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Type One Ventures
Tarek Waked's Type One Ventures backs over 30 deep-tech companies applying space-grade engineering to climate, AI, and robotics challenges on Earth.
Type One Ventures
Type One Ventures launched in 2018 under Tarek Waked, a former founder who exited his prior venture before assembling a platform designed to commercialize technologies originally conceived for space exploration and apply them to terrestrial industries. The firm operates from Malibu with a mandate that spans AI, robotics, climate resilience, and advanced materials — deliberately choosing sectors where NASA-caliber engineering meets civilian market demand. Waked and his team position the firm as a bridge between the deep-tech labs and the growth-stage capital pools that typically arrive too late for frontier-science companies. The firm writes first-check commitments ranging from pre-seed to Series A, with a portfolio concentration in computational biology, energy storage, autonomous systems, and satellite-enabled infrastructure. Known portfolio companies include Astranis, a geostationary satellite manufacturer that closed a $200 million Series D in 2023 (per TechCrunch, 2023), and ClimateAI, which applies machine learning to climate-risk forecasting for agriculture and supply-chain operators. Type One does not publicly disclose a flagship fund size or total committed capital. The geographic footprint skews toward North America, with selective exposure to European and Middle Eastern startups that align with the firm's dual-use technology thesis. The firm's team size and total deployment remain undisclosed, typical of a boutique venture platform that raises capital on a deal-by-deal or SPV basis rather than through a blind-pool fund. Type One has not announced a formal partnership expansion or a dedicated follow-on vehicle, consistent with early-stage specialists that maintain lean operations and prioritize syndicate flexibility. In September 2023, the firm participated in the seed round of Proxima Fusion, a German stellarator-fusion startup that emerged from the Max Planck Institute (per Sifted, 2023), extending its portfolio deeper into hard-science decarbonization. The structural differentiator is a sourcing model paired with a thematic filter: Type One asks whether a technology would be necessary for a self-sustaining city on Mars, then backs the founders building that technology for Earth today. This lens — borrowed from the closed-ecosystem requirements of space habitation — steers the firm into water recycling, synthetic biology, and compact energy storage rather than enterprise SaaS, giving it a portfolio composition distinct from most Silicon Valley generalist funds. The firm's LP base is understood to include family offices and high-net-worth individuals aligned with the same long-horizon thesis, though the investor list has never been publicly itemized.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
2018
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Malibu
Corporate office
Malibu, CA, United States
Principals
Tarek Waked
Founding Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Type One Ventures?
Tarek Waked serves as Founding Partner and is the primary decision-maker. The firm has not publicly named additional general partners or an investment committee. Waked's prior experience as a founder informs a GP-led evaluation process where technical due diligence runs alongside commercial viability assessment, typical of an emerging manager with a concentrated thesis.
How does Type One source its deal flow?
Type One draws heavily on relationships with research institutions, national labs, and university spinouts where frontier-science founders tend to cluster. The firm's thematic filter — technologies that would be essential for sustaining life off-planet — creates a recognizable calling card in the deep-tech ecosystem, funneling inbound interest from founders at the intersection of aerospace engineering and terrestrial commercial applications.
Is Type One a single family office or a venture firm?
Type One operates as a hybrid venture platform, raising capital from family offices and strategic limited partners on a deal-by-deal or SPV basis rather than through a single disclosed blind-pool fund. It is not a single-family office. The structure gives the firm flexibility to right-size each commitment while maintaining a cohesive portfolio theme.
Does Type One participate in follow-on rounds?
The firm maintains pro-rata rights where negotiated at entry, consistent with early-stage venture practice, but has not announced a dedicated follow-on vehicle or opportunity fund. Follow-on participation likely varies by company and syndicate composition, a common posture for boutique platforms that do not pool a single large committed fund.
What is Type One's relationship with the space industry?
The firm does not invest exclusively in space companies. Instead, it uses the resource constraints of space habitation — closed-loop water, compact energy, synthetic food production, autonomous construction — as a filtration lens for identifying terrestrial startups with asymmetric upside. Portfolio holdings such as Astranis (geostationary satellites) sit alongside ClimateAI (supply-chain risk software), reflecting a dual-use rather than pure-play space strategy.
Which sectors does Type One explicitly avoid?
Public statements and portfolio composition suggest the firm avoids traditional enterprise SaaS, consumer internet, fintech, and ad-supported business models that fall outside its deep-tech and hard-science mandate. The thematic filter naturally excludes companies that do not have a defensible engineering or scientific moat.
Where does the firm's capital come from?
Type One has not publicly disclosed a complete LP list. Capital is understood to come from family offices and high-net-worth individuals aligned with a multi-decade thesis on planetary-scale challenges. The firm does not advertise an evergreen structure or a single flagship fund vehicle, suggesting a flexible capital-formation model.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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