Robert Wachen
About Robert Wachen
Robert Wachen is a co-founder and president of Etched, an AI chip startup founded in 2022 with Gavin Uberti and Chris Zhu. Crunchbase lists his title as co-founder and COO, while his X profile and Sequoia's founder page say president. Etched builds hardware and rack-scale systems for running AI models, and its first product was the Sohu chip, designed for transformer models.
He is a Harvard dropout and Thiel Fellow. Before Etched he co-founded Prod, a startup accelerator for Harvard and MIT students, and Mentor Labs, a virtual college counselor for high school students that Crimson Education acquired in 2022.
In July 2026 he told TechCrunch that Etched had closed a $300 million Series C at a $10.3 billion valuation.
Little of his angel activity is public. Crunchbase's personal investments list for him shows one investment, the Polar seed round announced on July 29, 2026. Crunchbase does not show the amount he invested. He has not published a check size or a list of angel investments.
Polar is an AI-first browser for knowledge workers. Users can schedule workflows, save prompts and assign tasks to agents based on their open tabs. It raised a $5.7 million seed round led by Madrona. TechCrunch lists Etched co-founder Rob Wachen among the other participants, alongside former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke, Phia founder Phoebe Gates and Modal CEO Erik Bernhardsson. This is the only AI angel investment we could confirm.
He has not published an investment thesis, target stage, sector list or check size, so none is stated here. The one confirmed investment is a seed-stage AI application company. His own operating background is in AI infrastructure and hardware, and in early-stage startup programs for student founders. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Polar: AI-first browser for knowledge workers; $5.7M seed led by Madrona, announced July 2026, with Wachen among the participating angels.
- crunchbase.com/person/robert-wachen
- techcrunch.com/2026/07/29/perplexity-employee-who-worked-on-comet-laun
- techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/ai-chip-startup-etched-defies-skeptics-hits-
- slavinfoundation.org/fellows.html
- sequoiacap.com/founder/rob-wachen
- x.com/robertwachen
- linkedin.com/in/robertwachen
- ai-infra-summit.com/speakers/robert-wachen
Investing activity
Robert Wachen appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent is Polar (Seed, $5.7M, Jul 2026).
Robert Wachen most often invests alongside Madrona, Thomas Dohmke, Phoebe Gates and Benjamin Spector, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Robert Wachen
Does Robert Wachen invest as an angel in AI startups?
Yes, at least once. He took part in the $5.7M seed round for Polar, an AI browser startup, announced in July 2026. We could not confirm other angel investments.
What is Robert Wachen's check size?
He has not made a check size public. Crunchbase also does not show how much he put into Polar.
What stage does Robert Wachen invest in?
He has not stated a preferred stage. His one confirmed investment is a seed round.
What companies has Robert Wachen built?
He co-founded Etched, which builds AI inference hardware, and earlier co-founded the Prod accelerator and Mentor Labs. Crimson Education acquired Mentor Labs in 2022.
How can founders reach Robert Wachen?
He is on X as @robertwachen and has a LinkedIn profile. He has not published an angel intake process, so a warm introduction through his network is the likelier route.
Is Robert Wachen an angel investor?
Yes. Robert Wachen invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Robert Wachen invested in?
Robert Wachen's AI investments include Polar. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Robert Wachen invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Robert Wachen has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Robert Wachen co-invest with?
Robert Wachen's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Madrona (1 deal), Thomas Dohmke (1 deal), Phoebe Gates (1 deal), Benjamin Spector (1 deal) and Robert Yang. (1 deal).