Clint Chao
About Clint Chao
Clint Chao is Co-Founder and General Partner of Moment Ventures, a Palo Alto early-stage VC firm. He wrote in 2019 that he and Ammar Hanafi reconnected in 2013 and started Moment with a third co-founder, Rajiv Khemani, to invest in the Future of Work.
Before Moment he was a co-founding Managing Director at Formative Ventures. There he invested about a third of the fund's capital in early-stage software infrastructure, web services, cloud and advanced semiconductor companies. His board and investment experience includes Mashery, SOASTA, Silicon Clocks, Vungle and Zyray Wireless, all later acquired.
Earlier he spent more than 20 years in startup operating roles. He was the first VP of Marketing, Sales and Business Development at SkyStream Networks and Senior Director of Marketing at C-Cube Microsystems. He started at C-Cube as its first salesperson. Before that he held sales roles at Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley and sits on the Cal Alumni Association board.
Chao mainly invests through Moment. Moment I was a $10.5 million fund from 2015 that made 20 mostly-seed investments. Moment II is a $37 million fund announced in August 2019. Chao's own announcement said Moment II would focus on pre-Series A rounds.
His public profiles also list personal or Moment investments in Pantastic, Alto, Advekit and Pod. Crunchbase lists exits among his investments, including Netsil (acquired by Nutanix), Skyward (Verizon) and Payable (Stripe). Public data sources do not agree on how many investments he has made, so treat any count as approximate.
NFX Signal lists TARA AI as a seed investment from December 2017. It also lists 2024 investments in Barndoor AI (seed), Bruviti AI (seed) and CharacterQuilt (pre-seed and seed), and a 2025 investment in Blazel. His X bio describes investing in AI and technology that change how operations, labor or transactions work within and across industries.
Chao describes himself as an early-stage B2B investor in enterprise-facing startups that change industries with new business models, often combining technology and people. Industries he names are logistics, food, transportation, e-commerce, education, healthcare and oil and gas. Moment's own description also includes construction.
He looks at single-location or hybrid-location startups across North America. He says he is not currently investing in semiconductor or capital-intensive hardware startups, and is not focused on consumer. His NFX profile lists an investment range of $250K to $1.5M, with a $1M sweet spot. That is self-reported and may change.
- TARA AI: AI-based work management software. NFX lists a seed investment in December 2017.
- Flowspace: Moment portfolio company listed in his Crunchbase bio.
- Pod Foods: Food industry company in his Crunchbase bio. He is listed as an investor and board member from 2019.
- Swing Education: Education company listed in his Crunchbase bio.
- Validere: Oil and gas company listed in his Crunchbase bio.
- Netsil: Acquired by Nutanix.
- Skyward: Acquired by Verizon.
- Payable: Acquired by Stripe.
- Barndoor AI and Bruviti AI: Seed investments listed by NFX, 2024.
Investing activity
Clint Chao has made 2 investments according to Crunchbase across 2 portfolio companies, and has seen 1 exit and founded 2 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Clint Chao
Who is Clint Chao?
Clint Chao is Co-Founder and General Partner of Moment Ventures, a Palo Alto early-stage VC firm. He was previously a co-founding Managing Director at Formative Ventures and held sales and marketing roles at SkyStream Networks, C-Cube Microsystems and Motorola.
What check size does Clint Chao write?
His NFX Signal profile lists a range of $250K to $1.5M with a $1M sweet spot. This is self-reported, so confirm it with him directly.
What stage does Clint Chao invest in?
He invests at pre-seed, seed and pre-Series A. Moment II, a $37 million fund, was announced in 2019 to focus on the pre-Series A phase.
What sectors does Clint Chao invest in?
He backs B2B startups that transform other industries, including logistics, food, transportation, e-commerce, education, healthcare, oil and gas and construction. He says he is not currently investing in semiconductor or capital-intensive hardware startups, and not in consumer.
Has Clint Chao invested in AI startups?
Yes. NFX Signal lists TARA AI (seed, 2017) and, from 2024, Barndoor AI, Bruviti AI and CharacterQuilt. His X bio says he invests in AI and tech that change how industries operate.
How can founders contact Clint Chao?
He is on X at @clintchao and publishes on Medium. Moment Ventures is at momentventures.com.
Is Clint Chao an angel investor?
Yes. Clint Chao invests personally as an angel and is Co-Founder & General Partner at Moment Ventures. Crunchbase counts 2 investments and 1 exit.
Where is Clint Chao based?
Clint Chao is based in Palo Alto, California, United States.
How can founders reach Clint Chao?
Founders on Lounge can see Clint Chao'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 Clint Chao to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.