Investor Profile: Compound VC — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Compound VC is a New York-based, research-centric venture capital firm that invests in scientific and technical founders tackling the hardest problems in frontier technology. Founded by David Hirsch as Metamorphic Ventures and renamed Compound in 2016, the firm is now led by Managing Partner Michael Dempsey and describes itself as a thesis-driven, research-centric investment firm "helping accelerate the futures that our founders believe in". If you are searching for Compound VC funding, this guide covers its thesis, portfolio and how to pitch.

Thesis & focus

Compound's identity is research first. The firm publishes hundreds of public theses and deeply technical essays across AI/ML, robotics, biology and crypto, and a Compound Thesis Database of investable ideas. Its crypto arm runs a dedicated site, Compound Crypto, and the firm's venture partners are domain scientists — Dan Zigmond (data science & AI), Celeste Holz-Schietinger (biology), John Palmer (crypto), Drew Gray (AI & robotics), Jason Kelly (biology & healthcare) and Ron Boger (computational biology). The firm's differentiating pitch is high-conviction lead investing: it prefers to lead rounds in scientific and technical founders and stay involved from the thesis stage through Series A.

Sectors & stages

Compound invests across artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics, healthcare and biology, crypto, climate tech, deep tech and space tech. On stage, it concentrates on pre-seed, seed and Series A rounds, and its Compound Fund V (2024) is an active pre-seed to Series A vehicle backing founders across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Israel. Its headquarters are at 414 Broadway, New York, NY 10013.

Fund size & cheque size

The firm does not publicly disclose its fund sizes or cheque sizes on its site, and Compound Fund V's size is not publicly stated. Historically, the firm has operated lean, high-conviction funds — it was founded as a seed fund and closed a near-$70 million fund in 2014 as Metamorphic Ventures, plus a $50 million fund at the 2016 rebrand. Founders should expect research-heavy diligence and a lead-investor posture.

Compound VC funding: notable portfolio

Compound's portfolio reads like a frontier-tech roll call. In AI, machine learning and robotics: Runway, Deepgram, Wayve, Osaro, Fort Robotics, Prime Intellect, Orbital Materials . In healthcare and biology: Culture Biosciences, Bionaut, Conception, Talkspace and Tia. In crypto: Arbitrum, The Graph, Dapper Labs, Stacks, Threshold, PartyDAO . Other notable bets include Payjoy, Daily and Antimatter.

Partners & team

Managing Partner Michael Dempsey — formerly a venture capitalist at Union Square Ventures and a research analyst at CB Insights — sets the firm's research-driven tone and writes prolifically on robotics, AI and neurotechnology. He is joined by General Partner David Hirsch, Partners Smac and Shelby Newsad, Researcher Mackenzie Morehead and CFO Tara Eckert, backed by six venture partners covering data science, biology and crypto.

How to apply for funding

Compound does not publish an open application form or pitch email. The realistic route is a warm introduction to a partner, ideally after engaging with the firm's public research, leading with a tight technical thesis note. Scientific founders whose work sits inside one of their published theses get disproportionate attention.