Henri Stern
About Henri Stern
Henri Stern is the co-founder and CEO of Privy and is based in New York. Crunchbase lists his role at Privy as starting in September 2021. Privy builds wallet infrastructure that lets developers add crypto features to mainstream products.
Privy was acquired by Stripe in 2025. One interview-based write-up says the company had about 2,000 customers, about 130 million wallets deployed and a team of roughly 30 before it joined Stripe.
Before Privy, Stern was a research scientist at Protocol Labs. Crunchbase also lists him as founder of Shout from July 2013 to September 2015, and says he attended Stanford University.
Crunchbase lists 10 personal investments for Stern. These include an angel round in OneBalance and seed rounds in Lua, Zalos, Lightsprint, Tare, Hypercubic and Multiplier. It also lists a Series A in Natural and an investment in Trendies.
Crunchbase shows his most recent listed investment as the Lua seed round, announced on April 16, 2026. It shows Zalos raising on March 24, 2026. Check sizes, ownership and fund details are not public, so they are not listed here.
The Lounge deals desk records four AI rounds with Stern as an investor: Zalos Seed, $3.6M (March 2026); Lua Seed, $5.8M (April 2026); Hypercubic Seed, $5.3M (August 2026); and Lightsprint Seed, $6.1M (October 2026).
The amounts are total round sizes, not Stern's own checks. His personal check size has not been disclosed.
The public record shows Stern mostly in seed rounds, with one Series A (Natural) and one angel round (OneBalance). He is an operator-investor with a background in developer infrastructure and crypto wallets, and his listed investments now include AI companies. He is based in New York. No public statement of a formal thesis, geographic limits or check size was found.
On product strategy, he has said in a public interview that it is a bad idea to try to convince the market of its needs. Founders can read this as a view on how he judges demand, not as a stated investing rule.
- Lua: seed round, announced April 2026 per Crunchbase; $5.8M on the Lounge deals desk.
- Zalos: seed round, announced March 2026 per Crunchbase; $3.6M on the Lounge deals desk.
- Hypercubic: seed round, $5.3M (August 2026) on the Lounge deals desk.
- Lightsprint: seed round, $6.1M (October 2026) on the Lounge deals desk.
- OneBalance: angel round listed on Crunchbase.
- Tare: seed round listed on Crunchbase.
- Multiplier: seed round listed on Crunchbase.
- Natural: Series A listed on Crunchbase.
Investing activity
Henri Stern appears in 4 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M and the largest at $6M. The most recent are Lightsprint (Seed, $6.1M, Oct 2026), Hypercubic (Seed, $5.3M, Aug 2026) and Lua (Seed, $5.8M, Apr 2026).
Henri Stern most often invests alongside Kasra Nejatian, Y Combinator, Transpose Platform Management and The Twenty Minute VC, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Henri Stern
Who is Henri Stern?
Henri Stern is co-founder and CEO of Privy, a wallet infrastructure company that Stripe acquired in 2025. He previously did research at Protocol Labs and is an active angel investor.
What AI startups has Henri Stern invested in?
The Lounge deals desk lists Zalos, Lua, Hypercubic and Lightsprint, all seed rounds in 2026. Crunchbase also lists Tare, Multiplier, OneBalance, Natural and Trendies.
What stage does Henri Stern invest in?
His listed investments are mostly seed rounds, with one angel round and one Series A. He has not published a formal stage policy.
What is Henri Stern's check size?
His check size is not public. The round sizes on his profile are total raises, not his own investment.
Where is Henri Stern based?
Crunchbase lists his location as New York, New York.
How can founders contact Henri Stern?
He is public on X as @henri_stern and on LinkedIn. No personal website or investor contact form was found.
Is Henri Stern an angel investor?
Yes. Henri Stern invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Henri Stern invested in?
Henri Stern's AI investments include Lightsprint, Hypercubic, Lua and Zalos. The 4 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Henri Stern invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Henri Stern has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Henri Stern co-invest with?
Henri Stern's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Kasra Nejatian (3 deals), Y Combinator (3 deals), Transpose Platform Management (2 deals), The Twenty Minute VC (2 deals) and 645 Ventures (1 deal).