Guillermo Rauch
About Guillermo Rauch
Guillermo Rauch is the founder and CEO of Vercel and the creator of Next.js. His own site also lists him as the creator of Mongoose and Socket.io. He is based in San Francisco and grew up in Argentina.
He started Socket.IO in 2010 and co-authored Mongoose in 2012. He co-founded LearnBoost and then Cloudup. Automattic, the company behind WordPress, acquired Cloudup in 2013, and he worked there before starting Vercel.
He launched the company as Zeit in 2015. It was renamed Vercel in 2020. Vercel provides developer tools, frameworks and cloud infrastructure for building websites and apps, and also makes the AI app builder v0.
Crunchbase lists 106 investments for Rauch, with no lead investments, no exits and no companies founded. PitchBook classifies him as an active angel investor. Crunchbase's latest listed investment is the TesterArmy pre-seed round.
NFX Signal lists his investment range as $5K to $50K with a $25K sweet spot. This is a third-party estimate and Rauch has not stated it himself. He has also appeared as a named angel in announcements such as the $9.5M Dash0 seed round, an observability company, which Accel led.
Crunchbase shows 71 AI investments since 2023. Its AI portfolio includes Grit, Meticulous, LiveKit, Luminal, Gradium, Natural, Raycast, roomix, Pocket, PlayerZero, Gravity and Mastra. Press and database listings also show him in the Black Forest Labs Series B in December 2025.
On the Lounge deals desk, AI rounds with his participation include Pocket (Seed, $11M, June 2026), SkyPilot (Seed, $20M, July 2026), Strix (Seed, $6.7M, June 2026), ActionAI (Seed, $10M, April 2026), TesterArmy (Pre-seed, €1.04M, September 2026) and Grego AI (Seed, undisclosed, June 2026).
Rauch invests mostly in pre-seed and seed rounds, and his recent deals match that. Sectors are AI infrastructure, AI applications, developer tools and software infrastructure. Most of his listed companies are US-based.
He has not published a check size or a thesis statement that we could find. The NFX Signal range above is the only figure available. He is a follower-heavy public voice on X, so founders can read his posts to see what he is interested in.
- Black Forest Labs: AI company; he took part in its Series B in December 2025.
- Dash0: OpenTelemetry-native observability platform; he was a named angel in its $9.5M seed round.
- LiveKit: in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Raycast: in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Mastra: in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Meticulous: in his Crunchbase AI portfolio.
- Pocket: in his Crunchbase AI portfolio; raised an $11M Seed in June 2026.
- SkyPilot: raised a $20M Seed in July 2026 with his participation.
- TesterArmy: pre-seed round of €1.04M, his latest listed Crunchbase investment.
- rauchg.com
- crunchbase.com/person/guillermo-rauch
- crunchbase.com/person/356bd44c-09ca-54fb-9a0f-f30167968a6f
- research.contrary.com/company/vercel
- signal.nfx.com/investors/guillermo-rauch
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/109672-66
- linkedin.com/in/guillermo-rauch-51a852208
- tracxn.com/d/people/guillermo-rauch/___jmHV2UrycejuG8PHUJjazRhl15icWM5
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Guillermo Rauch has made 106 investments according to Crunchbase. 71 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Grit, Meticulous, LiveKit, Luminal and Gradium.
Guillermo Rauch appears in 6 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $31M. The rounds are mostly Seed and Pre-seed, with a median round size of $10M and the largest at $20M. The most recent are TesterArmy (Pre-seed, €1.04M, Sep 2026), SkyPilot (Seed, $20M, Jul 2026) and Pocket (Seed, $11M, Jun 2026).
Guillermo Rauch most often invests alongside Y Combinator, Fernando Rojo, Fryderyk Wiatrowski and Charlie Cheever, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Guillermo Rauch
Does Guillermo Rauch invest in AI startups?
Yes. Crunchbase counts 71 AI investments since 2023, including LiveKit, Raycast, Mastra, Meticulous and Pocket.
What is Guillermo Rauch's angel check size?
He has not stated one publicly. NFX Signal estimates $5K to $50K, with a sweet spot of $25K.
What stage does Guillermo Rauch invest in?
His recent deals are mainly pre-seed and seed rounds. Examples are TesterArmy (pre-seed) and Pocket, SkyPilot and Strix (seed).
What companies has Guillermo Rauch founded?
He founded Vercel (originally Zeit) and created Next.js and Socket.IO. He also co-founded LearnBoost and Cloudup, and Automattic acquired Cloudup in 2013.
How can founders contact Guillermo Rauch?
He is on X as @rauchg, on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/rauchg, and at rauchg.com. He has not published a pitch process.
Is Guillermo Rauch an angel investor?
Yes. Guillermo Rauch invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 106 investments.
What AI companies has Guillermo Rauch invested in?
Guillermo Rauch's AI investments include Grit, Meticulous, LiveKit, Luminal, Gradium, Natural, Raycast and roomix. The 6 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Guillermo Rauch based?
Guillermo Rauch is based in San Francisco, United States.
What stage does Guillermo Rauch invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Guillermo Rauch has invested at Seed and Pre-seed, with a median round of $10M.
Who does Guillermo Rauch co-invest with?
Guillermo Rauch's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Y Combinator (2 deals), Fernando Rojo (1 deal), Fryderyk Wiatrowski (1 deal), Charlie Cheever (1 deal) and Walden Yan (1 deal).