# Telos Venture Partners

Telos Venture Partners is a Venture Capital based in Palo Alto, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Palo Alto, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 1998
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** telosvp.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/telos-venture-partners

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Telos Venture Partners invests in early-stage startups, primarily in electronic design automation and semiconductors. The firm has made 43 investments, including a Seed VC investment in VendorHawk on May 26, 2017. Telos Venture Partners has 15 portfolio exits, with VendorHawk exiting on April 25, 2018.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- Semiconductors
- AI/ML
- Industrial Tech

## People

- Nicholas E. Brathwaite — Founding Managing Partner

## Questions

### Who ran investment decisions at Telos Venture Partners?

Founding Managing Partner Nicholas Brathwaite led investment decisions, drawing on his experience as CTO of Flextronics Semiconductor. He was joined by general partners Jim Hogan, a former Cadence and National Semiconductor design engineer, and Asad Jamal. The investment committee operated with deep technical engagement — partners were expected to evaluate semiconductor architectures directly rather than relying solely on outside consultants.

### Which sectors did Telos Venture Partners focus on?

The firm invested primarily in fabless semiconductors, mixed-signal integrated circuits, high-speed networking silicon, and embedded systems. Portfolio companies included Aeluros (10-gigabit Ethernet transceivers), Teranetics (10GBASE-T PHY chips), and Ample Communications (communications processors). Telos also selectively backed enterprise software and systems companies where the technical underwriting advantage carried over.

### What happened to Telos Venture Partners? Is it still actively investing?

Telos Venture Partners raised multiple fund vintages through the mid-2000s and managed an active portfolio of semiconductor and enterprise-hardware companies. Founding Managing Partner Nicholas Brathwaite later co-founded Lotus Innovations, a search-fund vehicle targeting technology businesses, and remained active as an angel investor. The Telos partnership is no longer raising new venture funds, though its portfolio exits and alumni have shaped subsequent semiconductor investing in Silicon Valley.

### What was Telos Venture Partners' most notable exit?

Among Telos's confirmed exits, Aeluros was acquired by NetLogic Microsystems in a transaction that validated the firm's thesis around high-speed Ethernet silicon. Teranetics, another portfolio company developing 10GBASE-T physical-layer chips, was acquired by PLX Technology. These exits demonstrated the firm's ability to back fabless-semiconductor startups that reached acquisition scale despite competing against larger, better-capitalized incumbents.

### How is Telos Venture Partners related to Lotus Innovations?

Nicholas Brathwaite, Telos's founding managing partner, co-founded Lotus Innovations as a search-fund vehicle that acquires and operates a single technology business rather than managing a diversified venture portfolio. Lotus represents Brathwaite's shift toward an operator-investor model, though the engineering-first investment philosophy carries forward from his Telos years. Jim Hogan and other Telos alumni have pursued separate investment and advisory activities in the semiconductor sector.

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- [Capital Telecom Services](https://altss.com/profile/telecom-partners)
- [TDA Capital Partners](https://altss.com/profile/tda-capital-partners)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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