From Silicon to Steel
we invest in deeply technical founders at the earliest stages
who apply robotics and autonomous systems
to solving our greatest problems
Steam. Software. Kinetic.
Software ate the world, but the next wave of innovation will transform the physical realm. We support the founders translating digital intelligence into mechanical reality. This is the new industrial arc: moving from steam, to software, to physical intelligence.
1760
James Watt
Steam: From Mines to Machines.
Steam engines were seen as crude pumps. Watt’s condenser made them versatile power sources, igniting the Industrial Revolution.
1879
Thomas Edison
Electricity Over Gaslight.
Gas was safe, electricity dangerous. Edison’s incandescent bulb and grid proved energy could be reliable and universal.
1903
Wright Brothers
Defying Gravity.
Heavier-than-air flight was impossible — until Kitty Hawk. Controlled flight transformed mobility and defense forever.
1976
Jobs and Wozniak
Computers for Everyone.
Computers belonged to governments and corporations. The Apple II made computing personal and sparked the software age.
1994
Jeff Bezos
Retail Without Walls.
No one would shop online. Amazon proved logistics and trust could outscale brick-and-mortar retail.
1997
Reed Hastings
Streaming Replaces Shelves.
Friday nights meant Blockbuster runs. Netflix digitized entertainment and rewrote how the world watches.
2012
DeepMind
Machines That Learn.
Neural networks were academic toys. Deep reinforcement learning mastered games, vision, and protein folding — showing machines can reason.
2020
Buf.build
APIs That Evolve Without Breaking.
Teams once accepted API breakage as inevitable. Buf standardized versioning and governance; by 2024, Stripe, Datadog, and Coinbase relied on it.
2021
Zeta Surgical
Surgical Precision Anywhere.
Image-guided surgery demanded bulky hospital rigs. Zeta’s real-time vision platform delivers precise navigation at any bedside — FDA-cleared in 2023.
2022
Turion Space
Building the Tow Trucks of Orbit.
Space used to end at deployment. Turion’s autonomous spacecraft remove debris and reposition satellites, creating the logistics layer of orbit.
2023
Q5D
Onshoring Electronics One Wire at a Time.
Wire harnesses were hand-built overseas. Q5D’s robotic cell prints and places wires directly onto 3D parts — cutting ≈ $200 per vehicle and reshoring manufacturing.
2024
Swan Technologies
Autonomy That Works When GPS Fails.
Most autonomy collapses under jamming or spoofing. Swan’s self-supervised AI navigates through GPS- and comms-denied environments — validated during the Pentagon’s Project Artemis Alaska trials, where others failed.
Founders
Euan Guttridge
Managing Partner
Currently Senior Director of Technical Programs at Waymo, previously served at Uber ATG (self-driving) as Head of Technical Program Management in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto. Prior to that wore various hats at Google and Google [X] for ten years leading initiatives in the US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Liam Krut
Investment Partner
Full time with Reinforced Ventures, previously a private equity diligence consultant for software company acquisitions with computational biology background at CMU, research experience at Harvard/MIT, and founder of a biotechnology and a cybersecurity company.
Founders
Here is how we further reinforce our founders post investment –
Your In-house VC
From clarity to close: We craft your compelling narrative, develop a refined fundraising strategy, and jumpstart your round with warm, direct introductions to later-stage, brand-name VCs.
Your Technical Team
We are well positioned to make introductions to engineers that have decades of experience in your space with otherwise hard to obtain skillsets. Many of these folks are already investors in RV so our incentives are aligned to get you the unique help you need. Pick your poison : EE, ME, SLAM, Foundation Models, Data Engines, CV, Path Planning, etc.
Your CRM
We believe the most successful founders build with, not for, the customer. We leverage our network to secure your first pilot opportunity, providing immediate access to the target customers and industries you need to validate and refine your product.