The House Fund
About The House Fund
The House Fund is a venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and early-stage investments in startups from the University of California, Berkeley community. Founded in 2016, it aims to empower founders by providing capital, mentorship, and access to a robust network. The firm has invested in over 130 startups, facilitated more than 20 exits, and backed 3 unicorns, with a current fund size of $12 million dedicated to artificial intelligence.
The House Fund specializes in pre-seed investments up to $100,000 and early-stage investments up to $250,000. It also offers an AI Accelerator program that Per Crunchbase, The House Fund has made 121 investments, 11 as lead investor across 99 portfolio companies, with 19 exits.
Jeremy Fiance, a Berkeley alum and former managing partner of Dorm Room Fund, founded The House Fund in 2016. It launched with a $6 million fund for pre-seed and seed startups with a Berkeley student, faculty or alumni founder, and Fiance ran it alone at first. Cameron Baradar, who ran The House nonprofit community, is listed as a partner and co-founder on Crunchbase. A directory of the firm's fund history lists a $44 million Fund II in 2019. In October 2023 the firm closed a $115 million Fund III, which Cooley advised. Cooley said it targets Berkeley-affiliated startups, particularly in AI, with 70% of capital going to pre-seed. Fiance remains founder and managing partner. Crunchbase and other directories also list Taz Patel as a part-time partner and Akash Malhotra as a principal. The firm's LinkedIn names six faculty partners who are AI experts, and a third-party summary names Ion Stoica, Michael Jordan, Joseph Gonzalez, Kurt Keutzer, Trevor Darrell and Ken Goldberg as AI faculty advisors. The firm describes them as advisors, not investors.
The firm began AI@The House in 2018, a program that brought Berkeley AI researchers, including Databricks co-founder Ion Stoica, onto its team. It later launched The House AI Accelerator, which it said would invest $1 million in each startup. Databricks, OpenAI, Google's Gradient Ventures and Microsoft backed the accelerator, and UC and Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) were academic partners. In April 2025 it raised $12 million in seven days for the BAIR Grant program, according to PitchBook. BAIR PhD researchers who commercialize their work can receive uncapped SAFE notes of up to $250,000 and up to $600,000 in compute credits. Recent AI-related deals include SkyPilot's seed round in July 2026 and Inferact's $150 million seed in January 2026.
The firm invests at pre-seed and early stage, and requires at least one Berkeley-affiliated founder. At launch in 2016, Fiance said he would write about $50,000 on average at pre-seed and $100,000 to $250,000 at seed. Third-party summaries of the firm's current positioning cite first checks of up to $1 million and up to $2 million to lead or co-lead seed rounds. I could not confirm those figures on the firm's own site, so check them with the firm. The firm lists build@thehouse.fund as the contact for pitches.
- Inferact: open-source inference engine company, $150M seed in January 2026.
- SkyPilot: AI workload orchestration software from Berkeley's Sky Computing Lab, seed round in July 2026.
- Databricks: data and AI platform, which the firm calls a portfolio startup. The round and year are not public.
- Arize AI: AI observability company, with a Series A listed on Crunchbase.
- Bespoke Labs: AI data and tooling startup, Series A in July 2026 per Tracxn.
- news.berkeley.edu/2016/04/22/the-house-fund
- venturebeat.com/business/the-house-fund-raises-6-million-to-invest-in-
- cooley.com/news/coverage/2023/2023-10-25-the-house-fund-closes-115-mil
- pitchbook.com/news/articles/house-fund-raises-12m-fund-berkeley-ai-res
- thehousefund.medium.com/worlds-most-influential-ai-startups-databricks
- crunchbase.com/organization/the-house-fund
- linkedin.com/company/the-house-fund
- tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/the-house-fund/**lGXWCJ8yZvhQNx6-JIYQurWc
Investing activity
The House Fund has made 121 investments according to Crunchbase across 99 portfolio companies, and has led 11 rounds and seen 19 exits.
The House Fund appears in 2 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $170M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $150M. The most recent are SkyPilot (Seed, $20M, Jul 2026) and Inferact (Seed, $150M, Jan 2026).
The House Fund most often invests alongside Lux Capital, Clem Delangue, Jeffrey Dean and Amjad Masad, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI and Inference infrastructure.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about The House Fund
Does The House Fund only invest in Berkeley startups?
The firm focuses on startups with at least one founder who is a UC Berkeley student, faculty member, alumnus or affiliate. Its own materials describe it as built by and for Berkeley founders.
How large is The House Fund's latest fund?
Its Fund III closed at $115 million in October 2023 and is aimed at Berkeley-affiliated startups, particularly in AI. In April 2025 it also raised a separate $12 million for the BAIR Grant program.
What is the BAIR Grant program?
It is a partnership with Berkeley AI Research for PhD researchers commercializing their work. It offers uncapped SAFE notes of up to $250,000 and up to $600,000 in compute credits.
Who founded The House Fund?
Berkeley alum Jeremy Fiance founded it in 2016 and is its managing partner. Cameron Baradar is listed as a co-founder on Crunchbase.
How do I pitch The House Fund?
Crunchbase and third-party directories list build@thehouse.fund as the pitch contact. Founders should have a Berkeley student, faculty or alumni link.
What AI companies has The House Fund invested in?
The House Fund's AI investments include SkyPilot and Inferact. The 2 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is The House Fund based?
The House Fund is based in Berkeley, California, United States.
What stage does The House Fund invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, The House Fund has invested at Seed, with a median round of $150M.
Who does The House Fund co-invest with?
The House Fund's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are Lux Capital (1 deal), Clem Delangue (1 deal), Jeffrey Dean (1 deal), Amjad Masad (1 deal) and Amplify Partners (1 deal).
How can founders reach The House Fund?
Founders on AI Lounge can see The House Fund'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 The House Fund to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.