fund](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founders-fund) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,122** **$15M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 17 [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://millionrounds.com/fund/bessemer-venture-partners) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **1,038** **$30M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 18 [Gaingels](https://millionrounds.com/fund/gaingels) *Deploying now* Private equity · United States **1,010** **$8M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 19 [MassChallenge](https://millionrounds.com/fund/masschallenge) *Deploying now* Accelerator · United States **984** **$1.8M** median round **Sept 2026** last seen
- 20 [EIC Accelerator](https://millionrounds.com/fund/eic-accelerator) *Deploying now* Government · European Union **875** **$4.3M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 21 [Kima Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/kima-ventures) *Deploying now* VC firm · France **859** **$4.2M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen
- 22 [FJ Labs](https://millionrounds.com/fund/fj-labs) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **849** **$11M** median round **Oct 2026** last seen
- 23 [Right Side Capital Management](https://millionrounds.com/fund/right-side-capital-management) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **834** **$875K** median round **Sept 2026** last seen
- 24 [Google for Startups](https://millionrounds.com/fund/google-for-startups) *Deploying now* Accelerator · United States **811** **$1.4M** median round **Sept 2026** last seen
- 25 [BoxGroup](https://millionrounds.com/fund/boxgroup) *Deploying now* VC firm · United States **773** **$18M** median round **Nov 2026** last seen

**1,261 more on this list**

All 1,286 are in the app, with filters for stage, sector and market. A free account shows 10 per search, Pro up to 1,000.

[See the whole list *→*](https://millionrounds.com/login?join=1&next=%2Fapp%2Finvestor-lists%2Fpre-seed-ai-investors)

## The Newest Cheques

Rounds this list's investors joined most recently

- **7** Nov **[LionBio Therapeutics](https://millionrounds.com/company/lionbio-therapeutics)** Pre-seed · $6M *With* [South Park Commons](https://millionrounds.com/fund/south-park-commons)
- **6** Nov **[Water Ledger Global](https://millionrounds.com/company/water-ledger-global)** Other *With* [Launch Africa](https://millionrounds.com/fund/launch-africa-ventures)
- **6** Nov **[Foozi](https://millionrounds.com/company/foozi)** Pre-seed · $1M *Led by* [Quartzo Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/quartzo-capital)
- **6** Nov **[Physicl](https://millionrounds.com/company/physicl)** Seed · $10M *Led by* [Inovia Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/inovia-capital)
- **6** Nov **[Future Secure AI](https://millionrounds.com/company/future-secure-ai)** Other · $80M *Led by* [Square Peg](https://millionrounds.com/fund/square-peg-2)
- **6** Nov **[Ocient](https://millionrounds.com/company/ocient)** Series C · $100M *With* [Greycroft](https://millionrounds.com/fund/greycroft)

## Stages This Year

7,936 rounds

- Seed **24%**
- Venture **20%**
- Series A **15%**
- Pre-seed **13%**
- Series B **7%**
- Other **22%**

## What They Backed

Sectors, last 12 months

- AI **3,143**
- Healthcare **493**
- Biotech **492**
- Fintech **476**
- Big Data & Analytics **399**
- Energy **291**

## Cheques by Quarter

Led Joined

4,569 Q1 25

4,655 Q2 25

5,002 Q3 25

5,151 Q4 25

4,761 Q1 26

3,947 Q2 26

3,382 Q3 26

1,191 Q4 26

The last bar is the quarter still running.

## Lists Like This

- [Seed AI investors 2,922](https://millionrounds.com/lists/seed-ai-investors)
- [Series A AI investors 2,490](https://millionrounds.com/lists/series-a-ai-investors)
- [Series B AI investors 1,557](https://millionrounds.com/lists/series-b-ai-investors)
- [Growth AI investors 1,186](https://millionrounds.com/lists/growth-ai-investors)
- [Series A fintech investors 950](https://millionrounds.com/lists/series-a-fintech-investors)
- [Series C AI investors 930](https://millionrounds.com/lists/series-c-ai-investors)
- [Seed fintech investors 925](https://millionrounds.com/lists/seed-fintech-investors)
- [Series A biotech investors 650](https://millionrounds.com/lists/series-a-biotech-investors)
- [Seed big Data & Analytics investors 583](https://millionrounds.com/lists/seed-big-data-investors)

[All investor lists *→*](https://millionrounds.com/lists)

## Reading for founders in AI and data

- Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World Cade Metz · 2021 4.26 from 3,395 ratings on Goodreads AI and data Company building About the book "This colorful page-turner puts artificial intelligence into a human perspective. Through the lives of Geoff Hinton and other major players, Metz explains this transformative technology and makes the quest thrilling." Walter Isaacson, author of The Code Breaker Recipient of… On AmazonListen on Audible
- Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI Eric Lamarre · 2023 3.87 from 490 ratings on Goodreads AI and data Company building About the book In Rewired, the world's most influential management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, delivers a road-tested, how-to manual their own consultants use to help companies build the capabilities to outcompete in the age of digital and AI. Many companies are stuck with digital… On AmazonListen on Audible
- The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, 2019–2025 Dwarkesh Patel · 2025 3.87 from 570 ratings on Goodreads AI and data Company building About the book An inside view of the AI revolution, from the people and companies making it happen.How did we build large language models? How do they think, if they think? What will the world look like if we have billions of AIs that are as smart as humans, or even smarter?In a series of… On AmazonListen on Audible
- Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity Daron Acemoğlu · 2023 3.94 from 2,496 ratings on Goodreads AI and data Company building About the book The bestselling co-author of Why Nations Fail and the bestselling co-author of 13 Bankers deliver a bold reinterpretation of economics and history that will fundamentally change how you see the world A thousand years of history and contemporary evidence make one thing clear.… On AmazonListen on Audible

More books for founders and investors on the [Reading List](https://millionrounds.com/reading-list?role=founder&industry=ai&stage=idea).

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

## Quick answers about pre-seed AI investors

### Who are the most active pre-seed AI investors?

By cheques observed, the most active are Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Global, Sequoia Capital and National Science Foundation.

### How many pre-seed AI investors are there?

1,286 are on record. 88% made an investment in the last 12 months and 40% have led a round.

### Which stages do pre-seed AI investors back?

Of the rounds with a named stage in the last 12 months, mostly Seed (32%) and Series A (21%).

### How big are the rounds pre-seed AI investors join?

The typical (median) round among the leading investors here is $8M.

### Which sectors do pre-seed AI investors back most?

In the last 12 months, mostly AI, Healthcare and Biotech.

### Which pre-seed AI investors lead the most rounds?

Andreessen Horowitz (114 led), Accel (103 led) and General Catalyst (97 led).

### Where are pre-seed AI investors based?

Most of the leading investors here are based in the United States (21 of the top 25); the rest in France and Germany.

### What have pre-seed AI investors invested in recently?

Recent rounds include LionBio Therapeutics (Pre-seed, Nov 2026, with South Park Commons), Water Ledger Global (Other, Nov 2026, with Launch Africa) and Foozi (Pre-seed, Nov 2026, with Quartzo Capital).

Built from the rounds we watched, refreshed every night. [How we count](https://millionrounds.com/methodology) · [Report a correction](https://millionrounds.com/corrections)