Koch Disruptive Technologies funding sits at an unusual intersection: the patience of balance-sheet capital with the velocity of venture. Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) is the venture arm of Koch Industries, founded in 2017 by Chase Koch and headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, with staff also in Atlanta, Santa Barbara, Houston and Israel. The parent needs little introduction — the second-largest private company in the US, with revenues above $125bn and some 120,000 employees in 50+ countries. KDT invests off that balance sheet, which means no fund lifecycle clock ticking over your company.
The thesis: principled entrepreneurs, could-be worlds
KDT's mandate is to back "principled entrepreneurs" building transformative companies that disrupt the status quo — flexible, multi-stage capital from seed through growth and late-stage. Its genuine differentiator is Koch Labs: dedicated staff plus incentives for executives across Koch's operating companies — Molex, Georgia-Pacific, Infor and others — to collaborate with portfolio companies on joint projects, technical help and commercial introductions. For a hard-tech or industrial founder, that is a customer pipeline, not just a cap table.
Scale, sectors and stages
Publicly stated: more than $4bn invested since 2017 across 70+ direct investments (a 2024–25 figure; no published AUM or target fund size exists). Sectors: supply chain and manufacturing, enterprise software and AI, semiconductors, cybersecurity, connectivity, energy and energy transformation (about $1.7bn committed to energy-transition ventures), fintech and healthcare. Data aggregators place its primary activity at Series A and B, with the capacity to follow deep into growth.
Notable portfolio
The track record includes Ibotta (IPO, April 2024) and Via (IPO, September 2025), Standard Lithium, Israeli deep-tech bets proteanTecs (KDT led its $45M growth round) and Percepto (also a $45M round led by KDT), Vayyar, AI chipmaker Rivos (a $250M round), Celestial.AI, Fabric, Beyond Identity, HappyRobot (a 2026 unicorn), Arkestro (co-led a $26M Series A), OnRamp (led $15M) and Emanate (October 2026). The portfolio skews US with a strong Israel axis — we could not verify any India-domiciled portfolio company or India office.
Leadership
Founder: Chase Koch. Managing Directors named in press releases: Jon Chisholm, Brendon Durkin, Byron Knight (also COO) and Eli Groner — a team of roughly 22–25 people, small for the cheque sizes it writes.
How to apply for funding from Koch Disruptive Technologies
The honest version: we could not verify any public pitch inbox or open application form — KDT does not publish one in its press materials. For a balance-sheet corporate venture fund of this type, the real route is a warm introduction via portfolio founders, Koch executives or co-investors; cold outreach to a named managing director is the fallback, not the norm. Show where a Koch operating company becomes your customer, distributor or technical partner — Koch Labs is the reason to take this money over Sand Hill money. Indian founders face a geography filter (no verified India bets), so come in through a US co-investor or a portfolio-founder introduction, and lead with the industrial angle. That is how to get funding from Koch Disruptive Technologies: warm, industrial, and routed through a real operating-company fit.
Why it matters for founders
KDT is the rare corporate venture arm that is not a strategic-cost centre — it invests off Koch's balance sheet with a long horizon. If you are building in supply chains, manufacturing, industrial AI or energy transition, and you can map a Koch Labs fit, this is the corporate money that actually moves the needle. The bar is high and the geography skews US/Israel, so arrive warm and arrive industrial.