Mike Knoop
About Mike Knoop
Mike Knoop is a co-founder of Zapier, the workflow automation company started in 2011 with Wade Foster and Bryan Helmig. Public profiles list him as Chief Product Officer, President and later Head of AI at Zapier, and Crunchbase lists his current Zapier role as AI work since November 2022. He studied mechanical engineering and mathematics at the University of Missouri and went through Y Combinator in 2012.
In 2024 he and François Chollet launched ARC Prize, a $1 million competition built around the ARC-AGI benchmark. ARC Prize is now a nonprofit foundation, and ARC Prize 2026 was announced with $2,000,000 in prizes.
In January 2025 he announced Ndea, an AI lab co-founded with Chollet. Its stated first focus is deep learning-guided program synthesis. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Crunchbase lists five personal investments for Knoop, and Tracxn lists fewer, so no public source gives a full count. Reporting on Ndea's launch said his portfolio already included several AI companies. Announcements from portfolio companies show him joining seed rounds alongside institutional funds and other operator angels. Round sizes and his own check sizes are not disclosed in the sources reviewed.
Sycamore, an enterprise AI agent startup led by former Coatue investor Sri Viswanath, announced a $65M seed in March 2026. Coatue and Lightspeed led the round, and Knoop is among the listed angels. Other AI names tied to him in public sources include Ravenna, CTGT, Agemo, Braintrust, Cognition and Afterthought.
Crunchbase also lists him as a board member at Eragon, dated March 2026.
Public records show him backing AI and enterprise software companies in the United States, mainly at seed or pre-seed. Tracxn lists his top sectors as high tech and enterprise applications. His own writing treats AGI and program synthesis as a priority. He has not published a check size range or a formal investment thesis that we could find.
- Sycamore: enterprise AI agent platform, $65M seed announced March 2026 with Coatue and Lightspeed leading.
- Ravenna: internal support software, $15M across seed and pre-seed rounds led by Madrona and Khosla Ventures. Tracxn dates his seed investment to April 2025.
- CTGT: AI startup that raised a $7.2M seed round with Gradient Ventures, General Catalyst and Y Combinator, with Knoop as an angel. Year not confirmed.
- Agemo: AI software automation startup backed by Fly Ventures and firstminute capital, with Knoop as an angel. Year not confirmed.
- Braintrust, Cognition and Afterthought: named as AI companies in his portfolio in coverage of Ndea's launch. Investment dates not stated.
- crunchbase.com/person/mike-knoop
- techcrunch.com/2026/03/30/former-coatue-partner-raises-huge-65m-seed-f
- tracxn.com/d/people/mike-knoop/__EL8LSZheTUIULYHAlxFgAvpupWdPUVKO2aEYL
- ravenna.ai/blog/ravenna-raises-15m-to-build-the-future-of-internal-sup
- deepwatermgmt.com/insights/investing-in-ctgt
- firstminute.capital/news-announcements/bullets-bombs-and-jungles-agemo
- the-decoder.com/ndeas-deep-learning-guided-program-synthesis-aims-to-c
- arcprize.org
Investing activity
Mike Knoop appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $65M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $65M. The most recent is Sycamore (Seed, $65M, Mar 2026).
Mike Knoop most often invests alongside Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Soham Mazumdar and Dell Technologies Capital, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Mike Knoop
Who is Mike Knoop?
He is a co-founder of Zapier, the ARC Prize Foundation and the AI lab Ndea. He also invests as an angel in AI startups.
What stage does Mike Knoop invest in?
Public records show him in seed and pre-seed rounds, such as Ravenna's seed and pre-seed and Sycamore's $65M seed.
What is Mike Knoop's check size?
He has not disclosed a check size publicly, and none of the sources we reviewed state one.
Which AI startups has Mike Knoop invested in?
Public sources name Sycamore, Ravenna, CTGT, Agemo, Braintrust, Cognition and Afterthought. Dates are confirmed only for Sycamore (March 2026) and Ravenna (Tracxn dates its seed to April 2025).
How can founders reach Mike Knoop?
His public channels are X at @mikeknoop, LinkedIn and mikeknoop.com. He has not published a pitch process.
What is Mike Knoop working on besides investing?
He works on AI at Zapier, co-runs ARC Prize, and co-founded Ndea, a lab working on program synthesis approaches to AGI.
Is Mike Knoop an angel investor?
Yes. Mike Knoop invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Mike Knoop invested in?
Mike Knoop's AI investments include Sycamore. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Mike Knoop invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Mike Knoop has invested at Seed, with a median round of $65M.
Who does Mike Knoop co-invest with?
Mike Knoop's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Lightspeed Venture Partners (1 deal), Coatue (1 deal), Soham Mazumdar (1 deal), Dell Technologies Capital (1 deal) and Rajiv Gupta (1 deal).