Welcoming Libby to CoFound

We're excited to announce that Libby Fidel has joined CoFound as our first investor hire to expand our investments in deep tech.

We received 500+ applications for the role, many referred by people we deeply admire. In expanding the firm, we wanted to be incredibly intentional about preserving our ethos while hiring for where venture is heading. CoFound runs a concentrated, thesis-driven style of early-stage investing. That demands an investor who can immerse in a wide array of complex domains and build conviction from first principles. The frontier is too wide for anyone to know everything. So we optimized for curiosity, learning velocity, and intellectual stamina over sector specialization. The harder requirement was founder partnership.

We invest as early as what we call the ambition-stage: the moment someone decides to go all in on building an enduring startup. At this stage, they need an investor who can be a sprint partner to help them rapidly iterate toward product-market fit. Hands-on go-to-market support is the brand we've built, and it's core to how we continue to attract the best entrepreneurs.

Libby brings both. She joins us from Roadrunner, a deep tech venture studio and fund focused on advanced manufacturing, compute, energy, and quantum. There she worked at the intersection of investing and company building, sitting alongside founders, universities, and national laboratories. She helped founders apply for and secure non-dilutive funding and government grants. She got them in front of strategic customers and partners. What impressed us most was her speed and drive to bring innovation to market. She built a track record as an investor who could immerse in a new domain and become an impactful partner to PhD-level founders. That blend of investor judgment and company building made her a perfect fit for CoFound.

Please join me in welcoming Libby to our community. She's based in San Francisco and will invest anywhere. If you're a deep tech founder or operator aspiring to build, please reach out.