Tim Chen has quietly become of one the most sought-after solo investors 

Tim Chen, solo VC astatine his steadfast Essence VC, conscionable closed his 4th fund, a caller $41 million, without adjacent trying. Limited spouse investors (LPs) were truthful anxious to invest, they pre-empted it, helium told TechCrunch. He hadn’t adjacent clip to make a transportation deck. 

True, $41 cardinal mightiness not dependable similar overmuch successful this property of multi-billion task firms and solo VCs similar Jack Altman (who just raised his 2nd elephantine fund, astatine $275 million). But that’s chiefly due to the fact that Chen didn’t privation to instrumentality connected more. It’s an upsize from Chen’s 2022 3rd money of $27 cardinal (which was up from his $5 cardinal 2nd and $1 cardinal archetypal funds). 

Chen hadn’t begun caller fundraising enactment because, until past month, helium was inactive investing retired of his 3rd fund, which has present wrapped. But constricted spouse investors had begun whispering astir him amongst themselves aft 1 of his portfolio companies from his 2nd round, Tabular, was acquired by Databricks for astir $2.2 cardinal successful 2024. 

“That basically, beauteous overmuch returned our full fund,” Chen told TechCrunch, and enactment him “on the map,” arsenic helium described. Suddenly, LPs were proceeding his sanction everywhere: connected headdress tables, mentioned by different VCs, founders quoting his advice. They wanted in. 

In part, that’s due to the fact that Chen specializes successful developer-tool and infrastructure startups astatine the earliest stages, a conception increasing successful popularity successful this property of AI. 

Chen chopped his teeth arsenic a bundle engineer, earning thoroughfare cred from his clip arsenic 1 of the earliest employees astatine Mesophere, a one-time blistery unfastened root unreality infrastructure startup backed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Microsoft; past helium co-founded an “AIops” startup called Hyperpilot and sold it successful an aqui-hire to Cloudera successful 2018.  

In 2019, Chen began angel investing and discovered helium had a knack for it, backing different profoundly method startups similar Jasper, FlatFile and MotherDuck. “I truly enjoyed it. Founders kept loving me, kept telling each their friends.”  

Looking for a caller career, helium thought task was it, truthful helium interviewed astatine respective of the large Sand Hill Road firms, lone to beryllium rejected by them all.

“No 1 wanted to prosecute me,” helium said. “I’m an technologist and small-exit founder. I don’t deliberation that’s a emblematic profile.” 

Jake Zeller, a person of his who worked astatine Angel List (and is present retired astatine his ain fund) told Chen not to springiness up and talked him into launching his ain money connected that platform. 

“He told me, Tim, I deliberation you could spell rise a $1 cardinal Fund 1 and effort it out. I said, ‘Wow. I didn’t cognize that was possible.’ So helium gave maine a transportation platform template,” Chen recalled, and done introductions, Chen landed LPs similar Bain Capital. 

Famed infrastructure and AI capitalist Martin Casado of Andreessen Horowitz came successful arsenic an LP successful aboriginal funds. And past long-time fund-to-fund capitalist Michael Kim of Cendana Capital invested. After Tabular sold, Kim told him that Cendana had already reserved $15 cardinal for his 4th fund. Chen was shocked.  

He was besides getting calls from others, immoderate who were erstwhile investors similar Sapphire, General Catalyst and caller individuals. “I wasn’t fundraising. I didn’t cognize however overmuch to rise astatine all. I was conscionable similar deploying and vibing,” helium said. 

When StepStone pushed him to nonstop LP documents truthful they could ligament the wealth – and wanted to bring others successful – helium opted to get his enactment unneurotic and bash the money immediately. AngelList fundamentally did his fundraising documents for him. ane he settled connected a tenable bump from his past fund, moving cautiously due to the fact that helium inactive considers himself a beginner astatine venture.

Fund IV backers coiled up including names similar Tomasz Tunguz (former Redpoint, present of Theory Ventures ) and Ethan Kurzweil (formerly Bessemer, present of Chemistry VC).  

He credits his increasing estimation to his inheritance arsenic an infrastructure engineer. “There’s truthful fewer VCs that look similar me,” referring to his profoundly method inheritance with bundle infrastructure.

While that wasn’t appealing for the large firms, it’s been a boon for his solo investing. Rather than a emblematic VC absorption on traction and income funnel, Chen helps aboriginal founders fig retired however to physique their products. 

For instance, helium invested successful a institution called ComfyUI which was, astatine the time, moving connected a user ocular AI merchandise based connected the unfastened root Stable Diffusion model. After investing, Chen advised the founders to go a developer platform of the models they were fine-tuning.  

Comfy-org just raised a $17 cardinal Series A to vie with the large closed root exemplary makers. And their blog station publically acknowledgment Chen for helping them trade their strategy.