Trevor Blackwell
About Trevor Blackwell
Trevor Blackwell is a Canadian-American programmer, engineer, and roboticist. He studied engineering at Carleton University (BEng, 1992) and computer science at Harvard (PhD, 1998). His dissertation applied randomized methods to analyzing the performance of networks and compilers.
While at Harvard he joined Viaweb, where he wrote the image rendering, order processing, and statistics software. Yahoo acquired Viaweb in 1998, and he then led the Yahoo Store development group. In 2005 he co-founded Y Combinator with Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris.
He founded Anybots in 2001 to build teleoperated humanoid robots. In 2006 the company announced a humanoid that walks and balances without large feet. He also built the self-balancing Eunicycle. Wikipedia lists him as based in England, and NFX Signal lists him as founder of Umbrella Research.
NFX Signal records 13 investments for Blackwell as an angel, going back to Triplebyte's 2015 seed round per Tracxn. Other dated rounds include Stoke Space (seed, February 2021), Atom (seed, April 2022), Array Labs (seed, September 2022), Kind Humanoid (pre-seed, April 2023), and Volantis (seed, June 2025). Data providers disagree on the exact count and list different subsets of his deals.
The most recent AI round on the Lounge deals desk is Architect's $24M seed in June 2026. Tracxn names the company Architect Labs and lists Kindred Ventures and TQ Ventures among the co-investors. NFX Signal tags his seed and pre-seed activity under both AI and robotics. Other recent seed rounds on NFX Signal are Adam (October 2025, about $4M) and Volantis (June 2025, $9M).
NFX Signal lists him as an angel investing at pre-seed and seed in robotics and AI, including San Francisco Bay Area robotics. It gives an investment range of $5K to $50K with a sweet spot of $25K. That figure comes from a third-party profile, not from Blackwell himself. Other data providers tag his portfolio with aerospace, software, and developer tools. Tracxn lists his investment locations as the United States. We found no public statement from him about what he looks for in a pitch.
- Architect (Architect Labs): $24M seed, June 2026, an AI round.
- Adam: seed round, October 2025.
- Volantis: $9M seed, June 2025.
- Kind Humanoid: pre-seed, April 2023.
- Array Labs: $5M seed, September 2022.
- Atom: $6M seed, April 2022.
- Stoke Space: $9M seed, February 2021.
- Triplebyte: seed round, September 2015.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Blackwell
- signal.nfx.com/investors/trevor-blackwell
- tracxn.com/d/people/trevor-blackwell/__UojSpBhjs7sUdVinMLje2S2gcThemGO
- tracxn.com/d/people/trevor-blackwell/__uWxDGn_HK9-l6PTqhtgHGR5gLed1U1d
- ycombinator.com/library/Kz-trevor-blackwell-co-founder-y-combinator-fo
- x.com/tlbtlbtlb
- pr.ai/threads/trevor-blackwell.11156
- tryfundable.ai/investor-person/cd83e4b1-a9bd-42b0-9880-0f5884c20c74
Investing activity
Trevor Blackwell appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $24M. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $24M. The most recent is Architect (Seed, $24M, Jun 2026).
Trevor Blackwell most often invests alongside Kindred Ventures, Alexander Wissner-Gross, Srinivas Narayanan and Together Fund, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Trevor Blackwell
Who is Trevor Blackwell?
He is a roboticist and software engineer who co-founded Y Combinator in 2005. He also founded Anybots and worked on Viaweb, which Yahoo acquired in 1998.
Does Trevor Blackwell invest in AI startups?
Yes. He took part in Architect's $24M seed in June 2026. NFX Signal tags his seed and pre-seed investments under AI and robotics.
What check size does Trevor Blackwell write?
He has not publicly stated one that we found. NFX Signal lists a range of $5K to $50K with a $25K sweet spot, so treat it as an estimate.
What stage does Trevor Blackwell invest in?
NFX Signal lists pre-seed and seed. His dated deals on that profile are all seed or pre-seed rounds.
How can founders contact Trevor Blackwell?
He has a personal site at tlb.org and posts on X as @tlbtlbtlb. NFX Signal also offers warm introductions through shared contacts.
Is Trevor Blackwell an angel investor?
Yes. Trevor Blackwell invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Trevor Blackwell invested in?
Trevor Blackwell's AI investments include Architect. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Trevor Blackwell invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Trevor Blackwell has invested at Seed, with a median round of $24M.
Who does Trevor Blackwell co-invest with?
Trevor Blackwell's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Kindred Ventures (1 deal), Alexander Wissner-Gross (1 deal), Srinivas Narayanan (1 deal), Together Fund (1 deal) and Shaad Khan (1 deal).
How can founders reach Trevor Blackwell?
Founders on Lounge can see Trevor Blackwell'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 Trevor Blackwell to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.