Tribe Capital
No summary available yet.
Tribe is what happens when ex-Social Capital data nerds decide to build their own shop and actually follow through on the "quantitative VC" promise that most funds just talk about. Two-thirds of Tribe's staff is in R&D, engineering, and data science. Other firms rely on what Sethi has called "partners with a Midas touch" to make investment decisions. They've built genuine IP around their "Magic 8-Ball" underwriting tool and aren't just using spreadsheets like everyone else. In October 2022, leaked documents showed Tribe Capital's first fund had seen a "nearly fivefold return on investment." The company has been critiqued on matters such as investments in the cryptocurrency market, markdowns on several of its portfolio companies, and its response to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. The good: they actually walk the walk on data-driven investing and have real returns to show for it. The risk: they're heavy on crypto exposure (including the FTX mess) and their systematic approach might miss nuanced founder dynamics that matter in early-stage deals.
- —Best for: Data-driven founders who can articulate growth metrics and want systematic post-investment support
- —Watch out for: Heavy crypto exposure and potential over-reliance on quantitative models vs. founder intuition
- —Known for: Actually using proprietary AI/data tools (not just marketing speak) and strong early fund performance
We are a $2.2B AUM venture capital firm focused on harnessing AI and data science to deploy capital with precision — into N-of-1 companies. Tribe Capital is a venture capital fund built as a "technology company that deploys capital," where engineers and data scientists use proprietary datasets and predictive models to systematically score private companies on growth quality, retention, and network effects across all investment decisions. The firm focuses on backing "N-of-1" category-defining companies with strong network effects and uses quantitative models to concentrate capital into rare outliers rather than spreading it thinly, positioning itself as re-engineering traditional VC portfolio construction.
The firm prefers to invest in seed to growth-stage technology companies. Tribe Capital has made 62 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $5.12M, 47 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $18.8M and 21 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $48.3M. Tribe Capital primarily invests in companies that are innovating in enterprise software, fintech, healthcare, life sciences, and other technology-driven fields. It funds startups in software and cryptocurrency both in the United States and internationally.
Arjun Sethi (born January 15, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur, investor and executive. Currently a co-CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, he is also chairman of Tribe Capital, a company he co-founded in 2018. He was also co-founder and CEO of MessageMe (acquired by Yahoo!) and CEO of Lolapps. In December 2023, he transitioned from CEO of Tribe Capital to chairman and chief investment officer (CIO). At the time, Tribe Capital had approximately $1.6 billion in assets under management, about 20% of which was invested in India.
Holding a PhD in theoretical physics from Stanford University, Hsu brings a rigorous analytical foundation to his role, having pioneered data science initiatives at Social Capital as Partner and SVP of Quantitative Investing and Data Science. Before that, he contributed to forming and leading Facebook's Data Science and Analytics organization, where he applied advanced statistical methods to inform product and business decisions. Jonathan Hsu combines an analytical and quantitative background with an operating history across several companies. Before Tribe Capital, Jonathan pioneered applying data science to venture capital as a partner at Social Capital.
Ted Maidenberg, also a Managing Partner, focuses on fund management, operations, and limited partner relations at Tribe Capital, drawing on his deep experience in venture firm-building. Ted draws from experiences working within a Corporate VC (Time Warner), a traditional VC (USVP), and now has co-founded two firms known for their innovative approaches to investing —- Social Capital in 2011 with Chamath Palihapitiya and Mamoon Hamid, and most recently Tribe. Ted has also been part of investing teams that count investments such as Slack, Carta, and Survey Monkey.
Tribe Capital's Arjun Sethi has relinquished the CEO role to Boris Revsin & become chairman & CIO. I started my time with Tribe Capital during one of the hardest periods for venture in over a decade. In spite of that, Arjun Sethi gave me an offer *the same day* I told him I was looking for a new opportunity. We had been working as close partners of Tribe at Republic, alongside my friends and colleagues Kendrick Nguyen, Julian Jung and Andrew Durgee and many others. I got a chance to see first-hand the innovation, creativity, and speed at which Tribe Capital was able to become a top tier investor across sectors and stages.
Have a specific question about Tribe Capital?
Ask Bernie →