Catalytic Capital For
Hard Tech Founders

Exceptional early talent is the greatest leading indicator of a company’s potential.
Since 2017 our partners have backed or founded companies with over $2B of enterprise value. We’ve taken companies from napkin sketches to thriving businesses, hired world-class talent and raised capital from top-tier investors. From these experiences, we’ve learned how to identify great talent early, allowing us to lean in well before data, revenue, and sometimes even a deck.

We provide catalytic capital to founders that:
- Are magnets for top-tier talent
- Have the clear, pragmatic vision needed to build a world-changing company, and
- Are a ton of fun to be around
We blend the network of a top-tier fund with the value-add of your most impactful angel.
We are concentrated, high-conviction investors. We spend over half our time supporting the growth of our existing portfolio.
Your Partners For The Entire Journey
Since 2017 we have invested in or founded companies with over $1B of enterprise value. We have built engineering teams, shipped hardware and software, and raised hundreds of millions in venture capital. Our partners are in the prime of their career and bring the energy and empathy to help you realize your vision.

Mike Annunziata
Mike is a trusted advisor to founders and superconnector within the venture community. Since 2019 he's seeded outlier Hard Tech founders now valued at over $2B, including Radiant, Varda Space, K2 Space, and Northwood, which have collectively raised over $500M from Tier 1 venture investors. As a former operator and institutional investor, Mike brings a unique combination of skills to early-stage investing. He pairs a fast pace of execution with a deeply thoughtful approach to company building that’s helped make him a go-to early capital partner for the best Hard Tech founders.

Prior to founding Also Capital, Mike spent 7 years as co-founder & CEO of Farther Farms--a Series B hardtech startup founded out of Cornell University's food science labs that has been featured in Fast Company, Food Dive, and Green Biz, and 3 years as a Senior Investment Analyst at the Cornell University Investment Office. He holds a Bachelor’s in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, an MBA from Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, is a CFA Charterholder, and is an alum of First Round Capital's Dorm Room Fund where he helped build entrepreneurial communities on college campuses through mentoring of and investment in student-founded startups.
"Mike is a mix between West coast big ideas and East coast VC foundational finance." - Dave Ambrose, GP @ Bungalow Capital
Will Bruey
Will is the CEO and Co-founder of Varda Space Industries, the first company commercializing in-space manufacturing for earth-sized markets and backed by Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Caffeinated Capital, and more.

Will started his career at SpaceX where he was a hardware engineer working on the Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft, before flying 8 flights to the ISS from mission control as the lead of the dragon spacecraft. He subsequently spent time at Bank of America as a Director of Global Equities Technology before founding Varda Space Industries in November of 2020 where he serves as CEO. Will is a co-founder of Also Capital and holds a BS in Applied Physics from Cornell, and Masters of Systems Engineering from Cornell. In his free time, he maintains and flies his Cozy Mark 4 experimental aircraft.
Colin Smith
Colin is on the founding team at Vast, a leading private space station developer backed by Stellar and Ripple co-founder, Jed McCaleb.

Vast is developing a super large diameter space station module capable of supporting four crew members, and the first space station capable of generating earth-like rotation gravity required and to combat the detrimental effects of weightlessness on the human body. Colin spent over a decade at SpaceX where he architected battery and actuation systems for the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, Starship. He also led the propulsion components design team for the Crew Dragon spacecraft from concept through production and first human flight, which has now successfully flown 30 astronauts to the International Space Station. Previously, Colin worked on the United States' first full size autonomous humanoid robot, CHARLI. His research brought him into the world of other bio-inspired robots, concentrating on underwater and aerial analogs. He holds a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech where he was granted two patents and produced eleven peer reviewed publications on smart materials and sensors, novel actuators, and robotics. He is grateful to have worked with Also Capital for the last four years.
Albert Dong
Albert is the CEO & Founder of Godling, a creative & fundraising studio that has helped companies & funds raise over $3B in the last 3 years.

Since 2016, Albert has built his reputation defining the new role of Creative in its ability to expedite the growth of early-stage startups & funds. He has worked with 100+ companies to launch new brands, products, and close successful fundraises. Concurrently with Godling, he built out the platform team of First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund as their Managing Partner, advised the portfolio & incubations of Wavemaker Partners as their Creative-in-Residence, and built the design team of Lafayette Square as they scaled from 7 to 90 people as their Director of Brand. Today, he serves as a Venture Partner for Also Capital and focuses his time working closely with a handful of inspiring founders to remove their fundraising roadblocks. Albert has made 30+ angel investments across sectors, primarily at pre-seed & seed, with a focus on consumer. He was a Forbes 30 Under 30 Nominee in 2025 for Marketing & Advertising.
Jamie Cox
Jamie is the CEO & cofounder of Treecard, a climate fintech helping consumers fund decarbonisation.

With 350,000 accounts and growing, Treecard is aiming to become the leading consumer lifestyle product in the space, doing for sustainability what Calm has done for mental health. Treecard has raised $27M from leading fintech investors such as Valar Ventures. Previously, Jamie founded the AI-specific cloud platform Fluidstack which he has grown to $15M ARR and currently provides key training and inference infrastructure for several high profile AI labs. Before becoming a Thiel fellow he was studying at Oxford University.
Also Companies In The World

Biosphere zaps germs with UV light to make biomanufacturing cheaper



Biosphere zaps germs with UV light to make biomanufacturing cheaper



Radiant raises $100M for portable nuclear generators

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Radiant raises $100M for portable nuclear generators
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Bridgit Mendler’s space startup Northwood passes first test, connecting prototype antenna to Planet satellites



Bridgit Mendler’s space startup Northwood passes first test, connecting prototype antenna to Planet satellites



Detroit startup Grounded has a Lego-like way of designing EV vans for small businesses



Detroit startup Grounded has a Lego-like way of designing EV vans for small businesses



Varda capsule has successful landing in Utah desert in historic first



Varda capsule has successful landing in Utah desert in historic first



The hard tech renaissance accelerates as YC spotlights space, manufacturing and defense



The hard tech renaissance accelerates as YC spotlights space, manufacturing and defense



Varda gets reentry license for space manufacturing capsule



Varda gets reentry license for space manufacturing capsule



AnySignal and Vast Space Partner on Next Generation Space Communication Technologies

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AnySignal and Vast Space Partner on Next Generation Space Communication Technologies
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K2 Space, a startup with SpaceX veterans building monster satellites, raises $50 million



K2 Space, a startup with SpaceX veterans building monster satellites, raises $50 million



Disney star turned space CEO: Bridgit Mendler launches satellite data startup backed by major VCs



Disney star turned space CEO: Bridgit Mendler launches satellite data startup backed by major VCs



Radiant Receives $3.8M Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund Award



Radiant Receives $3.8M Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund Award



K2 Space is building a power-rich future for space exploration based on the premise that bigger is better



K2 Space is building a power-rich future for space exploration based on the premise that bigger is better



Integral Secures $6.9 Million Seed Round led by Haystack to Maximize Data Privacy and Quality



Integral Secures $6.9 Million Seed Round led by Haystack to Maximize Data Privacy and Quality



Space radio developer AnySignal emerges from stealth


Space radio developer AnySignal emerges from stealth


This Former SpaceX Engineer Just Raised $40 Million To Build Portable Nuclear Reactors



This Former SpaceX Engineer Just Raised $40 Million To Build Portable Nuclear Reactors



Radiant Industries Raises $40 Million to Build Full-Scale Reactor Prototype



Radiant Industries Raises $40 Million to Build Full-Scale Reactor Prototype



Israeli AirForce Leverages AR/VR Therapy to Evaluate Pilots for Potential Neck Injuries



Israeli AirForce Leverages AR/VR Therapy to Evaluate Pilots for Potential Neck Injuries



Peter Thiel’s VC fund backs TreeCard, a fintech that plants trees when you spend



Peter Thiel’s VC fund backs TreeCard, a fintech that plants trees when you spend



Integral Applies Automation to Healthcare Privacy Compliance



Integral Applies Automation to Healthcare Privacy Compliance



Zeev Ventures leads $24m Series A funding for ShipIn Systems



Zeev Ventures leads $24m Series A funding for ShipIn Systems



Radiant could provide safe, portable nuclear energy within the next 5 years


Radiant could provide safe, portable nuclear energy within the next 5 years
