Catapult Ventures

Catapult Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017 by Darren Liccardo and Rouz Jazayeri, based in Los Altos, California. The firm invests in pre-seed and seed-stage startups at the intersection of hardware, embedded systems, and software, with a focus on artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, IoT, and related deep-tech sectors serving industries such as automotive, aerospace, industrial manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. Catapult raised a $55 million debut fund and typically deploys checks of $500K–$5M, often leading rounds while also syndicating with like-minded investors and reserving capital for follow-on investments. The firm's general partners bring deep operational backgrounds: Liccardo was founding Director of Tesla's Autopilot engineering group and established DJI's Silicon Valley office; Jazayeri previously led early-stage hard-tech investing at Kleiner Perkins. Notable portfolio exits include Oculii (acquired by Ambarella), XNOR.ai (acquired by Apple), Left Hand Robotics, FlightWave, and Engine ML. Founders can reach the team via the contact page at catapult.vc/contact/.