Lux Capital
About Lux Capital
Lux Capital was founded in 2000 by Peter Hébert, Josh Wolfe and Robert Paull. It is based in New York and has a second office in Menlo Park, California. Hébert and Wolfe are the partners and co-founders still running the firm. Fund VIII ($1.15B) closed in 2023. In January 2026 the firm announced Lux Ventures IX at $1.5B, its largest fund to date and the one that brought total assets to about $7B. Grace Isford is a Partner in New York. She invests in LLM applications, AI infrastructure and companies where software meets the physical world, and she organizes the firm's AI Summits. Shahin Farshchi, a Partner in the Bay Area, has led or joined robotics, space and AI rounds. Brandon Reeves is also a partner and has co-invested with Isford, including in Phonic.
Lux describes its focus as frontier science and technology that others find too hard or too early. AI is one of several areas, alongside biotech, defense, aerospace and robotics. Isford's profile lists Together, Sakana, Modal, Runway, Cognition and Physical Intelligence as companies she has been an early partner to. The Lounge deals desk shows the firm in 2026 rounds across AI infrastructure and applications. Lux is listed as lead on Cognition's $1B Series D and on seed rounds for SkyPilot, Monogram, Magie, Agon, Multiplier and Sonata. Lux also joined larger rounds such as Modal's $750M Series D and CuspAI's $450M Series B.
Lux invests from seed through growth and does not publish a formal check size. Third-party databases estimate $100K to $100M overall. NFX Signal lists individual partners at roughly $500K to $50M, and VC Sheet gives an average of $2M to $20M. Seedlist reports historical averages of about $15.8M for seed rounds and $27.9M for Series A rounds. Treat these as estimates and not as firm policy.
- Cognition: AI software engineering company; Lux led its $1B Series D (2026).
- Modal: AI infrastructure and inference platform; $750M Series D (2026), joined by Lux.
- Physical Intelligence: robotics AI company; $400M Series A (2024).
- Together AI: AI compute and infrastructure company; $20M seed (2023).
- Sakana AI: AI research company; $210M Series A (2024), with Lux among the investors.
- Phonic: voice agent reliability; $4M seed (2025), announced by Lux.
- Hugging Face and Runway: both named as early Lux backings; round details not confirmed here.
- SkyPilot: Lux led its $20M seed (2026).
- Flourish: AI research lab; $500M Series A (2026), led by Jeff Bezos, with Lux participating.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux_Capital
- news.bloomberglaw.com/private-equity/lux-capital-raises-1-5-billion-fo
- pitchbook.com/news/articles/backing-a-crew-of-high-profile-ipo-hopeful
- luxcapital.com/people
- luxcapital.com/people/grace-isford
- signal.nfx.com/investors/grace-isford
- signal.nfx.com/investors/shahin-farshchi
- vcsheet.com/who/shahin-farshchi
Investing activity
Lux Capital appears in 16 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $5.25B, and led 9 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, Series A and Series D, with a median round size of $40M and the largest at $1B. The most recent are Reflex (Series A, $14M, Oct 2026), Physical Intelligence (Series round (reported talks), $1B, Oct 2026) and Flapping Airplanes (Series A, $1B, Oct 2026).
Lux Capital most often invests alongside Jeff Bezos, General Catalyst, Y Combinator and Thrive Capital, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI, Enterprise AI app platform and Robotics foundation models.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Lux Capital
Who founded Lux Capital?
Peter Hébert, Josh Wolfe and Robert Paull founded Lux Capital in 2000. Hébert and Wolfe remain partners and co-founders.
How big is Lux Capital's latest fund?
Lux Ventures IX closed at $1.5B in January 2026, the firm's largest fund. Total assets under management are about $7B.
Who at Lux Capital invests in AI?
Grace Isford (Partner, New York) focuses on AI infrastructure, LLM applications and the physical-world software overlap. Shahin Farshchi, Brandon Reeves and co-founders Josh Wolfe and Peter Hébert also back AI companies.
What check size does Lux Capital write?
Lux does not publish a check size. Third-party estimates range from about $100K to $100M, and Lux invests from seed to growth.
Does Lux Capital lead AI rounds?
Yes. The Lounge deals desk shows Lux leading Cognition's $1B Series D and several 2026 seed rounds, including SkyPilot, Monogram, Agon and Sonata.
What AI companies has Lux Capital invested in?
Lux Capital's AI investments include Reflex, Physical Intelligence, Flapping Airplanes, Modal, Catalyst, Multiplier, Transfyr and Agon. The 16 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Lux Capital based?
Lux Capital is based in New York, US.
What stage does Lux Capital invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Lux Capital has invested at Seed, Series A, Series D and Growth, with a median round of $40M. Lux Capital led 9 of those rounds.
Who does Lux Capital co-invest with?
Lux Capital's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are Jeff Bezos (3 deals), General Catalyst (3 deals), Y Combinator (2 deals), Thrive Capital (2 deals) and Sequoia Capital (2 deals).
How can founders reach Lux Capital?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Lux Capital's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Lux Capital to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.