The Man of 200 Investments - Naval
"One to Watch" (He's watching you) in the AI Age
The sheer number, depth, and success of the investments made by Naval Ravikant should make you take notice of him and his work - and so I bring him to your notice as he is already a leading player in our AI Epoch. Surely it comes from discipline and very rare very sound thinking.
Follow the thinking of the monomymic “Naval” for free on X at @Naval.
Biography
Naval Ravikant is an Indian-American entrepreneur, investor, and thought leader born on November 5, 1974, in New Delhi, India.
At the age of nine, he moved with his mother and younger brother, Kamal, to Queens, New York, fleeing an unstable family situation marked by an abusive father.
Raised in modest circumstances, Naval attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City, excelling academically before earning a dual degree in computer science and economics from Dartmouth College in 1997.
Now based in San Francisco, he is a father to a son, Neo, from a previous relationship, and maintains a private personal life while being an influential figure in tech and philosophy.
Known for co-founding AngelList in 2010 and investing in over 200 companies—including Uber, Twitter, and Notion—Naval has built a reputation as a sharp thinker, often sharing insights on wealth, happiness, and mindfulness through his popular podcast and X posts.
Naval Investment CV
Investments by Year (Approximate)
2007-2009 (Early Angel Investing Period)
Twitter (X) - Naval invested in Twitter’s early rounds, likely around 2007-2008, when it was still a fledgling social media platform. Twitter raised its Series A in 2007, and Naval has mentioned being an early investor.
Yammer - A business communication tool, founded in 2008. Naval was an early investor, likely in 2008 or 2009, before its acquisition by Microsoft in 2012.
2010-2012 (AngelList Launch and Expansion)
Uber - Naval invested in Uber’s early rounds, likely around 2010-2011. Uber’s angel round was in 2010, and he’s cited as one of the initial backers before its massive growth.
Foursquare - Founded in 2009, with early funding rounds in 2010-2011. Naval’s involvement likely dates to this period.
Postmates - Founded in 2011, Naval invested in an early round, possibly 2011 or 2012, before its rise as a delivery service.
SnapLogic - An enterprise integration platform; Naval’s investment is estimated around 2010-2012, aligning with his early-stage focus.
2013-2015 (Growing Influence and Crypto Interest)
Notion - Naval invested in Notion’s seed round in 2013, when the founders raised just $2 million. He’s noted it as one of his highest-return investments.
Thumbtack - A marketplace for local services, founded in 2008 but with significant early funding in 2013-2014; Naval likely joined around this time.
Wish - An e-commerce platform; Naval’s investment is approximated to 2013-2014, during its early growth phase.
MetaStable Capital (Co-Founded) - In 2014, Naval co-founded this cryptocurrency hedge fund, investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other early blockchain assets.
2016-2018 (Crypto and Tech Boom)
Ethereum - Naval has claimed he invested in Ethereum at around 30 cents, which aligns with its 2015-2016 price range post-launch (ICO was in 2014, but he may have bought in early trading). This is a personal investment rather than a startup round.
OpenSea - Founded in 2017, Naval invested in an early round, likely 2017 or 2018, as the NFT market emerged.
CoinList (Spun Out from AngelList) - In 2017, Naval helped launch CoinList to facilitate ICOs, indirectly investing in numerous blockchain projects like Filecoin through this platform.
Spearhead (Founded) - In 2017, Naval launched Spearhead, an investment fund backing founders-turned-investors, with its first fund active in 2018.
2019-2021 (Diversified Portfolio)
HoneyBook - A client management platform; Naval’s investment is estimated around 2019, during its Series C or earlier rounds.
Bolt - An e-commerce payment platform; likely invested in 2019-2020, before its 2022 acquisition of Wyre.
Opendoor - A real estate tech company; Naval was an early investor, possibly around 2014, but additional involvement may have occurred in 2019-2020 as it scaled.
2022-2024 (Recent Investments)
The ePlane Company - Naval participated in a Series B round announced on November 13, 2024, for this electric aviation startup.
Mystiko Network - A Web3 privacy project; invested in March 2024, per CoinCarp data.
Tako - An AI search engine; Naval joined a $5.75 million seed round announced on October 16, 2024.
Tera AI - Invested in a seed round on March 19, 2025 (noting this is a future date relative to today, March 31, 2025, so it’s based on Crunchbase’s forward-looking data).
Notes on Methodology
Sources: Data is drawn from Crunchbase, PitchBook, CoinCarp, Insider Monkey, and Naval’s own statements (e.g., interviews with Tim Ferriss). Web search results provided some context but lacked year-specific granularity.
Gaps: Many investments (e.g., Codecademy, Unsplash, Udemy) lack precise public dates, as Naval doesn’t disclose full portfolios annually. Estimates are based on company funding timelines.
Scale: Naval has made 274+ investments per Crunchbase (as of early 2025), so this list captures only a fraction, focusing on notable or recently documented ones.
