Lachy Groom
About Lachy Groom
Lachy Groom is an Australian entrepreneur from Perth who lives and works in San Francisco. According to Wikipedia, he began learning to code at 11 and started several online businesses before adulthood. These included PSDtoWP and iPadCaseFinder, and several of them were sold while he was still a teenager. TechCrunch reports that he sold his first company nine months after starting it at age 13.
After high school he joined Stripe as its 30th employee. Public profiles say he worked across product, growth and operations. He eventually became Head of Stripe Issuing and led payments product and partnership teams. NFX Signal dates his Stripe tenure as 2012 to 2018, and Wikipedia says he also led Stripe's expansion into Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
After leaving Stripe he became a full-time angel investor, and Wikipedia describes him as the founder and sole general partner of the investment firm LGF. In 2024 he co-founded Physical Intelligence with robotics researchers including Sergey Levine and Chelsea Finn. The company develops general-purpose AI models for robots. TechCrunch reported in January 2026 that Groom had not originally planned to be a full-time investor.
Lounge's existing note lists Figma, Notion and Ramp among his early angel bets. Other databases list further holdings, including Deel, Speak, Baseten and Hadrian (Tracxn), and Zepto, Meter, NexHealth and Density (Dealroom). Whether he invested at the seed stage in each of these is not confirmed here.
Investment counts differ by source. Crunchbase shows 75 investments, and Crunchbase lists no lead investments and no exits for him. PitchBook shows a much higher count of 224 investments, and NFX Signal shows 180 on record. The sources differ in coverage, so treat each figure as that database's count, not as an audited total.
NFX Signal's page for Groom also links a Wall Street Journal article headlined as reporting that he was raising about $100 million for a second fund. We have not confirmed the details of that fund, so founders should not assume how it is structured.
Crunchbase counts 26 AI investments by Groom since 2023. Its AI portfolio includes Actively, Portola, Meticulous, Formation Bio, Software Applications Incorporated, Standard Bots, Nooks, Outset, Mainframe, Dot Product, Volantis and Hyperplane AI. Tracxn records Hyperplane, an AI data platform for financial institutions, as acquired in June 2024.
The most recent AI round on the Lounge deals desk is Volantis's $88M Series A in October 2026. Volantis Semiconductor is building photonic memory systems aimed at AI's memory bottleneck. Posts on X about the round say it was led by Abstract Ventures and Groom, bringing total funding to $97M.
His largest AI commitment is as an operator. Physical Intelligence is a robotics foundation model company based in San Francisco. TechCrunch's January 2026 profile covers its work on robot "brains".
Groom's portfolio is not limited to one sector. Tracxn lists his top sectors as enterprise applications and fintech, and his geographies as the United States, India and several others. NFX Signal ranks him in seed and Series A categories including enterprise, fintech, consumer internet and climate tech.
On check size, NFX Signal lists an investment range of $100K to $10.0M with a sweet spot of $1M. This comes from a third-party profile, and Groom has not published it himself. We found no public statement from him on a formal investment thesis or on what he looks for in pitches.
He describes the business as a solo operation. Press coverage calls him a "solo capitalist" who invests without a large firm around him. He also now runs Physical Intelligence, so his availability for new angel deals may be limited. PitchBook lists his status as actively seeking new investments.
- Physical Intelligence: robotics AI company that Groom co-founded in 2024, building general-purpose models for robots.
- Volantis: photonic memory chips for AI; $88M Series A in October 2026, led by Abstract Ventures and Groom.
- Figma: design collaboration software; early angel investment named in Lounge's existing note.
- Notion: workspace and productivity software; early angel investment named in Lounge's existing note.
- Ramp: corporate cards and spend management; early angel investment named in Lounge's existing note.
- Baseten: AI inference infrastructure; listed as a holding by Tracxn and Dealroom.
- Standard Bots: robotics company in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Nooks: AI sales software in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Formation Bio: AI-focused drug development company in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Hyperplane: AI data platform for financial institutions; acquired in June 2024 according to Tracxn.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachy_Groom
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/268764-04
- signal.nfx.com/investors/lachy-groom
- startups.gallery/investors/lachy-groom
- techcrunch.com/2026/01/30/physical-intelligence-stripe-veteran-lachy-g
- techflowpost.com/en-US/article/29306
- x.com/exec_sum/status/2105822293804953618
- dealroom.co/investors/lachy-groom
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Lachy Groom has made 75 investments according to Crunchbase. 26 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Actively, Portola, Meticulous, Formation Bio and Software Applications Incorporated.
Lachy Groom appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $88M, and led 1 of them. The rounds are mostly Series A, with a median round size of $88M. The most recent is Volantis (Series A, $88M, Oct 2026).
Lachy Groom most often invests alongside Abstract Ventures, Susa Ventures, VXI Capital and John Doerr, and the companies they back on AI Lounge are mostly in Semiconductors / memory interconnect.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Lachy Groom
Who is Lachy Groom?
Lachy Groom is an Australian-born entrepreneur and angel investor based in San Francisco. He was Stripe's 30th employee and later head of Stripe Issuing. He co-founded Physical Intelligence in 2024.
What stage does Lachy Groom invest in?
Third-party data places him mainly at seed and Series A. Tracxn also records a Series B investment in Pronto in 2026. He has not published a stage policy.
What is Lachy Groom's check size?
NFX Signal lists a range of $100K to $10.0M with a $1M sweet spot. This is not a figure Groom has published himself, so confirm it directly.
Which AI startups has Lachy Groom invested in?
Crunchbase lists Actively, Portola, Meticulous, Formation Bio, Software Applications Incorporated, Standard Bots, Nooks, Outset, Mainframe, Dot Product, Volantis and Hyperplane AI. He also co-founded Physical Intelligence.
Does Lachy Groom lead rounds?
Crunchbase shows no lead investments. However, posts about the October 2026 Volantis Series A say it was led by Abstract Ventures and Groom.
How can founders contact Lachy Groom?
He has a personal site at lachygroom.com and a LinkedIn profile. We found no verified X account, and he has not published an intake process for pitches.
Is Lachy Groom an angel investor?
Yes. Lachy Groom invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 75 investments.
What AI companies has Lachy Groom invested in?
Lachy Groom's AI investments include Actively, Portola, Meticulous, Formation Bio, Software Applications Incorporated, Standard Bots, Nooks and Outset. The 1 round on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Lachy Groom based?
Lachy Groom is based in San Francisco, United States.
What stage does Lachy Groom invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Lachy Groom has invested at Series A, with a median round of $88M. Lachy Groom led 1 of those rounds.