Amir Banifatemi
About Amir Banifatemi
Amir Banifatemi is an entrepreneur, investor and innovation strategist based in Newport Beach, California. Crunchbase lists him as Responsible AI Chair (Responsible AI Expert) at the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) and as a Taskforce member for the Open Quantum Initiative at GESDA. The World Economic Forum, the ITU's AI for Good site and AI Business list him as Chief Responsible AI Officer at Cognizant. He has also been General Manager of Innovation and Growth, and later Chief Innovation and Growth Officer, at the XPRIZE Foundation, where he launched competitions on AI, climate and health.
He co-founded the AI Commons and is co-founder and curator of the AI for Good Global Summit, held with the ITU and UN agencies. His earlier career included the European Space Agency, Airbus, AP-HP and the European Commission's information society division. AI Business says he previously led the global AI XPRIZE while managing two venture funds, one in the US and one in Europe.
He holds Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Technology of Compiègne, a Doctorate in System Design and Cognitive Sciences from the University Paris Descartes, and an MBA from HEC Paris. He is a guest lecturer and adjunct MBA professor at UC Berkeley, Chapman University, Claremont McKenna College, UC Irvine and HEC Paris.
Crunchbase shows 9 investments in 9 portfolio companies, 0 lead investments, 3 exits (none by IPO) and 3 companies founded. Other databases count differently. PitchBook lists 52 investments and classes him as an active angel. Tracxn dates his first startup deal to 2011, with AwayFind. His Clarity.fm profile describes him as an angel investor in more than 30 startups.
He was a member and President of Tech Coast Angels Orange County, and his Wellfound profile lists him as a board member and emeritus president there. He co-founded K5 Ventures, where he was Managing Partner, and PitchBook also lists him as Managing Partner at RippleCrest Investments. He has been a mentor at Techstars and at Plug and Play Bitcoin, and an advisor to companies including inDinero and Wonder Technologies.
Crunchbase's timeline shows rounds from 2011 to 2014, including AwayFind, Fundly, Demonstranda, LensGen, Pogoseat and Compass. NFX Signal lists Digsy (seed, January 2015) and Connectifier (Series A, June 2015). PitchBook lists myLABBox (2018) and HoneyBook (2019). Tracxn records Compass as an acquisition on March 29, 2017.
No public source we found shows him leading or making a named angel investment in an AI-native startup. His AI work is mainly institutional. He ran the $5 million AI XPRIZE, co-founded the AI Commons, and co-founded the AI for Good movement and Summit. He also contributes to responsible AI standards work at the OECD, GPAI, IEEE and ITU.
PitchBook lists him as an advisor to Ocean Protocol, a board member of Aura Labs, and an advisor and board member at Fusion Brakes. EasyVC describes K5 Ventures as focused on early-stage technology startups in AI, machine learning, robotics and fintech. That description comes from a third-party profile, not from him.
His public investing record is early-stage, mostly seed and angel rounds, with a Series A in Connectifier. Sectors in the record include consumer and business software, fintech, crowdfunding and healthcare services. PitchBook tags his deals under business and productivity software and healthcare services, and Tracxn tags them as enterprise applications and fintech.
He describes himself as most useful on product strategy, pricing, business model, go-to-market and fundraising. His current public work centres on responsible and trustworthy AI, AI governance and standards (ISO/IEC 42001, NIST AI RMF), and emerging technologies such as quantum computing. Founders building AI products for enterprise use may find that experience relevant.
He has not publicly stated a check size or a current investment thesis for angel deals. The data sources above are third-party aggregators, and their deal lists are incomplete and sometimes inconsistent.
- AwayFind: seed round in October 2011, per Crunchbase and Tracxn.
- Fundly: funding round in February 2011, per Crunchbase's timeline.
- Demonstranda: round in May 2012, per Crunchbase.
- LensGen: round in September 2012, per Crunchbase.
- Pogoseat: seed round in September 2013, per NFX Signal and Crunchbase.
- Compass: seed round in late 2013, per Crunchbase and NFX Signal. Tracxn records an acquisition in March 2017.
- Crowdfunder: angel round in February 2014, per NFX Signal.
- Immediately: seed round in March 2014, per NFX Signal.
- Digsy: seed round in January 2015, per NFX Signal. PitchBook also lists him as a board member.
- Connectifier: Series A in June 2015, per NFX Signal.
- myLABBox: investment in July 2018, per PitchBook.
- HoneyBook: later-stage round in March 2019, per PitchBook.
- crunchbase.com/person/amir-banifatemi
- crunchbase.com/person/amir-banifatemi/person_overview_investor/timelin
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/105999-22
- signal.nfx.com/investors/amir-banifatemi
- tracxn.com/d/people/amir-banifatemi/__1lMg9X_oksJNM5MDlesmqCwspz_Qy4ZJ
- weforum.org/stories/authors/amir-banifatemi
- aiforgood.itu.int/speaker/amir-banifatemi
- aibusiness.com/author/amir-banifatemi
Investing activity
Amir Banifatemi has made 9 investments according to Crunchbase across 9 portfolio companies, and has seen 3 exits and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Amir Banifatemi
Is Amir Banifatemi an angel investor?
Yes. PitchBook classes him as an active angel investor, and he was President of Tech Coast Angels Orange County. He also co-founded K5 Ventures and was its Managing Partner.
What is Amir Banifatemi's current role?
Crunchbase lists him as Responsible AI Expert at GPAI. The WEF and ITU AI for Good pages list him as Chief Responsible AI Officer at Cognizant. He was previously Chief Innovation and Growth Officer at XPRIZE.
What stage does Amir Banifatemi invest in?
His public deals are early-stage: angel and seed rounds, plus a Series A in Connectifier in 2015. Crunchbase shows no lead investments.
What is Amir Banifatemi's check size?
He has not published a check size, so we do not list one. Founders should ask directly instead of relying on estimates from data aggregators.
What does Amir Banifatemi help founders with?
His profiles say he works with startups on product strategy, pricing, business model, go-to-market and fundraising. Today his focus is responsible AI, governance and standards.
How can founders contact Amir Banifatemi?
His public profiles are LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/abanifatemi) and X (@A225). A warm introduction through the AI for Good, XPRIZE or Tech Coast Angels networks may also work.
Where is Amir Banifatemi based?
Amir Banifatemi is based in Newport Beach, California, United States.
How can founders reach Amir Banifatemi?
Founders on Lounge can see Amir Banifatemi'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 Amir Banifatemi to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.