Nitesh Banta
About Nitesh Banta
Nitesh Banta is based in New York. He is the co-founder and CEO of B12, a company founded in 2015. B12 is now described as an AI website builder. On his personal site he says he spends most of his time at B12 and angel invests in technology companies outside of it.
Before B12 he was a venture investor at General Catalyst Partners. He co-founded Rough Draft Ventures, a community for student tech entrepreneurs, in 2012. He was also on the founding team of Getaround, the peer-to-peer car-sharing company, and later advised it. He co-founded Summer Workation as well. His earlier roles include a summer at Google and work as an associate consultant at The Parthenon Group.
He holds a BA in Social Studies from Harvard University and attended the inaugural class of Singularity University. He says he got into startups in college after a summer in Silicon Valley as a Google intern.
Crunchbase lists him as an individual investor, and his Crunchbase job history includes Angel Investor at Stellar Capital since 2015. Counts of his investments differ by database. The Crunchbase-based figure on Lounge is 20 investments, with 0 lead investments recorded. Other directories list higher or lower totals, so treat any single count as approximate.
His early-stage record goes back to the 2010s. Crunchbase shows Instabase raising from him and Rough Draft Ventures in 2015, and WayScript raising from him in 2018. PitchBook lists a range of seed-stage deals in 2021 and 2022, including Stitch, Testsigma, Healthie, Draftboard and Comprehensive. It also lists Stepful in February 2024.
He often invests alongside other angels and early funds. Crunchbase shows Founder Collective as a co-investor in Pollen, Draftboard and Conceive.
Crunchbase counts 12 AI investments since 2023. The AI companies it lists are Mem0, Software Applications Incorporated, Protege, Keychain, howie, RadiantGraph, SwingVision, Cognition, Chai Discovery, Beam, Pelgo and Vybe.
Crunchbase records him in Mem0's pre-seed round and in the seed rounds of Protege and howie. It also records him in Cognition's Series A, which Founders Fund took part in. Tracxn lists a Chai Discovery seed round on September 11, 2024. NFX Signal shows Mem0 raising a $20M Series A in October 2025, with Banta listed among its co-investors.
What counts as AI varies by source. Some of these companies are infrastructure or developer tools, and others are consumer or vertical applications.
His own site describes his focus as early-stage technology businesses. It lists financial services, enterprise IT, consumer services and new media as areas of special interest. It also says he invests in software and internet technology companies. His recent portfolio leans toward AI.
Crunchbase shows most of his recorded rounds as pre-seed and seed. He is based in New York, and Tracxn lists his investments across the United States and India, plus one more location.
He has not publicly stated a check size. One third-party directory, Evalyze, lists a range of $5K to $250K. That figure is not from Banta, so confirm it with him directly. He also does not appear to publish a thesis for AI founders, so his B12 and General Catalyst background is the best guide to how he evaluates companies.
- Mem0: AI memory layer for applications. Crunchbase lists him in its pre-seed round, and it later raised a Series A in October 2025.
- Cognition: AI software engineering company behind Devin. Crunchbase lists him in its Series A, which included Founders Fund.
- Chai Discovery: AI drug discovery company. Tracxn lists a seed round on September 11, 2024.
- Protege: data company for AI. Crunchbase lists him in its seed round.
- howie: AI startup. Crunchbase lists him in its seed round.
- Software Applications Incorporated: described on Crunchbase as rethinking the personal computing experience.
- Keychain, RadiantGraph, SwingVision, Beam, Pelgo, Vybe: listed by Crunchbase among his AI investments.
- Instabase: enterprise software company. Crunchbase shows it raising from him and Rough Draft Ventures in 2015.
- Varda: space company. Listed among his investments on third-party profiles.
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Nitesh Banta has made 20 investments according to Crunchbase. 12 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Mem0, Software Applications Incorporated, Protege, Keychain and howie.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Nitesh Banta
Who is Nitesh Banta?
He is a New York-based angel investor and the co-founder and CEO of B12. He previously worked as a venture investor at General Catalyst and co-founded Rough Draft Ventures and Getaround.
What AI startups has Nitesh Banta invested in?
Crunchbase lists 12 AI investments since 2023. They include Mem0, Cognition, Protege, howie, Chai Discovery, Software Applications Incorporated, Keychain, RadiantGraph, SwingVision, Beam, Pelgo and Vybe.
What stage does Nitesh Banta invest in?
His site says he focuses on early-stage technology businesses. Crunchbase shows mostly pre-seed and seed rounds, with a Series A in Cognition.
What is Nitesh Banta's check size?
He has not published one. A third-party directory lists $5K to $250K, but that is not a statement from him, so ask him directly.
Does Nitesh Banta lead rounds?
Crunchbase records 0 lead investments for him. His investments appear to be participation in rounds alongside other investors.
How can founders contact Nitesh Banta?
His personal site is nbanta.com and his LinkedIn profile is linkedin.com/in/nbanta. A warm introduction from someone in his network is the usual route for an angel.
Is Nitesh Banta an angel investor?
Yes. Nitesh Banta invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 20 investments.
What AI companies has Nitesh Banta invested in?
Nitesh Banta's AI investments include Mem0, Software Applications Incorporated, Protege, Keychain, howie, RadiantGraph, SwingVision and Cognition.
Where is Nitesh Banta based?
Nitesh Banta is based in New York, United States.
How can founders reach Nitesh Banta?
Founders on Lounge can see Nitesh Banta's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Nitesh Banta to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.