Innovative Leaders Shaping Deep Tech 🎯Tenon Ventures, Wave Function Ventures, and 1435 Capital Management
Founder Friday (April 4, 2025): Deep Tech & Biotech Funds You Need to Meet 💡
You’ve heard of AI, robotics, and quantum space, but are you watching the next big shift? One fund turned failure into a deep tech empire, proof these founders bet big.
We’re ThinkFISH, and in the spirit of April Fool’s Day — when we featured these funds on Tuesday — the sharpest investors know not to play the fool. These sectors are the future’s cornerstones, and we’ve found three deep tech venture funds led by founders who’ve walked the path.
Tenon Ventures, Wave Function Ventures, and 1435 Capital Management. They’re curating the next frontier’s biggest winners, and their stories might just spark your next move.
Let’s dive into who these founders are, the vision they’re betting on, and why they’re worth your time. 🎣
💸 Tenon Ventures – Crafting Deep Tech Titans, Hands-On
Overview: Tenon Ventures is a Boston-based venture fund crafting the next deep tech titans in AI, robotics, photonics, and quantum; Joining disciplines to build strong, value-creating companies. They focus on Pre-Seed to Series A startups with defensible tech and market validation, such as their investment in Myrias Optics, a photonics innovator developing high-performance, low-cost meta-optical components. Since 2021, they’ve backed 25+ startups, deeply connected to MIT’s venture mentoring ecosystem to source promising innovators.
The Founders:
Nesbitt "Bubba" Hagood, Founding Partner – Bubba’s a venture capitalist, serial founder, and mentor with 20+ years in tech, from Morgan Stanley to Bain, where he honed his strategic and dealmaking skills. He’s a technology enthusiast, excited by the interplay of hard technologies and market applications, and has mentored MIT-affiliated startups through MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service since 2020. He’s backed innovators scaling fast, ensuring startups are built to last. He’s your hands-on guide to deep tech’s future.
Tony Zona, Partner – Tony’s a deep tech expert with 30 years in the field, including advisory roles at Qualcomm and Intel. He’s led multiple ventures to successful exits, including as CEO of Pixtronix (acquired by Qualcomm in 2011), where he commercialized low-power display technology, and as CEO of Quantum Bridge Communications, scaling optical telecom solutions. At Tenon, he focuses on startups that push tech boundaries, bringing a builder’s grit honed through roles at Motorola and Lucent Technologies. He’s the steady hand you’d want steering your deep tech bets.
The Buzz:
With 7x exits, including Pixtronix (33x return) and Triib (93x return), Tenon’s founders bring a proven track record.
Backed Myrias Optics—photonics tech scaling for high-performance optics.
25+ startups since 2021—Pre-Seed to Series A, defensible tech focus.
Head-Turner: What if the next deep tech giant is already in their pipeline?
📎 Dive In: Company LinkedIn | Deck | One-Pager | Book an Intro Call
💸 Wave Function Ventures – Hardware Meets the Future
Overview: Wave Function Ventures is an LA-based venture fund betting big on seed and pre-seed deep tech startups in aerospace, defense, energy, and robotics. Targeting generational hardware-driven solutions that combine hardware and software; Since 2024, they’ve invested in 5 startups, focusing on innovations like autonomous vessels, AI, and nuclear tech. Investments include Airship Industries (transoceanic cargo airships at a quarter of current air cargo costs), Deep Fission (small nuclear reactors in oil boreholes for lower cost and higher safety), and Persona AI (humanoid robotics for heavy industry).
The Founder:
Jamie Gull, Founder & Managing Partner – Jamie’s a deep tech operator and investor with a BS/MS in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford. He spent 5 years at SpaceX designing rockets for Falcon 9 reentry and worked at Scaled Composites, designing airplanes and contributing to half a flown airframe. He co-founded Talyn Air, a Y Combinator-backed (Winter 2020) startup building the first autonomous mid-air aircraft docking system, which partnered with the US Air Force on large-scale experimental airframes before being acquired by Ampaire in 2023. He believes innovations in atoms have the most profound impact on humankind. He’s angel invested in 20 deep tech companies, including Boom Supersonic and Living Carbon, advised 5 early-stage startups on fundraising and strategy, and deployed just over a million USD across five companies at Wave Function, yielding a 2.5x MOIC. He’s the innovator you’d want shaping your deep tech future.
The Buzz:
Targeting aerospace and defense with market-shifting tech. Hardware meets software innovation.
5 startups since 2024, including Airship Industries, Deep Fission, Persona AI.
Jamie’s SpaceX and Y Combinator pedigree - 20+ angel investments, 100% survival rate.
Head-Turner: What if the next hardware breakthrough reshapes your portfolio?
📎 Dive In: Company LinkedIn | Deck | Book an Intro Call
💸 1435 Capital Management – BioFrontiers’ Healthspan Innovation
Overview: 1435 Capital Management’s is a Princeton-based venture fund at the forefront of biotech. Through its BioFrontiers Fund 1 initiative, it backs Seed to Series C startups that combat age-related diseases with regenerative medicine, gene therapies, and microgravity biomanufacturing. Since 2019, they’ve invested in 20+ startups, leveraging Earth and space-based innovations, including proprietary deal flow via NASA’s InSPA Program—unlocking high-growth immunotherapies for a $T biotech market by 2033. Their mission to extend human healthspan draws on cutting-edge science and deep industry networks.
The Founders:
Junaid Mian, RPh, Venture Partner – Junaid’s a pharmacist, entrepreneur, and investor with 20+ years in healthcare, driven by a belief in the space economy’s power to fuel economic growth and extend human healthspans. He became an early investor in Axiom Space, Orbit Fab, and Solstar Space Co. (space communications), alongside Earth-based biotech like Neurohacker Collective and CNS Pharmaceuticals, focusing on regenerative medicine and immunotherapy. He founded the Healthspan Action Coalition, launched the HealthSpan Compass podcast, and heads Project DreamScopes—an EarthLight Foundation initiative inspiring middle schoolers through astronomy to pursue STEM. He’s your visionary for healthcare’s future.
The Buzz:
Pioneering gene-editing and microgravity biomanufacturing. An impactful play for you.
20+ startups since 2019—Seed to Series C, healthspan focus.
Proprietary deal flow via NASA’s InSPA Program, high-growth immunotherapies.
Head-Turner: What if your next big win extends human healthspan?
📎 Dive In: Company LinkedIn | Deck | One-Pager | Book an Intro Call
Your Edge 🐟
We don’t chase trends, we find visionaries. Tenon’s operator-led builders are crafting deep tech titans, Wave Function’s hardware-driven innovators are unlocking quantum breakthroughs, and 1435’s healthspan trailblazers are redefining longevity with space-enabled biotech. These founders have lived the grind—failed, fought, and won. Bringing you opportunities to back the future’s biggest winners across Seed to Series C. The next frontier isn’t loud—it’s early, and it’s where the sharpest investors play.
Discover the startups they’re backing and connect with these funds. Let’s explore what’s next for your future. Where’s your portfolio aiming? 🚀
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