New Deep Tech Fund Wave Function Ventures Raises $15 Million

When Jamie Gull graduated from Stanford University successful 2007 pinch a master’s grade successful aeronautics, location was 1 spot he wanted to spell next: nan desert.

The Mojave desert, to beryllium specific. A institution called Scaled Composites had spent years processing experimental craft retired connected that arid land, and Gull wanted in.

He could person tried to get a much accepted aerospace job, but Gull was worried he’d “work 5 years connected a latch” — a communal joke astir those bigger, slow-moving companies. But astatine Scaled Composites? “I knew I would build something, and I would do it quickly, and I would beryllium a assemblage postgraduate who would ain an existent outcome,” he said.

Two years later, Gull jumped to SpaceX, wherever he helped make nan Falcon 9 rocket reusable — a awesome milestone successful that company’s history, and nan instauration connected which it has built an enormously valuable business.

Now, Gull is gearing up for a caller challenge: launching an early-stage heavy tech money called Wave Function Ventures. Just past week, he closed Wave Function’s first money of $15.1 million, and he’s already disconnected and running.

Gull has made 9 investments successful startups that span industries for illustration atomic power (Deep Fission), humanoid robotics (Persona AI), and, of course, aerospace (Airship Industries). He told TechCrunch he expects to do astir 25 seed aliases pre-seed investments retired of this fund. (Gull declined to sanction nan anchor LP, and said nan remainder of nan money was filled by precocious nett worthy individuals, pinch support from different costs and “large family offices.”)

Wave Function’s emergence comes astatine a clip erstwhile heavy tech backing is connected nan rise, buoyed successful portion by nan accrued attraction connected fields for illustration aerospace and defense. It’s capable of a inclination that earlier this year, a caller Silicon Valley-based heavy tech money called Leitmotif broke screen pinch $300 cardinal successful superior from nan Volkswagen Group, portion of a bid to assistance up hardware and manufacturing startups successful nan United States and Europe.

It’s nan benignant of situation that seems ripe for personification pinch a inheritance for illustration Gull’s — and not conscionable his past arsenic an accomplished aerospace engineer.

Near nan extremity of his clip astatine SpaceX successful 2016, Gull started angel investing, making bets connected companies for illustration Boom Supersonic, K2 Space, and Varda. He besides co-founded electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) startup Talyn Air arsenic portion of Y Combinator’s Winter 2020 batch, and became a task partner astatine YC’s Pioneer Fund — a position he still holds. (Talyn was acquired successful 2023 by different eVTOL company, Ampaire.)

Gull wants to put each this varied acquisition — doing accelerated prototyping, founding a startup, angel investing — to usage astatine Wave Function.

“I tin really leverage that to thief each my founders get done those early stages erstwhile things are for illustration nan astir uncertain, and past thief them build their companies,” he said.

Gull besides believes heavy tech is going to beryllium a spot for large returns successful nan adjacent 10 to 20 years. Startups successful this abstraction whitethorn require much superior up front, he said, but they tin leverage non-venture backing (like authorities contracts aliases asset-backed lending) to standard and found a much coagulated moat than package companies.

Getting to those large returns will return clip and Gull is good pinch that. While he began his profession arsenic an eager builder, he besides knows nan worth of patience.

When he was astatine Scaled Composites 15 years ago, 1 of nan projects he worked connected was Stratolaunch, nan largest level successful nan world astatine nan time. It was specified an enormously analyzable craft that it remained successful improvement agelong aft Gull moved to SpaceX and beyond.

It wasn’t until 2019 erstwhile Gull and his Talyn co-founder Evan Mucasey were readying to caput to a “fly-in” (think: car show but for cool planes) astatine nan Mojave airdrome that he sewage a hint he mightiness spot nan elephantine airplane fly.

“I called a friend and said, ‘what clip should we beryllium location for nan airplane show?’ And he said, ‘6 a.m.’ I was like, that makes nary sense,” Gull said. He didn’t cognize what his friend was hinting at, but he believed it would beryllium worthy nan early flight.

Sure enough, arsenic Gull and Mucasey approached nan airport, location was Stratolaunch, parked connected nan runway and prepped for flight. They landed and, per Gull’s recollection, Stratolaunch took disconnected 15 minutes later.

“I deliberation it was almost precisely 10 years aft I had worked connected it connected a machine screen,” Gull said. “It was wild.”