Raphael Schaad
About Raphael Schaad
Raphael Schaad is a Swiss designer and engineer. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Bern University of Applied Sciences and an MS in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT. He worked at the MIT Media Lab, helped build Flipboard and iA Writer, and started at Flipboard in 2011.
He founded Cron (YC W20), a calendar product for professionals and teams. Notion acquired Cron in 2022. At Notion he grew Calendar to millions of users and became Head of Design for Growth and new products.
He later returned to Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner for the W26 and S26 batches. YC has since named him a General Partner. He is based in New York, according to Crunchbase. He is also listed as an advisor to Swisspreneur Syndicate, which backs Swiss pre-seed startups.
Crunchbase lists three personal investments: Cekura AI (seed, July 2025), Rulebase (pre-seed, September 2025) and Nexus (seed). The profile does not show check sizes or his share of any round. It may not capture every investment, so treat the list as a minimum.
He came to investing as an operator. A trade-press summary of his YC promotion noted that he had no long public record as an investor beforehand.
Nexus (YC F25) raised a $4.3M seed round led by General Catalyst. Schaad took part as an angel, alongside YC, Transpose Platform, Twenty Two Ventures, Phosphor Capital and other angels. Nexus builds an enterprise AI agent platform. The round is on the Lounge deals desk (2026-03).
Cekura AI's $2.4M seed round (July 2025) appears under Twenty Two Ventures' portfolio on Crunchbase, with Schaad listed as an investor. He is also listed as a pre-seed investor in Rulebase.
His public record shows pre-seed and seed rounds, mostly in AI companies, and often alongside institutional lead investors. His own work was in design-led productivity software. I found no public statement of his check size, target geographies or investment thesis. YC says it backs founders building iconic startups, and he describes his role at YC the same way.
- Nexus: enterprise AI agent platform (YC F25); $4.3M seed led by General Catalyst, announced March 2026.
- Cekura AI: seed round of $2.4M in July 2025, per Crunchbase.
- Rulebase: pre-seed round in September 2025, per Crunchbase.
- Cron: company he founded (YC W20); acquired by Notion in 2022.
- ycombinator.com/people/raphael-schaad
- crunchbase.com/person/raphael-schaad
- linkedin.com/posts/assemchammah_excited-to-announce-nexus-raised-43m-s
- linkedin.com/in/raphaelschaad
- swisspreneur.org/podcast/raphael-schaad-ep272
- crunchbase.com/hub/twentytwo-vc-portfolio-companies
- valueaddvc.com/pulse/yc-shen-schaad-general-partners-2026
- x.com/raphaelschaad/status/2103149763822813211
Investing activity
Raphael Schaad appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $4M. The most recent is Nexus (Seed, $4.3M, Mar 2026).
Raphael Schaad most often invests alongside General Catalyst, Gokul Rajaram, Jake Mintz and TwentyTwo VC, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Raphael Schaad
Does Raphael Schaad invest in AI startups?
Yes. He is listed as an angel in Nexus's $4.3M seed round and in Cekura AI and Rulebase, per Crunchbase.
What stage does Raphael Schaad invest in?
His listed angel investments are pre-seed and seed rounds. He usually appears next to institutional lead investors.
What is Raphael Schaad's check size?
It is not public. Neither his own profiles nor the sources I found state a check size.
Who is Raphael Schaad?
He is a General Partner at Y Combinator and founded Cron (YC W20), which Notion acquired in 2022. Before that he worked on Flipboard and iA Writer.
How can founders contact Raphael Schaad?
He is active on X as @raphaelschaad and on LinkedIn. He also has a personal site at raphaelschaad.com. Founders can also apply to YC, where he is a partner.
Is Raphael Schaad an angel investor?
Yes. Raphael Schaad invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Raphael Schaad invested in?
Raphael Schaad's AI investments include Nexus. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Raphael Schaad invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Raphael Schaad has invested at Seed, with a median round of $4M.
Who does Raphael Schaad co-invest with?
Raphael Schaad's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are General Catalyst (1 deal), Gokul Rajaram (1 deal), Jake Mintz (1 deal), TwentyTwo VC (1 deal) and Transpose Platform Management (1 deal).
How can founders reach Raphael Schaad?
Founders on Lounge can see Raphael Schaad'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 Raphael Schaad to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.