# Naveen Rao, [Un]ceo at Craft Ventures

> Naveen Rao, [Un]ceo at Craft Ventures. 1 investment on record. The rounds they were named in and the filings that name them, each with its source.

Source: https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao (Millionrounds; every figure on the page links to its filing or article)

San Diego, US · Partner

# Naveen Rao

[Un]ceo at [Craft Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/craft-ventures)

Latest rounds

- **XOKind** Seed · $1.7M Dec 2019

Backs *AI*

Profile summary

- **Rounds named:** 1 last Dec 2019
- **Filings:** 2 with regulators
- **Podcasts:** 6 +3 mentions

What this record rests on

- ✓ **Named in rounds** 1 round name them
- ✓ **On filings** 2 filings with a regulator
- ✓ **Linked to a firm** At Craft Ventures
- **Claimed** Not claimed yet

Titles come from filings their firm signed.

[Correct or remove](https://millionrounds.com/corrections?person=naveen-rao)[Is this you? Claim it](https://millionrounds.com/claim?person=naveen-rao)

## The firm

[**Craft Ventures** VC firm · US **56** cheques in 12 months **282** all time **14** led deploying](https://millionrounds.com/fund/craft-ventures)

## Rounds they were named in

- **Rounds:** 1
- **Led:** 0
- **Disclosed:** $1.7M
- **Active:** 2019

2019

- [XOKind](https://millionrounds.com/company/xokind) *Seed* **$1.7M** *US* Dec 2019 Joined · +7 investors

By stage

- Seed **1**

What they backed

AI **1**

Alongside

- [Adam D’Angelo *1*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/adam-d-angelo)
- Amir Khosrowshahi *1*
- Andreas Quandt *1*
- Bob Gunderson *1*
- Ishan Mukherjee *1*
- [Section 32 *1*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/section-32)
- [The Operator Network *1*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/the-operator-network)

Rounds where a report named this person rather than a firm, matched on name: read it as a strong hint, not proof, since people share names.

## Where they are named on record

Filings

- SEC Form D · Company raising **Mosaic ML, Inc.** Executive Officer, Director, Promoter since 2021
- SEC Form D · Company raising **Nervana Systems, Inc.** Executive Officer, Director on 2 filings · since 2014

Each row is a document a firm filed with a regulator: somebody signed it, and it carries a date.

## Also at Craft Ventures

- [**Jeff Fluhr** Venture Partner *28 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/jeff-fluhr)
- [**Sky Dayton** Venture Partner *7 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/sky-dayton)
- [**Bryan Rosenblatt** Venture Partner *2 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/bryan-rosenblatt)
- [**Andrew Blachman** Scout *1 round*](https://millionrounds.com/person/andrew-blachman)
- [**Arra Malekzadeh** Limited Partner of Craft Ventures GP IV, LP *0 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/arra-malekzadeh)
- [**Brian M.** Partner & COO *0 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/brian-m)
- [**Caroline B.** Operating Partner, Communications, PR & Marketing *0 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/caroline-b)
- [**Cassie Leemans** Vice President, Talent *0 rounds*](https://millionrounds.com/person/cassie-leemans)

## Hear them before you pitch them

- [The Twenty Minute VC](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/20vc) · 24 Oct 2026 · 1h 9m 20VC: Why Robotics Will be 100x Bigger than Coding Agents | Inference Will Be a $10TRN Market: What No One Sees | Why Software Investors are F***** Today with Naveen Rao, Unconventional With [Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao) About this episode AGENDA: 05:00 Will we run out of energy? 19:00 Will specialised chips threaten NVIDIA's dominance? 26:00 Can we trust AI agents more than humans? 31:00 Will data companies become commodities? 36:00 What comes after transformers? 41:00 Are software investors f****** in a world of infra and… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [All-In](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/all-in) · 21 Sept 2026 · 23 min Naveen Rao: 4D Computing, AI's Energy Wall & Beating Biology With [Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao) About this episode (0:00) Welcome Naveen Rao (4:45) Is energy really the problem? The cost of a token, power contracts & the gap to close (10:24) Cutting out the middleman: abstractions, dynamical systems & a new kind of machine (19:46) Chamath joins: the path to product, porting existing models & building the… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [TBPN](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/tbpn) · 9 Dec 2025 · 3h 34m Ellison's Counter Offer, Chinese H200s, Data Centers in Space | Aaron Ginn, Matt Kalish, Emil Michael, Blake Scholl, Naveen Rao, Ofir Ehrlich, Gorkem Yurtseven, Pedro Franceschi With [Aaron Ginn](https://millionrounds.com/person/aaron-ginn)[Blake Scholl](https://millionrounds.com/person/blake-scholl)[Matt Kalish](https://millionrounds.com/person/matt-kalish)[Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao)[Pedro Franceschi](https://millionrounds.com/person/pedro-franceschi) Mentions [Emil Michael](https://millionrounds.com/fund/emil-michael) About this episode (00:20) - Ellison's Counter Offer (18:23) - Chinese H200s (32:18) - Data Centers in Space (42:30) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions (01:01:24) - Aaron Ginn is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hydra Host, a company specializing in high-performance computing infrastructure. In the conversation, he… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [The a16z Show](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/a16z) · 8 Dec 2025 · 30 min The 80-Year Bet: Why Naveen Rao Is Rebuilding the Computer from Scratch With [Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao) About this episode Naveen Rao is cofounder and CEO of Unconventional AI, an AI chip startup building analog computing systems designed specifically for intelligence. Previously, Naveen led AI at Databricks and founded two successful companies: Mosaic (cloud computing) and Nervana (AI accelerators, acquired by Intel).… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [Fund/Build/Scale](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/fund-build-scale) · 27 Sept 2024 · 51 min From tech worker to tech founder: Lessons from Naveen Rao of Databricks With [Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao) About this episode In 2014, Naveen Rao left his researcher job at Qualcomm to co-found machine intelligence platform Nervana. About two and a half years later, Nervana sold to Intel for more than $400 million. After a few years at Intel, Naveen became CEO and co-founder of open source startup MosaicML, which helped… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [Generative Now](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/generative-now) · 8 Aug 2024 · 45 min Naveen Rao: Inside the Legendary Databricks Acquisition of MosaicML With [Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao) About this episode This week on Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano talks to Naveen Rao about big bets in his career, hardware to develop AI, and open source as the key to safety. Naveen Rao is the founder of Nervana Systems and MosaicML, which was acquired by Databricks in 2023. He is… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page

### Mentioned in

Episodes that name Naveen Rao in their description, which is not the same as being on them.

- [Sourcery](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/sourcery) · 27 Sept 2026 · 47 min 10 of The Wildest Hot Takes From the All-In Summit 2026 Mentions [Altimeter](https://millionrounds.com/fund/altimeter-capital)[Chamath Palihapitiya](https://millionrounds.com/fund/chamath-palihapitiya)[David Friedberg](https://millionrounds.com/fund/david-friedberg)[David Sacks](https://millionrounds.com/fund/david-sacks)[Elon Musk](https://millionrounds.com/fund/elon-musk)[Jason Calacanis](https://millionrounds.com/fund/jason-calacanis) About this episode The All-In Summit returned to Los Angeles this year with one of its biggest lineups yet: Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Gwynne Shotwell, Jared Isaacman, Brad Gerstner, Bill Gurley, Dina Powell McCormick, Jake Paul, Nick Shirley, Blake Scholl, Martin Shkreli and more, alongside hosts… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [Sourcery](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/sourcery) · 7 Feb 2026 · 1h 9m $4.5B Brain-Inspired AI Chip Company Mentions [Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[DCVC](https://millionrounds.com/fund/data-collective)[Jeff Bezos](https://millionrounds.com/fund/jeff-bezos)[Playground Global](https://millionrounds.com/fund/playground-global)[Sequoia Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/sequoia-capital)[Konstantine Buhler](https://millionrounds.com/person/konstantine-buhler) About this episode Unconventional AI recently emerged from stealth with $475M in seed funding at a $4.5B valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed, with participation from Sequoia, Lux Capital, DCVC, Future Ventures, Jeff Bezos, Playground Global, and others. Naveen is also personally investing $10M into… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page
- [This Week in Startups](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/this-week-in-startups) · 4 Oct 2024 · 1h 26m Highlighting Data Intelligence with Databricks & Bonbon's Reward Innovation | E2020 Mentions [Alex Wilhelm](https://millionrounds.com/person/alex-wilhelm)[Naveen Rao](https://millionrounds.com/person/naveen-rao) About this episode This Week in Startups is brought to you by… OpenPhone. Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist⁠ LinkedIn Jobs. A… More on the show's page Listen on Apple PodcastsThe show's page

Episodes of [the shows we follow](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts), matched by name. Not them? [Tell us](https://millionrounds.com/corrections?person=naveen-rao).

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