Alessandro Piol
About Alessandro Piol
Alessandro Piol is a New York-based venture capitalist and angel investor. <cite index="6-1">He has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry.</cite> He holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
He spent 10 years at AT&T. There he co-founded AT&T Ventures, the company's venture arm, which focused on early-stage new media investments. He also co-founded Pixel Machines, an AT&T-backed graphics supercomputing startup. In 1995 he joined Invesco Private Capital, where he became a general partner and headed the technology practice. In May 2006 he launched Vedanta Capital in New York with Parag Saxena and Howard Goldstein, who also came from Invesco. Crunchbase lists him there as Owner, President and Co-Founder from May 2006 to January 2018.
He is now President and a board member of Epistemic AI. Crunchbase also lists him as Executive Chairman there from September 2019. Public profiles describe him as Managing Partner of AlphaPrime, a venture firm focused on technologies that protect people and assets. He is Chair Emeritus of the Columbia Engineering Board of Visitors. He co-authored the book Tech and the City: The Making of New York's Startup Community, and he advises Knightsbridge, Sella Ventures and Algebris Climatech. Earlier roles include president of The Indus Entrepreneurs (New York) and board member of New York Angels.
Crunchbase counts 14 investments, 8 portfolio companies, 1 lead investment, 3 exits (none by IPO) and 3 companies founded. PitchBook's list is shorter, with 5 investments, and CB Insights shows 3, so the totals differ by source.
He was a member of New York Angels, the city's angel network, and is listed as an angel investor with HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York since 2013. He is also a member of Bacchus Venture Capital, an angel group that invests in Endless Frontier Labs companies, and of Club degli Investitori in Italy.
Dated angel and seed deals in the sources include Cannonball (seed, October 2013), Architizer (seed, February 2014, a round of about $2 million with several co-investors), Rockerbox (seed, March 2014) and Rebel Girls (seed, October 2020). Crunchbase also shows him in a Kasisto round in January 2017 and in Socure's seed and Series A rounds, with a Socure round reported in July 2017. Architizer was acquired in June 2022. In his earlier institutional career he led investments in Verisign, Portal Software, ONI Systems, Cast Iron Systems and LogLogic, among others.
His clearest AI role is at Epistemic AI, where he is President and a director. Crunchbase's timeline lists Epistemic AI funding rounds in June 2019 and April 2021 on his profile.
Crunchbase's most recent listed investment is the Series A of Vaidio, and it also lists Socure and Kasisto. The sources reviewed do not say what he looked for in these deals or how large his checks were. They also do not give a full list of his AI investments, so founders should ask him directly.
Sources describe different phases of his career. At AT&T Ventures he focused on early-stage new media. At Vedanta, which Crunchbase says manages $600M in total commitments, the stated focus is technology, health care and consumer. At AlphaPrime, the stated focus is technologies that protect people and assets. One directory lists cybersecurity, internet of things and network security as areas of interest.
His angel deals have been at the seed stage, in New York-area companies such as Architizer, Rockerbox and Socure. Directory sites list him as a pre-seed and seed investor, but these listings are aggregator summaries, not statements from him.
He has not published a personal check size. Any figures online are round sizes or group ranges, not his own checks. For reference, a data provider lists New York Angels as investing $0.1 to 1.5 million in early-stage companies, but that describes the group, not Piol.
- Epistemic AI: he is President and a director, and was Executive Chairman from September 2019 per Crunchbase.
- Socure: Crunchbase lists him in its seed and Series A rounds, with a round reported in July 2017. Tracxn lists him as a board member.
- Kasisto: he appears in a round reported in January 2017.
- Vaidio: Crunchbase lists it as his latest investment, a Series A. PitchBook classes it as business and productivity software.
- Rebel Girls: a publishing company. He invested in its seed round in October 2020.
- Rockerbox: business software. He invested in its seed round in March 2014.
- Architizer: an online platform with architecture content. He invested in its seed round in February 2014, and it was acquired in June 2022.
- Cannonball: an application software company. He invested in its seed round in October 2013, and PitchBook lists it as out of business.
- crunchbase.com/person/alessandro-piol
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/106229-17
- engineering.columbia.edu/about/columbia-engineering-leadership/board-v
- clubdeglinvestitori.it/en/people/alessandro-piol-2
- marketscreener.com/insider/ALESSANDRO-A-PIOL-A05GXA
- endlessfrontierlabs.com/mentors/alessandro-piol
- tracxn.com/d/people/alessandro-piol/__-Ht7uBDR61T340dxx6HfB6xx4y9yH2m-
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parag_Saxena
Investing activity
Alessandro Piol has made 14 investments according to Crunchbase across 8 portfolio companies, and has led 1 round, seen 3 exits and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Alessandro Piol
Who is Alessandro Piol?
He is a New York-based technology investor, President and board member of Epistemic AI, and a co-founder of Vedanta Capital. He also co-founded AT&T Ventures.
Does Alessandro Piol invest in AI startups?
He is President of Epistemic AI and has invested in companies such as Socure, Kasisto and Vaidio, according to Crunchbase. The sources reviewed do not describe a specific AI investment thesis.
What is Alessandro Piol's check size?
His personal check size is not public. The figures found online are round sizes or ranges for groups he belonged to, not his own checks.
What stage does Alessandro Piol invest in?
His documented angel deals are mostly seed rounds, such as Cannonball, Architizer, Rockerbox and Rebel Girls. Crunchbase also shows him in Series A rounds at Socure and Vaidio.
Where is Alessandro Piol based?
He is based in New York, New York. His documented investments are mostly in the United States, with ties to Italian investor networks such as Club degli Investitori.
Which firms has Alessandro Piol founded or run?
He co-founded AT&T Ventures, Pixel Machines and Vedanta Capital. He also founded AlphaPrime, where he is Managing Partner.
Is Alessandro Piol an angel investor?
Yes. Alessandro Piol invests personally as an angel and is President & Board Member at Epistemic AI. Crunchbase counts 14 investments and 3 exits.
How can founders reach Alessandro Piol?
Founders on Lounge can see Alessandro Piol's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Alessandro Piol to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.