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Bison Ventures
Bison Ventures is a San Francisco venture firm founded in 2022 that invests in deep-tech seed companies bridging atoms and bits.
Bison Ventures
Bison Ventures was formed in 2022 by Tom Biegala and Ben Hemani, both former operators who moved into venture capital with a shared conviction that the next generation of foundational technologies requires patient, technically fluent capital. Biegala previously invested at Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Prelude Ventures, while Hemani built companies in supply chain and logistics before transitioning to early-stage investing. The firm raised its first fund to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies where science and engineering complexity create natural moats. The strategy targets frontier technology across climate, industrial transformation, and advanced computing. Bison's portfolio spans synthetic biology, energy storage, advanced materials, robotics, and AI applied to physical-world systems. Confirmed portfolio companies include ClimateAI (climate resilience analytics), Mill (in-home food waste reduction and circular economy hardware), and Pajarito Powder (catalyst materials for hydrogen fuel cells). The firm invests primarily in North America but evaluates opportunities globally where deep-tech clusters are concentrated, including Europe and Israel, with check sizes typically in the $1M to $3M range for initial positions. Bison Ventures closed its debut fund at $100 million in 2023, exceeding its initial target (per the firm, August 2023). The fund drew commitments from institutional limited partners and technology founders. The team operates from San Francisco with a lean structure centered on the two founding partners. Adjacent to the primary fund vehicle, the firm engages with operator networks and technical advisory circles to diligence science-heavy deals, though it has not launched separate investment vehicles or philanthropic arms. May 2024: The firm announced several additions to its portfolio following the final close of Fund I, maintaining investment pace despite a cooling venture market. Bison distinguishes itself through narrow technical specialization. Both partners evaluate investments against a gating question — whether the core innovation involves atoms as much as bits — which filters out pure-software deals that dominate generalist seed portfolios. This forces a concentrated portfolio construction, typically aiming for 20 to 25 companies per fund, and demands deep scientific reference networks rather than traditional venture pattern-matching. The fund's size also positions it to lead or co-lead rounds at the frontier of physical-world technology, a segment where syndicate discipline and technical credibility can determine access to the best founders.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
2022
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Francisco
Corporate office
San Francisco, CA, United States
Principals
Tom Biegala
Founding Partner
Ben Hemani
Founding Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Bison Ventures?
Tom Biegala and Ben Hemani are the founding partners and jointly make all investment decisions. Both bring prior operating and investing experience — Biegala at Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Prelude Ventures, Hemani as a supply-chain founder and early-stage investor. The firm is structured with a flat partnership model and no junior investment professionals with check-writing authority.
What investment stages does Bison Ventures typically target?
Bison focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage rounds, occasionally participating in Series A financings for existing portfolio companies. Initial check sizes typically range from $1 million to $3 million. The firm acts as a lead or co-lead investor where its technical diligence and syndicate-building capability can add value for science-heavy founding teams.
Which sectors does Bison Ventures explicitly avoid?
Bison does not invest in pure-software companies — consumer apps, enterprise SaaS without a hardware or materials component, and fintech fall outside the firm's mandate. The partners apply a structural filter that requires each portfolio company's core value proposition to involve advancements in physical-world technology such as synthetic biology, materials science, energy hardware, or robotics.
How does Bison Ventures source proprietary deal flow?
Bison relies on deep technical reference networks built out of national laboratories, research universities, and corporate R&D groups in advanced materials, synthetic biology, and industrial automation. The partners' prior roles at climate-focused funds and operating companies give them access to founder circles that are often under-networked in generalist venture, creating sourcing advantages on campuses such as Stanford, MIT, and Caltech.
Does Bison Ventures participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Bison invests exclusively through direct equity stakes in operating companies and does not make fund-of-fund commitments. The firm's limited partner base consists of institutional investors and technology founders who back the primary fund vehicle, without separate co-investment pools or special purpose vehicles offered externally.
How is Bison Ventures different from other climate and deep-tech seed funds?
Bison's structural differentiator is strict fidelity to a molecules-and-mechanics thesis. Unlike generalist funds that allocate a portion of capital to deep tech or climate, Bison applies a binary filter that excludes all pure-software deals. This concentrates the portfolio in 20 to 25 companies per fund and requires both partners to diligence every investment against the same technical criteria.
Does Bison Ventures maintain a philanthropic or non-profit structure?
Bison Ventures operates solely as a for-profit venture capital manager and has not established a separate philanthropic foundation or donor-advised fund. The firm does not direct portfolio-company equity into charitable structures, though its investment thesis aligns with climate and sustainability outcomes that overlap with mission-driven capital.
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