Vlad Tenev
About Vlad Tenev
Vlad Tenev is Chairman, CEO and President of Robinhood Markets. He co-founded Robinhood in 2013 with Baiju Bhatt. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Stanford and an M.S. in Mathematics from UCLA, according to Robinhood's investor relations page.
He is also co-founder and Executive Chairman of Harmonic, an AI company building a reasoning engine focused on mathematics. Harmonic was founded in 2023 with Tudor Achim, who is its CEO. Sequoia led a $75M Series A, and Tracxn reports a $120M Series C in November 2025.
Before Robinhood he started two other trading-related companies. In interviews he has said Robinhood's first angel investor was someone from the New York trading industry.
Crunchbase lists 20 personal investments for Tenev. The list includes Lightning Labs, Helm.ai, Forethought, Ezra AI, Nala, Atlantic Money, Seashell, Phia and Cowboy Space. Crunchbase shows activity in these companies from 2018 through 2026.
Crunchbase also lists him as an investor in rounds at Forethought (Series A, December 2018) and Helm.ai (Series B, March 2020). Check sizes and ownership stakes are not public.
Lounge's deals desk shows two AI seed rounds with Tenev: Pensieve, a $6.9M seed in February 2026, and Pensive, a $6.8M seed in July 2026. For Pensieve, Crunchbase shows a round on Feb 24, 2026 with a16z Scout Fund and 10 other investors.
His other AI-related names on Crunchbase include Helm.ai (autonomous driving software), Forethought (customer support AI) and Ezra AI. On the company-building side, he co-founded Harmonic.
Crunchbase shows Tenev in seed, Series A and Series B rounds, so his activity is not limited to one stage. His investments span AI, fintech and crypto, and other areas such as space energy. Aetherflux appears in his Crunchbase activity feed, but his role in that round is not confirmed. He has not published a check size or an investment thesis that we could find.
- Pensieve: AI startup. Seed round announced February 2026, per Crunchbase and the Lounge deals desk.
- Helm.ai: autonomous driving software. Crunchbase lists him in its seed round and a March 2020 Series B.
- Forethought: customer support AI. Listed as an investor in its December 2018 Series A.
- Lightning Labs: Bitcoin Lightning Network infrastructure. Crunchbase lists rounds in 2018 and 2022.
- Ezra AI: listed among his personal investments. A round is dated February 2024.
- Nala: listed in a seed round and a Series A. A round is dated July 2024.
- Harmonic: co-founded by Tenev. Not an angel investment.
- crunchbase.com/person/vlad-tenev
- crunchbase.com/person/vlad-tenev/person_overview_investor/timeline
- investors.robinhood.com/management/vlad-tenev
- x.com/vladtenev
- tracxn.com/d/companies/harmonic/__vx401CMkejmoh1o7ii0VPlR6ecp_1UVknfdt
- x.com/amitisinvesting/status/1838327264884461650
- crunchbase.com/funding_round/forethought-7dc2-series-a--1d733ff0
- crunchbase.com/funding_round/helm-ai-seed--3a659edd
Investing activity
Vlad Tenev appears in 2 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $7M. The most recent are Pensive (Seed, $6.8M, Jul 2026) and Pensieve (Seed, $6.9M, Feb 2026).
Vlad Tenev most often invests alongside Mayfield, Karim Atiyeh, Bass Investment and Reach Capital, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Vlad Tenev
Does Vlad Tenev invest in AI startups?
Yes. The Lounge deals desk lists Pensieve ($6.9M seed, February 2026) and Pensive ($6.8M seed, July 2026). He also co-founded the AI company Harmonic.
What stage does Vlad Tenev invest in?
Crunchbase shows him in seed, Series A and Series B rounds. He has not published a preferred stage.
What is Vlad Tenev's angel check size?
No check size is public, so we do not list one.
How many investments has Vlad Tenev made?
Crunchbase lists 20 personal investments. The count may change as the profile is updated.
What companies has Vlad Tenev built?
He co-founded Robinhood in 2013 and Harmonic in 2023. He also started two earlier trading-related companies.
How can founders contact Vlad Tenev?
He is active on X as @vladtenev. We found no personal website or confirmed LinkedIn page.
Is Vlad Tenev an angel investor?
Yes. Vlad Tenev invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Vlad Tenev invested in?
Vlad Tenev's AI investments include Pensive and Pensieve. The 2 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Vlad Tenev invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Vlad Tenev has invested at Seed, with a median round of $7M.
Who does Vlad Tenev co-invest with?
Vlad Tenev's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Mayfield (2 deals), Karim Atiyeh (2 deals), Bass Investment (2 deals), Reach Capital (2 deals) and Anti Fund (2 deals).