Brian Jacobs
About Brian Jacobs
Brian Jacobs co-founded Emergence Capital in 2003 with Jason Green and Gordon Ritter, and Crunchbase lists him as Founder and General Partner there. Before that he was a General Partner at St. Paul Venture Capital for about ten years. Earlier venture experience was at Security Pacific Venture Capital, and he worked at Raychem, RCA, Westinghouse and Polaroid.
He founded Moai Capital, a Silicon Valley seed firm, in 2018. Crunchbase also lists him as a lecturer in management at Stanford Graduate School of Business since 2019. He holds an MS and BS in mechanical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Stanford.
His board work has included Intacct, YouSendIt, InsideView, Bill.com and Janrain, and he was named to the Forbes Midas List in 2006 and 2007.
Crunchbase lists 4 personal investments, with Wordware (seed round) as the most recent. It also shows an angel round in auticon. NFX Signal dates the auticon angel investment to December 2017 and also lists AnimalBiome seed rounds in 2019 and 2020 and a Series A in 2021. NFX Signal counts 39 investments on record. PitchBook classifies him as an active angel and shows 12 investments and 4 exits.
Public databases mix his personal, Moai and Emergence activity, so the counts differ by source.
The Lounge deals desk records Brian Jacobs in the Idilio seed round of $5.5M (June 2026). A PitchBook listing for the same round (Idilio.tv, 5 June 2026) shows him as a co-investor through Endurance Capital, and we could not independently confirm that this is the same Brian Jacobs. Crunchbase lists Wordware as his latest personal seed investment, with no year or amount shown publicly.
Emergence Capital describes its investment areas as including artificial intelligence systems, alongside cloud platforms and vertical software.
Moai Capital describes itself as a seed firm covering consumer products and services, the internet of things and B2B cloud services. It also makes mission-driven investments in startups that increase employment for autistic adults. VC Sheet reports that Moai is a $10M seed fund. That figure is from a third-party profile, not from Moai.
Emergence Capital focuses on early-stage B2B software. NFX Signal estimates his investment range at $25K to $100K, with a typical check of about $63K. It does not say whether that figure is his own or reported by him. We found no public statement from him on check size.
- Wordware: seed round listed as his latest personal investment on Crunchbase; year not shown publicly.
- Idilio: $5.5M seed round, June 2026, per the Lounge deals desk.
- auticon: angel round in December 2017 per NFX Signal; auticon employs autistic adults in technology roles.
- AnimalBiome: seed rounds in 2019 and 2020 and a Series A in 2021, per NFX Signal.
- Intacct: led Emergence's investment early and served on the board, per VC Sheet and TEC.
- Bill.com: board member since 2007, per MarketScreener.
- crunchbase.com/person/brian-jacobs
- crunchbase.com/organization/moai-capital
- crunchbase.com/organization/emergence-capital-partners
- signal.nfx.com/investors/brian-jacobs_1
- vcsheet.com/who/brian-jacobs
- tecglobal.org/bio/brian-jacobs
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/106418-08
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/1381091-41
Investing activity
Brian Jacobs appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent is Idilio (Seed, $5.5M, Jun 2026).
Brian Jacobs most often invests alongside Goodwater Capital, Blitzscaling Ventures, Numundo Ventures and David Velez, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Brian Jacobs
Does Brian Jacobs invest in AI startups?
Yes. The Lounge deals desk lists him in the Idilio $5.5M seed round (June 2026), and Crunchbase lists Wordware as his latest personal seed investment. Emergence Capital also names AI systems among its investment areas.
What stage does Brian Jacobs invest in?
His seed fund, Moai Capital, is focused on seed. Emergence Capital invests in early-stage B2B software. VC Sheet lists the Emergence range as seed through Series B and later.
What is Brian Jacobs' check size?
He has not stated a check size publicly that we could find. NFX Signal estimates $25K to $100K, with a typical check around $63K. Treat that as an estimate.
What sectors does Brian Jacobs back?
B2B software and cloud services, plus consumer products and the internet of things through Moai. He also backs impact investments aimed at employment for autistic adults.
Who is Brian Jacobs?
He is a co-founder of Emergence Capital, founder of Moai Capital, and a lecturer at Stanford GSB. He was previously a General Partner at St. Paul Venture Capital.
Is Brian Jacobs an angel investor?
Yes. Brian Jacobs invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Brian Jacobs invested in?
Brian Jacobs's AI investments include Idilio. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Brian Jacobs invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Brian Jacobs has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Brian Jacobs co-invest with?
Brian Jacobs's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Goodwater Capital (1 deal), Blitzscaling Ventures (1 deal), Numundo Ventures (1 deal), David Velez (1 deal) and Graham Weaver (1 deal).
How can founders reach Brian Jacobs?
Founders on Lounge can see Brian Jacobs'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 Brian Jacobs to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.