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Koch Disruptive Technologies
Chase Koch runs Koch Disruptive Technologies, the family-backed deep-tech investor behind SpaceX, Desktop Metal and Crusoe Energy.
Koch Disruptive Technologies
Koch Disruptive Technologies launched in 2017 as the growth-equity and venture arm of Koch Industries, one of America's largest privately held conglomerates. Founder and CEO Chase Koch — son of chairman Charles Koch — structured the firm to place concentrated, late-venture and growth-stage bets on companies whose technology aligns with the parent company's industrial interests. The wealth originates entirely from Koch Industries, a $125-billion-revenue (per Forbes, 2023) enterprise spanning energy, chemicals, manufacturing and agriculture. KDT deploys across AI and machine learning, robotics, space tech, energy storage, advanced materials and digital health. The firm has led or participated in rounds for SpaceX, the reusable-rocket company; Desktop Metal, the additive-manufacturing platform acquired by Nano Dimension in 2023; and Boom Supersonic, the Colorado-based developer of a commercial supersonic airliner. Its investment model relies on direct equity with holding periods measured in decades rather than fund cycles — a posture enabled by the perpetual balance sheet of Koch Industries. Geographic focus centers on North America, with selective exposure in Europe and Israel. The firm maintains its headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, at Koch Industries' campus. In September 2023, KDT participated in a $285-million Series C for Crusoe Energy, a company that converts wasted natural gas into compute power for AI workloads (per PR Newswire, September 2023). This followed a January 2023 investment in Capella Space, a synthetic-aperture radar satellite operator serving defense and supply-chain clients. What distinguishes KDT from nearly every other corporate venture arm is its refusal to behave like one. It avoids minority VC-style spray, instead writing growth-stage checks that rival traditional private-equity platforms in size — while still operating under a single-family mandate. There is no outside LP base, no fundraising cycle and no exit clock, which places KDT structurally closer to a sovereign wealth fund's technology portfolio than to a conventional VC firm.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2017
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Wichita
Corporate office
Wichita, KS, United States
Principals
Chase Koch
Founder and CEO
Byron Knight
President
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Koch Disruptive Technologies?
Chase Koch, founder and CEO, oversees investment strategy, with President Byron Knight managing the firm's day-to-day operations. The firm operates with a lean senior team drawn from Koch Industries' executive ranks and external venture talent. Investment committees typically include Koch family principals and senior operating executives from the parent company.
How is Koch Disruptive Technologies related to Koch Industries?
KDT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, the Wichita-based conglomerate with revenues exceeding $125 billion annually (per Forbes, 2023). It serves as the family's primary vehicle for direct technology growth-equity investments. Unlike the parent company, which acquires profitable industrial businesses outright, KDT takes minority and majority equity stakes in venture-backed companies with strong technical moats.
Is KDT structured as a corporate venture arm or a family office?
KDT functions as a hybrid: a corporate venture platform with the capital patience of a single-family office. It does not raise external funds and answers solely to Koch family ownership. Its deal sizes — often $50 million to $200 million — far exceed typical corporate VC checkwriting, placing it closer to a growth-equity fund backed by permanent family capital.
What investment stages does KDT target?
KDT concentrates on late-venture and growth-stage rounds, typically Series C through pre-IPO. The firm has led or co-led rounds exceeding $100 million in companies such as Desktop Metal and Crusoe Energy. Early-stage seed exposure is minimal and typically accessed via co-investor relationships rather than proprietary origination.
Where does the underlying capital come from?
All investment capital comes from the Koch family's industrial conglomerate, Koch Industries, whose businesses span refining, pipelines, chemicals, fertilizers, commodity trading, ranching and manufacturing. KDT is funded off the parent balance sheet, not from a committed fund structure, which eliminates any external redemption or capital-call risk.
Does KDT participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
KDT executes almost exclusively direct equity deals, though the parent Koch organization has invested as a limited partner in select third-party funds. The firm's disclosed portfolio reflects a strong preference for concentrated, direct positions in companies where Koch Industries can provide an industrial partnership beyond capital.
Which sectors does KDT explicitly avoid?
KDT has shown no appetite for consumer internet, social media, advertising technology or pure-play financial services. The firm invests in companies that intersect with Koch Industries' existing industrial footprint — advanced manufacturing, energy science, compute infrastructure and materials — and avoids sectors where it cannot contribute operational domain expertise.
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