Basis Set Ventures
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Basis Set isn't just another AI fund throwing money at everything with 'copilot' in the pitch deck. They employ their own proprietary machine learning stack, including foundation models and proprietary tools (Parasail, Tigris, Spice AI, and Simular) to identify founder patterns that correlate with outlier outcomes. Lan and her team built their own AI tools before it was cool and actually use data to pick founders, not just vibes. Basis Set Ventures has 5 unicorns in its portfolio - Quince, Sakana, Imbue and others. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Quince. It became a unicorn in 2025, 3 years after Basis Set Ventures first invested in it. The track record speaks for itself - these aren't tourist investors chasing trends. What founders really need to know is that Lan is genuinely technical with a psych PhD and built acquisition teams at Dropbox, so she actually gets both the human and technical sides of building. And then… just get the fuck out of the way. Great venture capital isn't about having all the answers. It's about helping founders unlock their own.
- —Best for: Technical founders who want an investor who actually understands both AI and human psychology
- —Watch out for: They're data-driven about everything, so be ready for rigorous founder assessment
- —Known for: Building their own AI tools and having one of the best seed-to-unicorn conversion rates in AI
We invest in artificial intelligence and founders harnessing it to improve productivity across all sectors of the economy. We take the long view that AI is the single most transformative force shaping the 21st century. Basis Set invests in founders that are scaling human potential with artificial intelligence.
The firm typically leads or co-leads pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds, investing from $1 million to $3 million for 10%-15% ownership stakes. The portfolio clearly emphasizes AI-native companies across B2B SaaS, infrastructure, enterprise automation, and emerging categories like 'infrastructure-first consumer' companies. Typical investment range: $2M-$3M for seed rounds, with pre-seed investments around $250K-$500K.
Lan Xuezhao is a Chinese-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. She is best known for founding Basis Set Ventures, a San Francisco–based venture capital firm that was one of the earliest to focus on early-stage artificial intelligence and automation startups. She was one of the first investors in category-defining companies like Scale AI, Quince, Path Robotics, Workstream, Ergeon, Drata, and CuspAI.
Rachel Wong, CTO & Partner, leads technical diligence and assists portfolio companies in machine learning and hiring. From the earliest days, when Lan hired former TechCrunch reporter John Mannes, and then built out the team with the data scientist Rachel Wong
From the earliest days, when Lan hired former TechCrunch reporter John Mannes John Mannes, Partner, provides insights into product and business model strategies 'We talk a lot about how to find founders outside of the Bay Area… the entrepreneurs who aren't hanging out at Blue Bottle 24-7,' said Mannes.
former Upfront Ventures partner Chang Xu Chang Xu, Partner, excels in identifying AI-native startups and aiding in technology development Previously, she was a principal at Upfront Ventures, the oldest and largest SoCal-based early stage venture capital firm.
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