Semiconductor Ecosystem Only
- Full-Stack: Chip design, IP, EDA software, photonics, etc.
- Industry valued at $975bn in 2025 and projected to reach $2.3T by 2030(McKinsey estimate)
- Semiconductors are foundation enabling Digital & Physical AI
Petram Ventures
Built on a focused mandate – “hands-on” company formation from the initial investment
Different by Design
Seed and Series A Only
- Technology / market understanding and experience mandatory
- Defensible, relevant technology essential to forming companies
- Little institutional VC competition at this stage in semis
Company Formers
- Identify & secure valuable, unique technology
- Guide creation of team, culture, and commercial strategy
- Unique expertise adds significant value at formation
“Designer Startup” Opportunities
- Specialized companies fill critical gaps in AI market leaders
- Echoes current Biotech & 1990’s CommTech model
- Trade Sales could occur in 2 to 4 years
Unique by Nature
Our team
Pattern recognition earned over decades.
Petram brings together venture investing, semiconductor operating expertise, engineering depth, investment banking, and venture capital operations experience.
David Britts
Venture capital and investment banking
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David Britts
- Managing Partner at IPV Capital
- Managing Director at Gramercy Funds
- Managing Partner at ComVentures; General Partner at JPMorgan Partners
Tom Clausen
Technology investing and company building
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Tom Clausen
- Partner at IPV Capital
- Founder and Managing Partner of Capvent
- Executive Director at Credit Suisse First Boston
Roger Li
Technology investing and company building
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Roger Li
- Managing Partner at IPV Capital
- Founder and CIO of IPV Capital (fka, Infotech Pacific Ventures)
- President of CodEx; Vice President at CollabNet
Brian McDaniel
Venture capital and operations
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Brian McDaniel
- Fund counsel at Wilson Sonsini
- Partner in private funds at Goodwin Procter
- Software engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center
Mike Wishart
Semiconductor/Technology Investment Banking
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Mike Wishart
- CEO of Efabless
- Global Head of Technology Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs
- Managing Director at Lehman Brothers
Tiemin Zhao, PhD
Semiconductor technology and engineering
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Tiemin Zhao, PhD
- Technology Partner at IPV Capital
- General Manager at Amprius Technologies
- PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University
Petram Ventures is the successor venture capital firm to IPV Capital
- Premier global early-stage semiconductor VC
- Managed 5 successful early-stage VC funds over 25 years
- $3.3 billion in AUM
Investment thesis
The AI economy runs on atoms.
AI’s next constraints are increasingly physical: compute, memory bandwidth, power, cooling, connectivity, and the specialized systems that move intelligence beyond the data center. We back the companies removing those constraints.
Compute silicon
Training, inference, custom accelerators, and architectures purpose-built for emerging workloads.
Memory & interconnect
HBM, CXL, optical connectivity, and memory-centric designs that keep data moving.
Advanced packaging
Chiplets, 2.5D and 3D integration, design enablement, and the tools behind heterogeneous systems.
Data center infrastructure
Power delivery, cooling, networking, and the physical stack required to scale AI responsibly.
Materials & manufacturing
Critical chemicals, process innovation, equipment, and resilient semiconductor supply chains.
Physical AI
Robotics, autonomy, industrial systems, defense, healthcare, and machines that perceive and act.
Digital AI and Physical AI
Two large growth opportunities for semiconductors.
AI is expanding in both the digital and physical worlds. Each requires more specialized silicon, memory, connectivity, power management, and system-level innovation.
Digital AI
Creates content and automates digital work, increasing compute demand across nearly every digital task.
- AI accelerators, memory, and optical I/O
- Networking and data-center power management
Physical AI
Perceives the world and takes action, putting more silicon into every intelligent machine.
- Edge AI chips, sensors, and connectivity
- Motor control and power management
How we invest
Company formers, not capital tourists.
Our team has spent decades forming, investing in and operating capital efficient semiconductor businesses. We engage early, where technical judgment and company-building experience can change outcomes.
The Designer Startup model
Petram’s model pairs exceptional technical founders with concentrated company-building support, helping assemble leadership, engineering, market positioning, and strategic relationships around a sharply defined opportunity.
01
Form the edge
Identify a defensible architecture, process, or system-level advantage.
02
Build the nucleus
Recruit the technical and commercial team required to reach product-market proof.
03
Accelerate strategically
Open customer, ecosystem, financing, and corporate development pathways.
Our Portfolio
Companies shaped by conviction.
A Proven Partner over Decades Petram Ventures
We welcome conversations with ambitious founders and long-term partners who share our conviction in the physical foundation of AI.
Contact Petram