Catapult Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based seed-stage venture capital firm investing in deep-tech startups at the intersection of hardware, embedded systems, and software. Founded in 2018 by Darren Liccardo and Rouz Jazayeri, the firm focuses on AI, automation, robotics, and IoT across automotive, aerospace, semiconductor, and industrial sectors.
Founded —
Type Venture capital 2 Catapult Ventures II 2022-06-22 2022-06-22 — USD60mofferingtarget; FormD2022-06-22USD0sold, firstsaleyettoccur, notverifiedclosed. Liccardo/Jazayeri identifyUSfirm.
Catapult Ventures I 2019-02-14 2019-02-14 $55M MaidenUSD55mclosed above target; rounded vsCrunchbaseUSD55.4mprecisioncaveat. Exactincorporationyearnotinferredfromlaunch.
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$1M $100K – $5M San Francisco Bay Area $150K $100K – $5M Sunnyvale, California — — – —
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$50M 2026-04-28 OpenLight Photonics Catapult Ventures $— 2026-04-15 Hyfix Catapult Ventures $20M 2026-01-05 Array Labs Catapult Ventures , Y Combinator , Cultivation Capital , Aera VC , Washington Harbour Partners , KOMPAS VC , Mandra Capital $12M 2025-05-20 Biostate AI Accel , Dario Amodei , Catapult Ventures $50M 2024-11-20 Pickle Robot Catapult Ventures $— 2024-11-18 ANELLO Photonics Catapult Ventures $— 2024-04-30 CroBio Catapult Ventures $10M 2023-10-16 Urban Sky Catapult Ventures , Rouz Jazayeri , Darren Liccardo $13M 2023-03-09 Mythic DCVC , Lux Capital , Catapult Ventures , Hermann Hauser , Rouz Jazayeri , Shahin Farshchi , Matt Ocko $— 2022-12-08 Urban Machine Catapult Ventures $26M 2022-11-15 Pickle Robot Catapult Ventures , BoxGroup , Version One Ventures $28M 2021-10-20 ANELLO Photonics Catapult Ventures , HCVC $— 2021-08-04 Elroy Air Catapult Ventures $— 2021 Resonado Labs Catapult Ventures $27M 2020-05-19 Presence Bain Capital , Catalyst Investors , New Markets Venture Partners , Catapult Ventures $— 2020-01-16 SpinLaunch Catapult Ventures $— 2020 Left Hand Robotics Catapult Ventures $— 2018-05-08 Xnor Catapult Ventures $— 2018 Xnor.ai Catapult Ventures $— 2013-10-02 Quri Catapult Ventures $— 2013-01-20 MasteryConnect Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Strella Biotechnology Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Quadratic Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Quadratic Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Proveca Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Pill Connect Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Pickle Robot Company Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Maxwellia Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Full Speed Automation Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Biofortuna Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Advanced Farm Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Advanced Farm Catapult Ventures $— 2026 Eridu AI Catapult Ventures , Osage University Partners , TDK Ventures $— 2025 Elastixai Catapult Ventures $— 2024-11-20 Pickle Robot Co Catapult Ventures $— Unknown date Advanced Farm Technologies Catapult Ventures
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team@apexlogos.ai · 7 hours ago
Investment-fund research reviewed 2026-10-06. Publicly identified funds, dates, amounts and fundraising status are below. Undisclosed commitments remain unknown; this is not a complete register of private SPVs or parallel entities.
Fund size and status
| Vehicle | Amount / status | Evidence and limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Maiden fund / Catapult Ventures I | **US$55m closed**, announced 2019-02-14 | [Venture Capital Journal](https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/catapult-ventures-closes-maiden-fund-above-target-at-55-mln/ ), 2019-02-14, reports an above-target close. Public headline accessible; article body registration restricted. [Founder Rouz Jazayeri announcement](https://medium.com/@rouz_85704/catapulting-the-next-wave-of-ai-automation-robotics-and-iot-startups-c9b977030c8e ), February 2019, search-index accessible; direct read returned an error, says completed fundraising for first US$55m fund. |
| Catapult Ventures II, L.P. | **US$60m offering / target**, not verified closed | [SEC Form D](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1933048/000193304822000001/xslFormDX08/primary_doc.xml ), filed/signed 2022-06-22, identifies Rouzbeh Jazayeri and Darren Liccardo, Los Altos. It reports US$60m total offering, **US$0 sold**, zero investors, first sale yet to occur. Those figures describe the filing date only. |
Fund II is the latest-known numbered vehicle located in this research, not a confirmed latest fund or current fundraising status. Searches for newer fund/III announcements through 2026-10-06 found no verified newer close. AUM and Fund II final commitments remain undisclosed in checked sources. Do not add US$55m closed and US$60m target as US$115m AUM. The US$55.4m Fund I figure in [Crunchbase News's Q1 2019 table](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/venture-capital-in-q1-2019-the-world-pulls-back-from-record-highs/ ), 2019, differs slightly from the rounded close announcement; preserve that precision caveat.
Funds recorded in Adex after this review:
| Fund | Disclosed amount | Announcement / filing date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Catapult Ventures I | USD 55000000 | 2019-02-14 |
| Catapult Ventures II | Undisclosed / unverified | 2022-06-22 | SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 7 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / GoldiCatapultVentures / sha256:057681c03f74ec0d11325fb4da29f54b6de8d95c3f395f13e58a260f559a6879 / part 2 of 2
Imported completed research. Baseline Adex/Signal statements describe prior state, not independent verification. Retain cited attribution, date, currency and classification caveats.
**QV Bioelectronics is a concrete false-attribution risk.** The snapshot links QV to this exact ID, dated 2021-06-30. The [UK Catapult's official announcement posted 2022-02-07 (release dated 2022-02-04)](https://www.catapult-ventures.com/news/qv-bioelectronics-awarded-630-000-under-innovate-uk-biomedical-catalyst-award/ ) identifies QV's prior funding as including the **GM & Cheshire Life Sciences Fund managed by Catapult Ventures**. Its [2023-01-10 announcement](https://catapult-ventures.com/news/qv-bioelectronics-raises-2m-to-develop-revolutionary-electric-field-therapy-implant-for-brain-tumour-treatment/ ) names UK investment director Vijay Curthan and describes a US-unrelated **£2m pre-Series A**. QV develops an implanted electric-field treatment for brain tumours: brain-device/bioelectronic oncology technology, with a classification caveat versus direct neural modulation. It must not be assigned to GoldiCatapultVentures on shared name alone.
## Conflicts, missing information and later Adex review
1. Keep the US catapult.vc firm separate from **catapult-ventures.com** (UK) and **catapultvc.com**, led by Jonathan Tower. The [UK site's legal identity](https://www.catapult-ventures.com/ ), accessed 2026-10-06, is Catapult Ultimate Holdings / Catapult Venture Managers; its approximately £130m historical funds are not US Catapult AUM. [Jonathan Tower's Catapult](https://www.catapultvc.com/about/ ), accessed 2026-10-06, is another distinct organization.
2. Review QV Bioelectronics, CroBio, Biofortuna, Maxwellia, Pill Connect and Proveca snapshot participations for removal/reassignment during a separately authorized Adex review. The [UK official sitemap/portfolio](https://www.catapult-ventures.com/sitemap/ ), accessed 2026-10-06, lists all six. This establishes UK portfolio attribution, not every individual round date. [UK Maxwellia announcement](https://catapult-ventures.com/news/maxwellia-announces-the-launch-of-lovitest/ ), **2024-02-21**, explicitly calls Biofortuna a fellow portfolio business.
3. Quri and MasteryConnect snapshot transactions dated 2013 predate this US firm's launch; treat them as unresolved name/partner-history attribution, not established investments. The snapshot's 2018 founding claim remains a baseline claim; public launch was 2019-02-14 and some activity preceded it. Do not infer corporate incorporation year from launch alone.
4. Reconcile duplicate company IDs/participations for Pickle Robot, Xnor.ai and Advanced Farm before counting portfolio breadth. Duplicate naming does not create distinct investments. The Left Hand Robotics snapshot date says 2020 while its cited URL is dated 2019-08-28; recheck before importing.
5. Correct Array Labs round-total/check-size conflation: US$20m is the entire Series A. Eridu's US$200m snapshot round field also needs review because the primary release gives cumulative funding, not a precise disclosed round amount or Catapult check.
6. Fund II closed size/status, current AUM, firm-wide checks, precise first-entry dates for portfolio-only examples and any undisclosed neurotech exposure remain missing. NFX check-size data should remain attributed and dated; no numerical firm mandate was independently verified.
All linked sources were accessed 2026-10-06. Publication dates are supplied where visible; undated official/Signal pages are current public-page observations on that access date. Company press releases verify disclosed attribution, not investment outcomes or technical performance. This file is research only and is not permission to patch any entity. SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 7 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / GoldiCatapultVentures / sha256:057681c03f74ec0d11325fb4da29f54b6de8d95c3f395f13e58a260f559a6879 / part 1 of 2
Imported completed research. Baseline Adex/Signal statements describe prior state, not independent verification. Retain cited attribution, date, currency and classification caveats.
# Catapult Ventures — GoldiCatapultVentures
- Exact Adex ID: `GoldiCatapultVentures`
- Canonical Adex URL: https://adex.page/firms/GoldiCatapultVentures
- Research date: 2026-10-06
- Status: completed research for later review; no Adex/database changes made.
Catapult Ventures at **catapult.vc** is the Silicon Valley investor founded by Darren Liccardo and Rouz Jazayeri. It backs hardware, embedded systems and software, with clear photonics, robotics and aerospace experience. The saved record contains material contamination from unrelated investors with similar names. In particular, QV Bioelectronics is evidence for the UK Catapult, not this firm. [Official identity](https://catapult.vc/about/ ), undated, accessed 2026-10-06.
## Starting evidence and NFX Signal
The saved exact-ID snapshot, `data/research/_sources/GoldiCatapultVentures.adex.json`, retrieved 2026-10-06, names Catapult Ventures, Los Altos, Darren Liccardo, Rouz Jazayeri and Michael Paniccia. Its description says founded 2018, but the structured founded field and check-size fields are null. It lists robotics/photonics investments alongside UK life-sciences transactions and 2013 transactions predating this firm's launch. Existing records and goldi.ai citations are starting claims, not independent verification.
The [NFX Signal firm page](https://signal.nfx.com/firms/catapult-ventures ) was directly read: it explicitly identifies catapult.vc, lists Sunnyvale/San Francisco Bay Area and co-investors including DCVC, Lux, Lerer Hippeau and Lockheed Martin Ventures. The public firm page exposes limited team/deal detail. [Darren Liccardo's Signal profile](https://signal.nfx.com/investors/darren-liccardo ), directly read, lists Managing Director, a **US$100,000–US$5m investment range** and **US$1.5m sweet spot**, with seed rankings in robotics, IoT and AI; detailed investments require sign-in. These are profile claims rather than verified firm-wide check policy. Both are undated, accessed 2026-10-06. Sunnyvale versus the snapshot's Los Altos is a location discrepancy, not evidence of separate firms.
## Fund size and status
| Vehicle | Amount / status | Evidence and limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Maiden fund / Catapult Ventures I | **US$55m closed**, announced 2019-02-14 | [Venture Capital Journal](https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/catapult-ventures-closes-maiden-fund-above-target-at-55-mln/ ), 2019-02-14, reports an above-target close. Public headline accessible; article body registration restricted. [Founder Rouz Jazayeri announcement](https://medium.com/@rouz_85704/catapulting-the-next-wave-of-ai-automation-robotics-and-iot-startups-c9b977030c8e ), February 2019, search-index accessible; direct read returned an error, says completed fundraising for first US$55m fund. |
| Catapult Ventures II, L.P. | **US$60m offering / target**, not verified closed | [SEC Form D](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1933048/000193304822000001/xslFormDX08/primary_doc.xml ), filed/signed 2022-06-22, identifies Rouzbeh Jazayeri and Darren Liccardo, Los Altos. It reports US$60m total offering, **US$0 sold**, zero investors, first sale yet to occur. Those figures describe the filing date only. |
Fund II is the latest-known numbered vehicle located in this research, not a confirmed latest fund or current fundraising status. Searches for newer fund/III announcements through 2026-10-06 found no verified newer close. AUM and Fund II final commitments remain undisclosed in checked sources. Do not add US$55m closed and US$60m target as US$115m AUM. The US$55.4m Fund I figure in [Crunchbase News's Q1 2019 table](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/venture-capital-in-q1-2019-the-world-pulls-back-from-record-highs/ ), 2019, differs slightly from the rounded close announcement; preserve that precision caveat.
## Investment stages
The [official investment model](https://catapult.vc/ ), undated, accessed 2026-10-06, expressly targets **pre-seed and seed** at the hardware/embedded/software intersection, often leads, also syndicates, and reserves capital for subsequent rounds. Verified historical transactions include Series A, A-1 and B below. They establish later-round activity, not a replacement for the current early-stage mandate. No official numerical initial-check range was located.
## Verified previous deep-tech investments
Amounts below are company round totals, **not Catapult's individual checks**. Technology classification is a research assessment based on the cited descriptions.
| Company | Technology rationale | Firm attribution, round/date and source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Array Labs** | Formation-flying space radar constellation; novel radar manufacturing architecture. | Catapult **led US$20m Series A**, announced **2026-01-05**. Company-issued [PR Newswire release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/array-labs-raises-20m-to-scale-radar-manufacturing-prepare-for-launch-302653196.html ) names the lead and participants. US$35m company total funding is distinct. |
| **OpenLight** | Heterogeneous indium-phosphide/silicon photonics with integrated lasers, modulators and detectors; substantial semiconductor engineering. | New investor Catapult participated in **US$50m Series A-1**, **2026-04-28**, led by Matter Venture Partners. [Official announcement](https://openlightphotonics.com/newsroom/openlight-secures-50-million-in-series-a-1-funding-to-accelerate-global-deployment-of-next-generation-photonics ) explicitly describes this Catapult as the Silicon Valley hardware/embedded investor, resolving name ambiguity. US$84m company funding total is separate. |
| **ANELLO Photonics** | Silicon Photonic Optical Gyroscope and inertial navigation for GPS-denied autonomous systems. | Catapult **co-led Series B** with Lockheed Martin and One Madison Group, **2024-11-18**; amount not disclosed in the checked release. Company-issued [PR Newswire announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anello-photonics-secures-series-b-funding-to-propel-the-future-of-inertial-navigation-for-autonomous-applications-302308715.html ). The OpenLight release also identifies Anello as this Catapult's portfolio company. |
| **Pickle Robot** | Physical AI and robotic systems for unloading trucks; perception, manipulation and hardware integration. | Catapult participated in **US$50m Series B**, **2024-11-20**. Company-issued [GlobeNewswire announcement](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/11/20/2984232/0/en/Pickle-Robot-Closes-50-Million-Series-B-Funding-and-Secures-New-Orders-for-30-Unload-Robots.html ). Also directly listed on the [firm site](https://catapult.vc/ ). |
| **Eridu** | Purpose-built AI network switching with novel silicon, packaging, system and optical architecture. | [Official release](https://eridu.ai/pr/eridu-emerges-from-stealth-with-over-200m-in-funding/ ), **2026-03-10**, names Catapult among company backers. **More than US$200m is total funding including a new Series A**, not necessarily the Series A amount. Catapult is not explicitly named in the separate Series A participant paragraph; its precise round participation remains unresolved. The firm links the announcement on its official news list. |
| **Mythic** | Embedded, efficient AI processor technology. | [Official Catapult site](https://catapult.vc/ ), undated, accessed 2026-10-06, directly lists Mythic. Portfolio attribution verified; specific entry round and check not established here. |
| **Xnor.ai and Oculii** | Edge AI and imaging radar respectively. | [Official portfolio](https://catapult.vc/portfolio/ ) and [official team page](https://catapult.vc/about/ ), undated, accessed 2026-10-06, identify these investments/exits (Apple and Ambarella). The OpenLight release independently identifies both exits for this firm. Exact entry rounds/checks not reverified here. |
Other official portfolio examples include Elroy Air, SpinLaunch, Strella Biotechnology and Urban Sky; they provide further aerospace/biosensor leads, but this note does not assert their snapshot round figures without independent round verification. Quadratic's spreadsheet tooling is not automatically classified as deep tech merely because Catapult invested.
## Neurotech and identity caveats
**No verified neurotech investment found in the sources checked** for this Silicon Valley Catapult Ventures. The checked official portfolio and targeted neural/brain/neurotech searches did not establish a direct neural interface, stimulation, recording or brain-device investment attributable to catapult.vc. AI processors and brain-inspired computing language do not alone establish neurotechnology. SHOW MORE
team@apexlogos.ai · 22 days ago
MATCH 
Accel
Biostate AI$12M · 2025-05-20
Array Labs$20M · 2026-01-05
Bain Capital
Presence$27M · 2020-05-19
BoxGroup
Pickle Robot$26M · 2022-11-15
Dario Amodei
Urban Sky$10M · 2023-10-16
ANELLO Photonics$28M · 2021-10-20
Hermann Hauser
Mythic$13M · 2023-03-09
Lux Capital
Osage University Partners
Shahin Farshchi
TDK Ventures
Version One Ventures
Y Combinator
