Saturnin Pugnet
About Saturnin Pugnet
Saturnin "Sat" Pugnet is a French technologist based in New York City. His personal site says he became a founding member of Worldcoin after finishing his time at Caltech. Crunchbase lists his role at World (the rebranded Worldcoin) as founding member, starting January 2020. Crunchbase also lists Imperial College London, the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and Caltech under his education, and describes him as a student and researcher at Caltech and Imperial.
The Foresight Institute describes him as originally an AI and neuroscience researcher. His Medium bio lists earlier experience at Amazon and Wise. Crunchbase lists a past role as founder of Coders Doc and counts two companies founded. His site also shows a US patent on controlling a two-dimensional mirror gimbal for iris scanning.
Beyond World, DLD Munich lists him as Managing Partner of Auspicious Fund. The VC Sheet directory lists him as a venture partner at Frst, a French seed fund. He also writes a Substack, Sat's Nexus, on topics such as brain-computer interfaces and longevity.
Crunchbase records 28 investments in 27 portfolio companies, with no lead investments, one exit by IPO and two companies founded. His own site says he dedicates a portion of his time to angel investing and to advising startups, investors and governments. His Medium bio describes him as an angel in his spare time.
Crunchbase's activity feed shows a run of pre-seed and seed rounds, many alongside Y Combinator. Dated entries include CodeStory and Metoro (September 2023), Spaceium (pre-seed, January 2025), FluidStack (June 2025) and Machina Labs (July 2025). The latest investment Crunchbase shows is a SpaceX secondary-market purchase. It also lists an angel round in Blueprint, Bryan Johnson's company.
Crunchbase counts 13 AI investments since 2023. Its AI portfolio list names Flexion Robotics, SpaceX, Unify, Zettascale, Minitap, nCompass Technologies, Volantis, Spore.Bio, Machina Labs, Metoro, Hyperbolic and CodeStory.
The list covers AI infrastructure and compute (Hyperbolic, Zettascale, nCompass Technologies), developer and agent tooling (CodeStory, Metoro, Minitap, Unify) and AI-linked hardware and robotics (Flexion Robotics, Machina Labs). Crunchbase also shows him in rounds for Neuralk-AI, DeepSim and Haplotype Labs. Round sizes are hidden on the public Crunchbase page.
His personal site invites anyone working on pioneering ideas to reach out, especially in deep tech. The areas it names are AI, neurotech, energy (especially fusion), biotech, space tech and robotics. Crunchbase's bio lists AI, neurotech, aerospace, biotech and energy, and says he has been involved with companies across sectors, geographies and levels of maturity.
Most of his visible rounds are pre-seed and seed, often with Y Combinator companies. He has also appeared in later rounds such as Machina Labs' Series C and in secondary purchases. Crunchbase shows no lead investments, so he appears to join rounds rather than set terms. He has not published a check size. Founders should treat any figure from third-party directories as unverified.
- Machina Labs: robotic manufacturing company; Crunchbase lists him in its Series C, with a July 2025 round in his activity feed.
- Hyperbolic: AI infrastructure company; he is listed in its seed round.
- Minitap: AI company; he is listed in its seed round.
- CodeStory: AI developer tools company; Y Combinator-backed round in September 2023.
- Metoro: engineering and infrastructure tooling company; round in September 2023.
- nCompass Technologies: AI infrastructure company; Y Combinator-backed round.
- Spore.Bio: biotech company; on his Crunchbase AI portfolio list.
- Spaceium: space company; pre-seed round with Y Combinator and Mergus Ventures, January 2025.
- FluidStack: compute company; June 2025 round that lists him as an investor.
- SpaceX: secondary-market investment, his most recent entry on Crunchbase.
- Blueprint (Bryan Johnson): angel round listed on Crunchbase.
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Saturnin Pugnet has made 28 investments according to Crunchbase across 27 portfolio companies, and has seen 1 exit, 1 of them by IPO and founded 2 companies. 13 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Flexion Robotics, SpaceX, Unify, Zettascale and Minitap.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Saturnin Pugnet
Does Saturnin Pugnet invest in AI startups?
Yes. Crunchbase counts 13 AI investments since 2023, including Hyperbolic, Minitap, CodeStory, Metoro, nCompass Technologies and Machina Labs. His site names AI as a core interest.
What stage does Saturnin Pugnet invest at?
Most of his visible deals are pre-seed and seed, often alongside Y Combinator. He has also appeared in a Series C (Machina Labs) and in secondary purchases.
What is Saturnin Pugnet's check size?
He has not published one, and Crunchbase hides round amounts. Ask him directly rather than relying on third-party estimates.
Does Saturnin Pugnet lead rounds?
Crunchbase shows 0 lead investments out of 28. He typically joins rounds led by others.
How can founders contact Saturnin Pugnet?
His personal site says to reach out if you are working on something innovative, especially in deep tech. He is also on LinkedIn, and the site is satpugnet.com.
What is Saturnin Pugnet known for outside investing?
He is a founding member of Worldcoin, now World. He also lists a patent on iris-scanning mirror control and writes a Substack on technology and ideas.
Is Saturnin Pugnet an angel investor?
Yes. Saturnin Pugnet invests personally as an angel and is Founding member at World. Crunchbase counts 28 investments and 1 exit.
What AI companies has Saturnin Pugnet invested in?
Saturnin Pugnet's AI investments include Flexion Robotics, SpaceX, Unify, Zettascale, Minitap, nCompass Technologies, Volantis and Spore.Bio.
Where is Saturnin Pugnet based?
Saturnin Pugnet is based in New York, New York, United States.
How can founders reach Saturnin Pugnet?
Founders on Lounge can see Saturnin Pugnet'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 Saturnin Pugnet to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.