Ilia Zintchenko
About Ilia Zintchenko
Ilia Zintchenko is the co-founder and CTO of Ntropy, a company building machine learning infrastructure for financial data. His X bio and Crunchbase profile both give this title, and his NFX Signal profile lists him as CTO of Ntropy Network from 2020. He is based in San Francisco.
Before Ntropy he worked in quantum computing and computational physics. His Google Scholar page lists papers on Ising spin glass optimization, quantum Monte Carlo and quantum algorithms, written with Matthias Troyer and others. His LinkedIn profile lists patents on optimization and quantum algorithms, and a 2015 research engineer role at Microsoft Research appears on NFX Signal. ResearchGate shows an ETH Zurich affiliation.
Some aggregator sites describe other roles, including a CEO title at Ntropy and a role at another startup. Sources disagree on these, so they are left out here.
His X bio says he writes angel checks early into friends he believes in. His NFX Signal profile lists him as an angel investor and shows activity in pre-seed, seed and Series A rounds. A full list of his investments with years is not public in the sources found.
The Lounge deals desk records him in the Infinity Artificial Intelligence Institute seed round of $15M, dated 2026-01. Public coverage of that round describes a $15M seed at a $100M post-money valuation, led by Touring Capital with Principal VC and other angels. Infinity builds a software layer that makes AI chips inference-ready, using an agent called Ignition. The press coverage found does not name individual angels. NFX Signal also lists AI at pre-seed, seed and Series A among his investment areas.
NFX Signal lists his sectors as AI, developer tools, cloud infrastructure, data services, payments, fintech, SaaS and robotics. It shows stages from pre-seed to Series A, with a San Francisco Bay Area geography.
The same profile gives an investment range of $5K to $100K and a typical check of $25K. This is self-reported on a third-party platform, so confirm it directly with him. He has not published a formal thesis in the sources found. His X bio points to a preference for early backing of people he already knows.
- Infinity Artificial Intelligence Institute: AI infrastructure company building software that makes AI chips inference-ready; $15M seed, listed on the Lounge deals desk as 2026-01
- signal.nfx.com/investors/ilia-zintchenko
- x.com/iliazintchenko
- crunchbase.com/person/ilia-zintchenko
- linkedin.com/in/iliazintchenko
- scholar.google.com/citations?user=B4noVuwAAAAJ&hl=en
- researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Ilia-Zintchenko-2028558514
- finsmes.com/2026/07/infinity-raises-15m-in-seed-funding.html
- finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/infinity-raises-15-million-se
Investing activity
Ilia Zintchenko appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $15M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $15M. The most recent is Infinity Artificial Intelligence Institute (Seed, $15M, Jan 2026).
Ilia Zintchenko most often invests alongside Inception Studio, Sharon Zhou, Jason Zhao and Sahin Boydas, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Ilia Zintchenko
Does Ilia Zintchenko invest in AI startups?
Yes. The Lounge deals desk lists him in the Infinity Artificial Intelligence Institute $15M seed. NFX Signal also lists AI among his investment areas, at pre-seed, seed and Series A.
What check size does Ilia Zintchenko write?
His NFX Signal profile lists a range of $5K to $100K with a typical check of $25K. This comes from a third-party platform rather than a statement from him, so confirm it with him.
What stage does Ilia Zintchenko invest in?
NFX Signal shows him investing from pre-seed through Series A. His X bio says he writes angel checks early into friends he believes in.
What is Ilia Zintchenko's background?
He is co-founder and CTO of Ntropy. He previously did research in quantum computing and computational physics, including a 2015 research engineer role at Microsoft Research and papers with Matthias Troyer.
How can founders reach Ilia Zintchenko?
He is on X at @iliazintchenko and on LinkedIn. A warm intro from a mutual contact is likely the best route, since he says he backs people he knows.
Which sectors does Ilia Zintchenko back besides AI?
NFX Signal lists developer tools, cloud infrastructure, data services, payments, fintech, SaaS and robotics.
Is Ilia Zintchenko an angel investor?
Yes. Ilia Zintchenko invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Ilia Zintchenko invested in?
Ilia Zintchenko's AI investments include Infinity Artificial Intelligence Institute. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Ilia Zintchenko invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Ilia Zintchenko has invested at Seed, with a median round of $15M.
Who does Ilia Zintchenko co-invest with?
Ilia Zintchenko's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Inception Studio (1 deal), Sharon Zhou (1 deal), Jason Zhao (1 deal), Sahin Boydas (1 deal) and Brett Goldstein (1 deal).