Guy Podjarny
About Guy Podjarny
Guy Podjarny, who goes by Guypo, is based in London. He is founder and CEO of Tessl, which his personal site describes as reimagining software development for the AI era. He previously founded Snyk and is on its board. His site says Snyk created and leads the Developer Security category and is now a multi-billion dollar company with over 1,000 employees.
His first startup was Blaze, which Akamai acquired in 2012. He then served as CTO at Akamai. Before that he was a developer and product manager. He has also said he spent about a decade in application security, where his earlier company Sanctum was acquired by Watchfire and then by IBM.
Podjarny co-founded Snyk in 2015 with Assaf Hefetz and Danny Grander. He was CEO until July 2019, then became president and board chair. He is the author of O'Reilly titles on web performance, and he co-hosts the AI Native Dev podcast.
Podjarny describes himself as an active angel investor. A Google Cloud event listing from October 2025 says his talk would draw on Snyk, Tessl and 100+ angel investments. The databases show smaller counts. Crunchbase lists 24 investments, with 0 lead investments and 0 exits. PitchBook lists 34 investments, 22 portfolio companies and 9 exits. These counts differ because each database tracks different deals, so treat all of them as approximate.
PitchBook also lists him as an advisor to Helios and env0, and as a former advisor to Boldstart Ventures. Some investments PitchBook dates to 2023 to early 2025 include Olympix (July 2023), Zuplo (September 2023), Langbase (January 2024), Tracebit (March 2024), Nagomi (April 2024), Dash0 (November 2024) and Realm (July 2024). Those dates are PitchBook's deal dates and may not match when he personally invested.
Crunchbase counts 12 AI investments since 2023. Its AI portfolio list includes Enso, Oasis Security, Prior Labs, Context.ai, Command Code, PointFive, Grep, Kinnu, Realm and Soveren.
PitchBook dates some of these deals. It lists Context.ai as a seed round on 30 August 2023, Oasis Security on 7 March 2024, Realm on 4 July 2024, and Prior Labs as a seed round on 24 January 2025.
Podjarny also builds in AI himself. Tessl, founded in early 2024, announced in November 2024 that it had raised $125M. That total was a $25M seed led by boldstart ventures and GV, plus a $100M Series A led by Index Ventures with Accel, GV and boldstart participating.
Podjarny has not published a thesis, check size or stage preference that we could find, so none is stated here. His public investment record points to software companies. The deals PitchBook lists are in developer tools, security and business software, and Crunchbase tags a number of them as AI. His own background is in developer tools, application security and web performance.
PitchBook lists Prior Labs and Context.ai as seed rounds and Olympix as early-stage VC, which suggests early-stage deals. Founders should not read these listings as a stated stage rule. Podjarny lives in London and has Israeli ties through his early career. No public statement limits him to a geography.
Founders considering a pitch can start with his public writing, his AI Native Dev podcast and his posts on X and LinkedIn.
- Prior Labs: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. PitchBook dates a seed round to January 2025.
- Context.ai: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. PitchBook dates a seed round to August 2023.
- Oasis Security: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. PitchBook dates the deal to March 2024.
- Realm: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. PitchBook dates the deal to July 2024.
- Enso: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. Date not confirmed.
- Command Code: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. Date not confirmed.
- PointFive: Listed by Crunchbase as an AI investment. Date not confirmed.
- Grep, Kinnu and Soveren: Listed by Crunchbase as AI investments. Dates not confirmed.
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Guy Podjarny has made 24 investments according to Crunchbase. 12 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Enso, Oasis Security, Prior Labs, Context.ai and Command Code.
Guy Podjarny appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $5M. The most recent is Command Code (Seed, $5M, Feb 2026).
Guy Podjarny most often invests alongside Preston-Werner Ventures, Dane Knecht, Enea and Luca Maestri, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Guy Podjarny
Who is Guy Podjarny?
Guy Podjarny is a London-based entrepreneur. He founded Snyk and Tessl, and he sold his first startup, Blaze, to Akamai, where he later became CTO. He is also an active angel investor.
Does Guy Podjarny invest in AI startups?
Yes. Crunchbase counts 12 AI investments for him since 2023. They include Enso, Oasis Security, Prior Labs, Context.ai, Command Code and PointFive. He also runs Tessl, an AI native software development company.
What check size does Guy Podjarny write?
No check size is public. We found no public statement from him on typical amounts, so founders should not assume a range.
What stage does Guy Podjarny invest in?
He has not stated a stage preference. PitchBook lists several of his deals as seed rounds or early-stage VC, but this is not a stated rule.
How can founders contact Guy Podjarny?
He is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/guypo and on X as @guypod. His personal site is guypo.com. Warm introductions from founders he has backed are a common route, but he has not published a pitch process.
Is Guy Podjarny an angel investor?
Yes. Guy Podjarny invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 24 investments.
What AI companies has Guy Podjarny invested in?
Guy Podjarny's AI investments include Enso, Oasis Security, Prior Labs, Context.ai, Command Code, PointFive, Grep and Kinnu. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Guy Podjarny based?
Guy Podjarny is based in London, United Kingdom.
What stage does Guy Podjarny invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Guy Podjarny has invested at Seed, with a median round of $5M.
Who does Guy Podjarny co-invest with?
Guy Podjarny's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Preston-Werner Ventures (1 deal), Dane Knecht (1 deal), Enea (1 deal), Luca Maestri (1 deal) and Paul Copplestone (1 deal).