Cyan Banister
About Cyan Banister
Cyan Banister is an American angel investor and entrepreneur. She describes herself as a self-taught engineer. She was an early employee at IronPort, which Cisco acquired, where she oversaw support infrastructure and performance.
She co-founded Zivity, a subscription platform for user-submitted photography, and served as its CEO and editor-in-chief. She also co-founded Signal Media Project. From about February 2016 to February 2020 she was a partner at Founders Fund. She was its first woman investing partner and led seed and early-stage deals there.
She is now a co-founder and general partner at Long Journey Ventures, an early-stage fund based in San Francisco. She has also written a book, The Ugly Duckling, about her path from homelessness to venture capital.
Wikipedia lists Uber, Niantic, Postmates, DeepMind, Carta, Thumbtack, Flexport, Affirm and SpaceX among her early investments. It says her first angel check went to SpaceX. Dealroom's interview notes also mention Anduril, Flock Safety, Brave and Substrate across her personal and Long Journey portfolios. It says she and Scott Banister won TechCrunch's Angel of the Year award.
PitchBook records 133 investments for her as an individual angel. Investment counts differ by database.
Recent AI-related deals include TrueFoundry (Series A, February 2025), Nectir (seed, December 2024) and Together AI. PitchBook also lists Barndoor AI (May 2025) and Eragon (seed, March 2026). On the podcast The Pitch she has backed Nectir AI, Mappa (voice AI), CosmicBrain AI and Thoras AI. She sits on the board of The AI Foundation.
Long Journey Ventures backs founders at concept stage and describes them as "magically weird". One profile lists pre-seed through Series A. Another lists sectors including AI, fintech, health, deep tech and SaaS. Signal NFX shows her investment range as $100K to $1M. The Pitch reports checks from $25K to $1.1M on that show.
On what she looks for, she has said she wants founders who know something others do not. She has also said she is drawn to founders whose story began in childhood. Long Journey closed its fourth fund, Long Journey IV, in March 2025. Wikipedia reports it raised about $181.8 million.
- Uber: ride-hailing company; early investor.
- SpaceX: aerospace company; reportedly her first angel check.
- Postmates: on-demand delivery company; early investor.
- Affirm: consumer lending and payments company; early investor.
- DeepMind: AI research lab; early investor.
- TrueFoundry: AI deployment platform; Series A, February 2025.
- Nectir: AI classroom tools; seed, December 2024.
- Together AI: AI infrastructure company; listed in Dealroom's interview notes.
- Eragon: business software startup; seed, March 2026.
- FLORA: creative software startup; Series A, January 2026.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan_Banister
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/106060-60
- signal.nfx.com/investors/cyan-banister
- thepitch.show/investors/cyan-banister-long-journey-ventures
- vcsheet.com/who/cyan-banister
- f4.fund/firms/long-journey-ventures
- me.sh/profile/cyan-banister
- app.dealroom.co/news/note/dig-through-your-couches-cyan-banister-on-th
Investing activity
Cyan Banister is listed on Lounge as an angel investor. The deals desk records Series A and later AI rounds and seeds over $10M, so smaller checks may not show here yet.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Cyan Banister
Who is Cyan Banister?
She is an angel investor and general partner at Long Journey Ventures in San Francisco. She is a former Founders Fund partner and a Zivity co-founder.
What check size does Cyan Banister write?
Signal NFX lists a range of $100K to $1M. The Pitch reports $25K to $1.1M on that show. She has not published a fixed check size.
What stage does Cyan Banister invest in?
She invests early, from concept stage and pre-seed through seed and Series A.
What does Cyan Banister look for in founders?
She has said she looks for founders with an insight or edge that others lack. She is also drawn to founders with a long-held personal mission.
Has Cyan Banister invested in AI startups?
Yes. Examples include TrueFoundry, Nectir, Together AI and Barndoor AI. She also sits on the board of The AI Foundation.
How can founders contact Cyan Banister?
Her public channels are LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/cyanb), X (@cyantist) and cyanbanister.com. A warm intro is also an option.
Is Cyan Banister an angel investor?
Yes. Cyan Banister invests personally as an angel.
How can founders reach Cyan Banister?
Founders on Lounge can see Cyan Banister'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 Cyan Banister to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.