The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Aug 2026

Apollo Atomics focuses on shrinking and mass-manufacturing the steam generator—the largest component in many nuclear plants—by using a compact metal block with needle-thin channels to transfer heat more efficiently. Its design, based on MIT research, enabled the company to build a reactor it says is roughly 40-times smaller than ones using conventional steam generators and to assemble systems in a factory rather than on site. Apollo has built a 40-kilowatt demonstration reactor at MIT and plans to offer reactor sizes from about 10 megawatts-electric up to 300 megawatts. The company projects it can build a 300 MW plant in under 24 months and estimates the reactor will cost four to five times less to produce than existing designs. Apollo targets a levelized cost of electricity near 3 cents per kilowatt-hour and aims for commercial deployment in 2028. It participated in Y Combinator’s Spring 2026 batch.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2026

Klaimee offers insurance-backed performance warranties designed for autonomous AI agents. The company is backed by Y Combinator (P26). Its core product is positioned at the intersection of insurance and AI, targeting risk transfer around agent performance. Financially, Klaimee has just completed a $5.5 million seed round. The article does not report revenue, user metrics, or detailed future product roadmaps.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2026

KelAI offers an autonomous AI research engine that runs idea generation, backtesting, signal validation and live monitoring within a single platform tailored for hedge funds and institutional asset managers. The company operates on an enterprise software model and targets large institutional investors managing significant assets. KelAI reported that its signals have been running with an institutional investor in production since October 2025, moving the platform beyond theory into live alpha. Founder and CEO Jeremie Cohen says the team combines advanced AI with deep investment domain experience drawn from years inside leading hedge funds. Near-term plans include continued product improvement and selective growth of a New York team. The company is focused on building into a category-defining business at the intersection of AI and institutional investing.

Led · Seed · Jul 2026

Founded in March 2026 as part of Y Combinator's Spring cohort, Surtr offers an edge compute unit running software that fuses multiple sensor feeds and command interfaces into a single pane of glass for c-UAS operators. The platform is modular and open-architecture, designed to plug into existing command-and-control systems and (eventually) automate responses such as cueing turrets or other effectors. Early tests in Kyiv with Brave1 demonstrated the system detecting and tracking FPV drones with sub-100 millisecond latency and fusing acoustic and visual sensors; the company plans to add radar, passive sensors, and weapons integrations next. Surtr is pursuing an ITAR license to enable exports and is approved for testing with the Point Defense Battle Lab while prioritizing hiring, hardware procurement, and government program engagements.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

Aseon Labs develops modular, parking space–sized automated pods designed to inspect, clean, and charge robotaxis to reduce deadhead miles. The units are intended to operate autonomously (with early versions staffed), using cameras, robotic arms, and vision-language-action models to triage issues and decide when to send vehicles to depots. Pods are designed as temporary, relocatable structures that can run on propane generators or connect to existing power/EV charging infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and was co-founded by George Kalligeros and Dan Keene, who previously built Pushme, a battery-swap startup acquired in 2020. Aseon’s current team is about six people, and the seed financing will fund five prototypes, team growth to roughly a dozen, and real-estate to pilot a network; it has not yet signed contracts with robotaxi operators but reports broad interest.