John Collison
About John Collison
John Collison is an Irish entrepreneur from Limerick. He is co-founder and president of Stripe, which he started in 2010 with his brother Patrick while studying physics at Harvard. He did not finish the degree. Stripe describes its aim as making it simpler and more inclusive to accept payments online.
Before Stripe, Collison co-founded Auctomatic, which Live Current Media acquired for $5 million in March 2008. Crunchbase lists Stripe as his primary role and Auctomatic as his past one. It lists no other companies founded.
He is based in San Francisco, and his X profile says California and Ireland. He also hosts Cheeky Pint, a video interview series. Recent guests include Mark Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, who talked about frontier AI models, and the founder of an underwater robotics company.
Collison invests his own money as an individual angel, alongside his day job at Stripe. Public trackers disagree on how many deals he has done. Crunchbase data on Lounge shows 18 investments, 0 lead investments and 0 exits. Other databases show higher counts, and PitBook lists 43 investments and 6 exits. The differences probably come from what each tracker counts, and no tracker publishes his check sizes.
His deals often appear next to his brother Patrick's. For example, both took part in the 2024 Series A of The Bot Company, according to Forge Global's funding history. A Hustle Fund write-up describes the brothers' portfolio as weighted toward foundational technology that other companies build on, including developer tools, fusion energy and AI research. That is an outside reading of the portfolio, not a statement from Collison.
Crunchbase data on Lounge counts 12 AI investments since 2023. The AI companies listed are Qase, Matic Robots, Cognition, Tasklet, Cortex, The Bot Company, MatX, Monaco, Entrepreneurs First, The Interaction Company of California and Flow Engineering.
The companies cover several layers of AI. Cognition builds AI software engineering tools, and Crunchbase shows him as an investor in its Series A. MatX is an AI chip company, and PitBook records a 2026 deal. The Bot Company, led by former Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, builds household robots, and he was in its May 2024 Series A. Tasklet and Monaco are software products. Seedtable dates the Tasklet round to April 2026, and PitBook dates Monaco to May 2026. PitBook also lists Poke AI among his investments.
Collison also follows AI closely through his work at Stripe. Stripe has publicly discussed AI billing and agent purchases, and his X account posted about Stripe's acquisition of OpenRouter.
The public record shows investments in early-stage and growth rounds, from seed to Series D. His known deals include the Tasklet seed round, the MatX Series B and the Entrepreneurs First Series D. He does not appear to have a stage rule that is public. He is also not a lead investor in the Crunchbase data on Lounge.
The sectors that recur are AI software, AI hardware and robotics, developer and business software, and some deep tech such as energy and semiconductors. His portfolio includes companies outside the US, such as Entrepreneurs First, which builds startup teams in several countries. Collison is based in the Bay Area, and many of his portfolio companies are as well.
He has no public statement on check size, ownership targets or what he looks for in a pitch, and Lounge does not guess. Founders can reach him through his public channels on X and LinkedIn. Warm introductions from co-investors or existing portfolio founders are the more common path, though that is not something he has said.
- Cognition: AI software engineering company. Collison is listed as an investor in its Series A.
- MatX: designs chips for AI workloads. PitBook records a deal in February 2026 and Crunchbase lists a Series B.
- The Bot Company: household robotics startup led by Kyle Vogt. He participated in its Series A in May 2024.
- Tasklet: AI agent software company. Seedtable dates the round to April 2026.
- Monaco: business and productivity software. PitBook records his latest deal in May 2026.
- Entrepreneurs First: company builder that forms founding teams. Seedtable lists a Series D in March 2026.
- AssemblyAI: speech recognition company. Seedtable lists a Series C in December 2023.
- Also listed on Crunchbase as AI investments: Qase, Matic Robots, Cortex, The Interaction Company of California and Flow Engineering.
- crunchbase.com/person/john-collison
- crunchbase.com/person/3c294ebb-b42a-9f8e-5052-b32fc9041f4e
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison
- sohnconference.org/johncollison
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/223437-79
- seedtable.com/investors/john-collison
- forgeglobal.com/the-bot-company_stock
- therobotreport.com/the-bot-company-led-by-kyle-vogt-brings-in-another-
AI portfolio
Investing activity
John Collison has made 18 investments according to Crunchbase. 12 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Qase, Matic Robots, Cognition, Tasklet and Cortex.
John Collison appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $20M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $20M. The most recent is Tasklet (Seed, $20M, Apr 2026).
John Collison most often invests alongside Union Square Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Jeffrey Dean and Patrick Collison, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about John Collison
Does John Collison invest in AI startups?
Yes. Crunchbase data on Lounge shows 12 AI investments since 2023, including Cognition, MatX, The Bot Company and Tasklet.
What is John Collison's check size?
It is not public. No source found gives a check size or typical range for his angel investments.
Does John Collison lead rounds?
Crunchbase data on Lounge shows 0 lead investments, so he usually joins a round led by someone else. Other databases show one or two lead roles, so the count varies.
What stage does John Collison invest at?
His known deals run from seed rounds such as Tasklet to later rounds such as the MatX Series B and Entrepreneurs First Series D. He has not stated a preferred stage.
How can founders contact John Collison?
He is on X as @collision and on LinkedIn, and lists a personal site at johncollison.ie. He has not published a pitch process, and warm introductions are a common route for angels like him.
Is John Collison the same as Patrick Collison?
No. They are brothers who co-founded Stripe in 2010. John is Stripe's president, Patrick is its CEO, and they invest separately, though they appear together on some rounds.
Is John Collison an angel investor?
Yes. John Collison invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 18 investments.
What AI companies has John Collison invested in?
John Collison's AI investments include Qase, Matic Robots, Cognition, Tasklet, Cortex, The Bot Company, MatX and Monaco. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is John Collison based?
John Collison is based in San Francisco, United States.
Who does John Collison co-invest with?
John Collison's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Union Square Ventures (1 deal), Lightspeed Venture Partners (1 deal), Jeffrey Dean (1 deal), Patrick Collison (1 deal) and Y Combinator (1 deal).