ventures/public/llms.txt

# Hanzo Ventures

> We fund startups building AI infrastructure, decentralized systems and the
> tooling underneath both. We are operators before we are investors: Hanzo AI,
> Lux and Zoo are our own companies. Hanzo AI is Techstars '17.

Contact: [email protected]
Program application: https://hanzo.ai/startups

## What we fund

- AI infrastructure — inference, agents, retrieval, evaluation. The plumbing
  under the models rather than another wrapper on top of them.
- Decentralized systems — chains, identity, post-quantum cryptography,
  settlement.
- Developer tools — things engineers adopt without a procurement cycle.
- Open weights and open source — businesses whose core is readable.

## The Hanzo Startup Program

Run by Hanzo AI. Open whether or not we invest; the credits are not a term
sheet and carry no equity.

- Start free. Pay for what you use — no subscription, no minimum.
- Bring your own compute. We meter the platform, not your hardware.
- Up to $150,000 in credits for venture-backed teams. Application required;
  tier-one backing is a condition of the credits tier.
- Techstars founders: name your batch in the application and we match perks.

Apply: https://hanzo.ai/startups

## Portfolio — built and operated by us

Companies, networks and model families we founded and still run.

- Hanzo AI (Hanzo AI Inc.): https://hanzo.ai — Enterprise AI infrastructure and
  frontier models.
- Lux Network (Lux Industries Inc.): https://lux.network — High-performance,
  post-quantum blockchain infrastructure.
- Zoo (Zoo Labs Foundation): https://zoo.ngo — Open, decentralized AI and
  science research network.
- Pars Network (Parsis Foundation): https://pars.network — A sovereign,
  verifiable identity layer for the Pars community.
- Zen: https://zenlm.org — Our open-weight model family.
- Lux Fund: https://lux.fund — Digital asset management and a fund of funds.
- Hanzo Agency: https://hanzo.agency — Design, content and marketing.
- Sensei Group: https://sensei.group — Fractional CXOs and operators.

## Companies we have built for

Operating work for companies we do NOT own. These are clients, not
investments. Each link is our own written account of the work.

- Unikrn: https://blog.hanzo.ai/blog/2019-09-15-case-study-unikoin-gold/
- Casper Labs: https://blog.hanzo.ai/blog/2020-11-20-case-study-casper-blockchain/
- Damon Motorcycles: https://blog.hanzo.ai/blog/2021-06-10-case-study-damon-motorcycles/
- Bellabeat: https://blog.hanzo.ai/blog/2022-04-15-case-study-bellabeat/
- Personas Social: https://blog.hanzo.ai/blog/2025-01-10-case-study-keek-social/

## What this page does not claim

No fund size, no assets under management, no exit figures, no headcount and no
valuations appear anywhere on this site. No verifiable record of any of them
exists, so none is published. The one figure quoted, $150,000, is the ceiling
of the Hanzo Startup Program's credits tier as published at hanzo.ai/startups.

Nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security.