Farzad Soleimani
About Farzad Soleimani
Farzad Soleimani is a physician, entrepreneur and investor based in Houston, Texas. He holds an MBA, MD, MS and BS from Stanford University and completed his residency at Baylor College of Medicine, where he was chief resident. Rice University's business school lists him as a lecturer in management for healthcare. He also teaches in Rice's bioengineering department and holds a faculty role at Baylor College of Medicine.
He founded and was CEO of eTherapi, an early online therapy company that offered video-based counseling. Crunchbase lists him as a co-founder with Elias Aboujaoude. He also co-founded IGAN Biosciences and founded the product review platform Review2Buy. He worked in strategy and business development at Hansen Medical. He co-directed the Texas Medical Center Biodesign Innovation Program.
His investing career started at Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Rice's profile also names XSeed Capital. Crunchbase lists him as Healthcare Partner at 1984 Ventures since August 2019. He is also an advisor to Tau Ventures.
Most of his public investing record is through 1984 Ventures rather than personal angel checks. Press coverage identifies him as an angel investor in the Katalyze AI seed round. A Medtech Money podcast episode with him covers angels and SAFEs, among other topics. Personal angel investments with dates are otherwise not public.
Katalyze AI raised a $10.5M seed round in July 2026. FinSMEs reports that Bonfire Ventures led the round, with Inovia Capital, Ripple Ventures, Alumni Ventures and angels including Gokul Rajaram and Farzad Soleimani.
Katalyze AI is based in Mountain View, CA, and is led by CEO Reza Farahani. It builds an agentic operating system for pharmaceutical companies. It says the product is deployed at 5 of the 20 largest global pharma companies. The round's check sizes are not disclosed. The podcast description also credits him with seed investments in DeepScribe, a company in the AI documentation space.
His public work centers on early-stage healthcare, including digital health, health IT, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The NFX Signal profile lists seed and Series A activity in these areas. It shows an investment range of $100K to $10.0M with a $1M sweet spot. That range is a third-party listing tied to 1984 Ventures, not a personal angel check size he has stated. The Katalyze AI round suggests he also looks at AI companies serving life sciences. Houston-based press has quoted him on what investors look for in Houston health tech.
- Katalyze AI: agentic operating system for pharmaceutical companies; angel in the $10.5M seed, July 2026.
- Trusted Health: healthcare staffing platform; named as a seed investment by 1984 Ventures in a podcast bio.
- DeepScribe: AI medical documentation; named as a seed investment by 1984 Ventures in a podcast bio.
- Health Note: named as a seed investment by 1984 Ventures in a podcast bio.
- Signos: named as a seed investment by 1984 Ventures in a podcast bio.
- CareSignal: patient engagement company; 1984 Ventures took part in a strategic round, and he was quoted in the announcement.
- Understood Care: Crunchbase lists 1984 Ventures as lead investor in its pre-seed round.
- finsmes.com/2026/07/katalyze-ai-raises-10-5m-in-seed-funding.html
- app.dealroom.co/companies/katalyze_ai
- crunchbase.com/person/farzad-soleimani
- crunchbase.com/organization/etherapi
- business.rice.edu/person/farzad-soleimani
- open.spotify.com/episode/6FByxf1fOoPfScmbT82DIT
- signal.nfx.com/investors/farzad-soleimani
- linkedin.com/in/farzadsoleimani
Investing activity
Farzad Soleimani appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $11M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $11M. The most recent is Katalyze AI (Seed, $10.5M, Jul 2026).
Farzad Soleimani most often invests alongside Bonfire Ventures, Ripple, Alumni Ventures and Inovia Capital, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Farzad Soleimani
Who is Farzad Soleimani?
He is a physician, entrepreneur and Healthcare Partner at 1984 Ventures in Houston. He founded the telemedicine company eTherapi and co-founded the Texas Medical Center Biodesign Innovation Program.
Did Farzad Soleimani invest in Katalyze AI?
Yes. FinSMEs reported him as an angel in Katalyze AI's $10.5M seed round in July 2026. Bonfire Ventures led that round.
What stage does Farzad Soleimani invest in?
His public activity is at the pre-seed, seed and Series A stages, mostly in healthcare. The Understood Care pre-seed round was led by 1984 Ventures.
What is Farzad Soleimani's check size?
He has not publicly stated a personal angel check size. NFX Signal lists a $100K to $10.0M range for him at 1984 Ventures, with a $1M sweet spot.
Does Farzad Soleimani invest in AI startups outside healthcare?
Public records do not show this. His disclosed AI investments are in healthcare and life sciences, such as Katalyze AI and DeepScribe.
How can founders contact Farzad Soleimani?
He has a public LinkedIn profile, and 1984 Ventures lists him as a partner. No personal website or X account was found.
Is Farzad Soleimani an angel investor?
Yes. Farzad Soleimani invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Farzad Soleimani invested in?
Farzad Soleimani's AI investments include Katalyze AI. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Farzad Soleimani invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Farzad Soleimani has invested at Seed, with a median round of $11M.
Who does Farzad Soleimani co-invest with?
Farzad Soleimani's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Bonfire Ventures (1 deal), Ripple (1 deal), Alumni Ventures (1 deal) and Inovia Capital (1 deal).