Stanford-StartX Fund

Camille Samuels and Todd H. Chaffee serve as managing directors and lead investment decisions at the fund. Both have prior venture capital experience: Samuels was a partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, while Chaffee was a venture partner at In-Q-Tel and later led Mastercard's corporate venture arm (per public record).

The fund sources deal flow through its relationship with Stanford University and the StartX accelerator program. StartX identifies promising startups founded by Stanford affiliates; the fund then has the opportunity to invest in those companies before they appear on most VC radars. This closed-loop model gives the fund access to rotation of Stanford-entrepreneur-led deals (per the fund's communications).

The fund is an independent venture capital entity that is separate from Stanford's endowment or university budget. It operates like a traditional VC fund with LPs, but its investment mandate ties to the Stanford community. This structure differs from a university endowment fund that may invest with external managers (per public record).

The fund focuses on early-stage investments, primarily Seed and Series A rounds. It often co-invests alongside other top-tier venture firms. In some cases, the fund may also lead rounds, particularly for startups emerging from the StartX accelerator (per public record).

The fund invests across sectors including enterprise software, digital health, AI/ML, fintech, and climate tech. It has backed companies like Anduril Industries (defense tech), Scale AI (data labeling), and Branch Metrics (mobile attribution). The fund does not publicly disclose any sectors it explicitly avoids (per public record).

The Stanford-StartX Fund is a separate, for-profit entity from the StartX accelerator, which is a nonprofit organization serving Stanford entrepreneurs. However, the two share a relationship: StartX provides deal flow to the fund, and the fund can invest in StartX portfolio companies. The fund's name intentionally reflects this tie (per public record).

The fund maintains a second office in London alongside its Palo Alto headquarters. This office likely supports the fund's ability to reach Stanford-affiliated entrepreneurs operating in Europe or to build relationships with European LPs and co-investors. The fund does not disclose the specific reasons for the London office (per public record).