Terrence Rohan
About Terrence Rohan
Terrence Rohan is a San Francisco based seed investor. On his own site he says he has been a board member, advisor or investor to more than 100 companies over 15-plus years. Before investing, he worked in product development and marketing at Google and YouTube from 2005 to 2010.
He began his venture career in 2010 at Index Ventures. There he co-created and led the firm's first Seed Fund. In 2015 he became General Partner and co-founder of Index's founder-angel fund, which let founders invest in other founders. In 2017 he left Index to start Otherwise Fund, a founder-angel fund based on the same model. He is its Managing Director and also invests from it.
He holds a BA in Philosophy from Colgate University, an MS in Philosophy from the London School of Economics, and an MS in Management from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Crunchbase lists no companies founded by him. His LinkedIn headline reads Seed Investor, and he posts on X as @tmrohan about seed-stage venture.
His early-stage investments predate the current AI cycle. He was a seed investor in Notion (Notion's 2013 seed round is listed at $2M) and a seed and growth investor in Figma, where he was also the first board director from 2013 to 2015. His other seed positions include Front, Hugging Face, Vanta, Robinhood, Justworks (where he was first board observer), Circle, Pachama and Legora. He invested in Patreon and The Browser Company at later stages. He lists Granola and The Clearing Company among his seed investments.
Databases report different totals. Crunchbase's public page shows 68 personal investments and PitchBook shows 89. The existing Lounge note, citing Crunchbase, gave 27 investments in total. Crunchbase shows no lead investments and no exits for him. Other sources, including PitchBook, list exits such as Robinhood, Figma and Hugging Face, so treat these figures as approximate. His own site counts board, advisor and investor roles together at 100-plus companies.
Forbes has placed him on its Midas Brink list. One investor-database profile also says Business Insider named him a Top 100 seed investor. We could not confirm that second claim against Business Insider directly.
Crunchbase counts 16 AI investments by Rohan since 2023. Its listed AI portfolio includes Eigen, Mastra, David AI, Fazeshift, Dexa AI, Granola, Visual Electric, Legora, Sauna by Wordware, Interfere, Browser Use and AfterQuery.
Dated rounds from public databases include Granola (April 2023), Dexa (a $6M seed in February 2024), Fazeshift (a $4M seed in January 2025, with Y Combinator and Gradient Ventures among the co-investors) and Browser Use (March 2025). Mastra raised seed rounds in 2025, and CB Insights lists a $13M round on October 8, 2025 with him participating. Interfere announced a $5.1M seed round led by Hummingbird Ventures, and he is named among the participants. PitchBook also lists Runloop AI (February 2025) and Artie (April 2026) among his investments.
Many of these are developer tools and AI applications at the seed stage. Terrence has not published a stated AI thesis that we could find.
Terrence describes himself as a seed investor who likes to invest early but will get involved at any stage. Investor database profiles list pre-seed through Series B and beyond, with a focus on the US and Canada. Those profiles list AI/ML, SaaS, consumer, crypto and open source among the sectors, and one says he invests in most industries. Mercury's database says he sometimes leads rounds, while Crunchbase records no lead investments.
On his own site, he says his typical check is around $250K to $500K and that he can invest $1M or more through SPVs. He also writes that he does not care about valuation. Other directories give ranges of $100K to $1M, which are third-party estimates.
On X and LinkedIn he writes about seed investing. Recent posts argue that seed is the only essential round and that seed is two markets, one overpriced and one not. They also say the real test of a seed company is whether the idea is worth the next 10 to 15 years of the founder's life. These are his opinions and not an application checklist. Founders can reach him through the contact details on his site, and he invites founders to speak with the founders he has backed.
- Granola: AI notes product. Seed investor, with a 2023 round listed on Crunchbase.
- Mastra: AI agent framework for developers. Participated in 2025 seed rounds, including a $13M round in October 2025 per CB Insights.
- Browser Use: tooling for AI agents that use web browsers. Seed round in March 2025.
- Fazeshift: AI company that raised a $4M seed round in January 2025 with Y Combinator and Gradient Ventures.
- Dexa: AI company that raised a $6M seed round in February 2024.
- Interfere: raised a $5.1M seed round led by Hummingbird Ventures. Rohan is named as a participant.
- Legora: legal AI company. Seed investor, per his own site.
- Hugging Face: open-source machine learning platform. Seed investor.
- Figma: seed and growth investor and first board director, 2013 to 2015.
- Notion: seed investor, 2013.
- Vanta: seed investor (2018 seed round) and growth investor.
- Robinhood: seed and growth investor.
- trohan.com/2023/08/22/about-me
- crunchbase.com/person/terrence-rohan
- crunchbase.com/person/terrence-rohan/person_overview_investor/timeline
- linkedin.com/in/terrencerohan
- x.com/tmrohan
- phoenixcourt.vc/phoenix-court-team/terrence-rohan
- najafi.capital/individual-investor/individual-angel-terrence-rohan
- signal.nfx.com/investors/terrence-rohan
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Terrence Rohan has made 27 investments according to Crunchbase. 16 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Eigen, Mastra, David AI, Fazeshift and Dexa AI.
Terrence Rohan appears in 2 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $15M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $15M. The most recent are Eigen (Seed, $15M, Apr 2026) and The Sentience Company (Seed, $6.5M, Mar 2026).
Terrence Rohan most often invests alongside Benchmark, Peter Sellis, K5 Global and Akshay Kothari, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Terrence Rohan
Who is Terrence Rohan?
He is a San Francisco seed investor and the Managing Director of Otherwise Fund, a founder-angel fund he started in 2017. He previously led Index Ventures' first seed fund.
What is Terrence Rohan's typical check size?
On his own site he says his typical check is around $250K to $500K and that he can invest $1M or more through SPVs. Third-party directories list a $100K to $1M range.
What stage does Terrence Rohan invest in?
He calls himself a seed investor who likes to invest early but will get involved at any stage. Investor databases list pre-seed through Series B and beyond, in the US and Canada.
Which AI startups has Terrence Rohan invested in?
Crunchbase lists Eigen, Mastra, David AI, Fazeshift, Dexa AI, Granola, Visual Electric, Legora, Sauna by Wordware, Interfere, Browser Use and AfterQuery. It counts 16 AI investments since 2023.
Does Terrence Rohan lead rounds?
Crunchbase records no lead investments for him. A Mercury investor profile says he sometimes leads rounds, so founders should not expect him to lead by default.
How can founders contact Terrence Rohan?
He is on LinkedIn, on X as @tmrohan, and at trohan.com. His site invites founders to speak with the founders he has backed.
Is Terrence Rohan an angel investor?
Yes. Terrence Rohan invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 27 investments.
What AI companies has Terrence Rohan invested in?
Terrence Rohan's AI investments include Eigen, Mastra, David AI, Fazeshift, Dexa AI, Granola, Visual Electric and Legora. The 2 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Terrence Rohan based?
Terrence Rohan is based in San Francisco, United States.
What stage does Terrence Rohan invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Terrence Rohan has invested at Seed, with a median round of $15M.