Aaron Levie
About Aaron Levie
Aaron Levie is the co-founder and CEO of Box, the cloud content management company. He launched it in 2005 with co-founder and CFO Dylan Smith. Box began as a college business project, and Levie attended the University of Southern California from 2003 to 2005. He has served on Box's board since April 2005 and was Chairman from December 2013 to May 2021.
Box is the only company Levie is recorded as having founded. Crunchbase lists 0 companies founded under his name as an investor. His public role since then has been running Box, and he speaks often about enterprise AI, including the point that companies need organized data and access controls before they can use AI well.
He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He posts about startups and AI on X as @levie.
Levie invests his own money rather than through a fund. Crunchbase counts 20 investments for him, with 0 lead investments and 0 exits. Crunchbase does not publish a portfolio company count for him. Other databases show higher totals, and their numbers differ from each other, so treat any single count as approximate.
Some of his earlier angel activity was in enterprise and cloud companies. NFX Signal records his participation in the $15M Series A of Color in April 2015. NFX ranks him in its Seed and Pre-seed lists for enterprise applications and cloud infrastructure in the San Francisco Bay Area.
He usually appears in rounds as one of several named angels alongside the institutional investors who lead, and Crunchbase shows no lead investments for him.
Crunchbase counts 17 AI investments by Levie since 2023. Its AI portfolio list for him includes June, Factory, Decagon, Deeptrace, Prime Intellect, Console, Promise, Socket, Pika, Antimetal, Basis and Retell AI.
Press and Crunchbase's activity feed date some of these. He took part in Retell AI's round in April 2024, Pika's round in June 2024 and Decagon's Series A in June 2024. SiliconANGLE reported that Decagon's $35M Series A was led by Accel, with a16z participating, and that Levie was among the angels. His activity feed also lists a Factory funding round on September 25, 2025.
These AI companies mostly sell software to businesses, for example customer support agents (Decagon, Retell AI) and software development agents (Factory). Pika is a video generation company and is the exception.
Levie's investments concentrate on enterprise software, developer tools, infrastructure, security and, since 2023, AI. His AI portfolio is mostly early-stage companies, and NFX lists him for Pre-seed and Seed rankings. His portfolio is centered in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is based.
NFX Signal shows an investment range of $5K to $50K with a $25K sweet spot. This is a third-party profile that has not been updated recently, and Levie has not stated check sizes publicly in the sources reviewed. Confirm it directly before you rely on it.
He has not published a formal investment thesis. His public posts about startups show what he values. He writes that startups should reach cash flow positive early, build a great team, make sure the business model works, and stay focused. On AI, he has written that customers only care about the best end product, so founders should not cling to a proprietary component once it becomes commoditized. He has also said the best startup ideas come from problems that everyone solves differently and no one is happy with.
- Decagon: AI agents for customer support. Levie was an angel in its $35M Series A in June 2024.
- Retell AI: AI voice agents for phone calls. Levie invested in its round in April 2024.
- Pika: AI video generation. Levie took part in its round in June 2024.
- Factory: AI software development agents. Crunchbase lists it in his AI portfolio, and a Factory round appears in his activity feed in September 2025.
- Basis: AI for accounting, listed in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Socket: software supply chain security, listed in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Prime Intellect: AI compute and training infrastructure, listed in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Color: health genetics company. Levie took part in its $15M Series A in April 2015, per NFX Signal.
- crunchbase.com/person/aaron-levie
- crunchbase.com/person/aaron-levie/person_overview_investor/timeline
- box.com/events/cards/resource/107866?resource_id=AaronLevie-107866
- cxotalk.com/bio/aaron-levie-ceo-box
- signal.nfx.com/investors/aaron-levie
- siliconangle.com/2024/06/18/decagon-raises-35m-transform-customer-serv
- x.com/levie/status/1176697683899310080
- x.com/levie/status/1721713962134438365
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Aaron Levie has made 20 investments according to Crunchbase. 17 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including June, Factory, Decagon, Deeptrace and Prime Intellect.
Aaron Levie appears in 3 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $20M. The rounds are mostly Seed and Pre-seed, with a median round size of $6M and the largest at $20M. The most recent are June AI (Pre-seed, $20M, Aug 2026), Enclave (Seed, $6M, Mar 2026) and Deeptrace (Seed, $5M, Mar 2026).
Aaron Levie most often invests alongside Diane Greene, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, Michael Dell and Conviction Embed, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Aaron Levie
Does Aaron Levie invest in AI startups?
Yes. Crunchbase counts 17 AI investments by him since 2023, including Decagon, Factory, Pika, Retell AI, Basis and Socket.
What is Aaron Levie's angel check size?
He has not published one. NFX Signal lists a $5K to $50K range with a $25K sweet spot, but this is a third-party profile and may be out of date. Confirm it with him directly.
What stage does Aaron Levie invest in?
His recorded investments are mostly Pre-seed to early venture rounds, such as Decagon's Series A, usually alongside lead investors. Crunchbase shows 0 lead investments for him.
What sectors does Aaron Levie back?
Mainly enterprise software, developer tools, infrastructure, security and AI. His AI portfolio includes customer support agents, coding agents, video generation and AI infrastructure.
How can founders reach Aaron Levie?
He is active on X as @levie and has a LinkedIn profile. A warm introduction from a shared investor or founder is the most reliable route, since he invests alongside funds. He has not published a pitch process.
Is Aaron Levie a venture fund partner?
No. He is the CEO and co-founder of Box and invests personally as an angel. The sources reviewed do not show him running a fund.
Is Aaron Levie an angel investor?
Yes. Aaron Levie invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 20 investments.
What AI companies has Aaron Levie invested in?
Aaron Levie's AI investments include June, Factory, Decagon, Deeptrace, Prime Intellect, Console, Promise and Socket. The 3 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Aaron Levie based?
Aaron Levie is based in San Francisco Bay Area, United States.
What stage does Aaron Levie invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Aaron Levie has invested at Seed and Pre-seed, with a median round of $6M.