Contrary

Reviewed Updated May 7, 2026

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Location San Francisco, CA
Founded 2016
Fund Size $287.8M AUM across five core funds; Fund I: $2.2M (2017); Fund II: $20M (2021); Fund III: $75M (2022); Fund IV: ~$58M (2023); Fund V: ~$75M (2025)
Website https://contrary.com
Stage Focus
pre-seed seed series-a series-b growth
Sector Focus
ai fintech consumer developer-tools cybersecurity edtech healthcare robotics vertical-saas defense-tech quick-commerce

Team

Eric Tarczynski Founder & Managing Partner
Kyle Harrison General Partner
Rachel Lescoezec Principal

About

Contrary is a talent and research-driven venture capital firm founded by Eric Tarczynski in 2016 1. Tarczynski, a Northeastern University graduate, built the firm from scratch after visiting over 50 university campuses to recruit student investors and create a nationwide sourcing engine for technical talent 2. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California 3.

Contrary launched with a $2.2 million proof-of-concept Fund I in 2017, backed by founders of Tesla (Martin Eberhard), Reddit (Steve Huffman), Twitch (Emmett Shear), SoFi (Dan Macklin), Facebook (Jeff Rothschild), and MuleSoft (Ross Mason) 4 5. The firm raised a $20 million Fund II in October 2021 4, followed by a $75 million Fund III in March 2022 that was significantly oversubscribed 6. SEC filings show the firm has since raised Fund IV (~$58M AUM) and Fund V (~$75M sold), bringing total AUM to approximately $287.8 million across 12 pooled investment vehicles as of July 2025 7.

The firm operates a Venture Partner Program, recruiting 20-30 exceptional students per year from universities across the US and Canada to identify early-stage talent 8. Roughly 3% of applicants earn an offer each year 8. Contrary also runs a First Check Program, providing $100,000 uncapped notes to early-stage founders 9, and publishes in-depth technology research through Contrary Research, which has covered 400+ companies and dozens of industries 10.

As of 2026, the firm has a team of 15 employees and has invested in 57+ companies, producing 6 unicorns, 2 IPOs, and 7 acquisitions 7 11.

Stated Thesis

Contrary publicly describes itself as a “talent and research-driven investment firm” that identifies and invests in entrepreneurs “from seed to scale” 1. The firm’s core stated philosophy centers on investing in people before companies.

Tarczynski has stated: “It’s clear that extraordinary people are a precondition for iconic companies, but the venture industry has spent decades focused on companies, not people” 6. He has elaborated: “The next generation of venture was going to be focused not on the company, but on the person” and “What if you could actually systematically identify the brightest people in the world first…at any point in your journey prior to you starting your first company” 12.

The firm states it is “trying to find the dozen most exceptional individuals in North America every single year and be their first investor” 12. Tarczynski has described the firm’s strategic pillars as “technology, talent and community, and distribution” as “the only thing that will matter in venture a decade from now” 12.

Contrary positions itself as a full-stack platform, not just a fund, describing its infrastructure as designed to “relentlessly support these people for their entire careers” — including connecting talent to jobs at high-growth startups, matching co-founders, and ultimately investing when they start companies 6 13.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 42 verified portfolio companies from Contrary’s public portfolio page and press sources, the firm’s actual investment behavior shows the following patterns:

Stage distribution: Contrary primarily invests at pre-seed and seed stages, consistent with its stated thesis. The firm’s standard check sizes range from $100,000 to $2 million, with a sweet spot of $500,000 to $1 million 11. The First Check Program offers $100,000 uncapped notes at the earliest stage 9. However, with Kyle Harrison’s arrival as General Partner in 2022, the firm has expanded into later-stage investing, with confirmed participation in Series B rounds for Ramp and growth rounds for Zepto 14 15.

Sector breakdown (based on 42 verified investments): The portfolio is sector-agnostic but shows notable concentrations: - Fintech/payments: 8 of 42 (19%) — Ramp, AtoB, Check, Moment, Vesto, Bloom, Uprise, DualEntry - Enterprise SaaS/developer tools: 7 of 42 (17%) — Secureframe, Feathery, OneSchema, Pave, Recurrency, Doss, Warp - AI/ML: 4 of 42 (10%) — Nomic, Endeavor, Modern Intelligence, DualEntry - Defense/hard tech: 3 of 42 (7%) — Anduril, Valar Atomics, Voltra - Consumer: 5 of 42 (12%) — Hallow, Maev, Brightland, Parfait, Sora Schools - Quick-commerce/logistics: 3 of 42 (7%) — Zepto, Pallet, Kyte - Healthcare: 2 of 42 (5%) — Tava Health, Power - Robotics/agriculture: 2 of 42 (5%) — Orchard Robotics, Armada - Other (edtech, energy, real estate, etc.): 8 of 42 (19%)

Geographic focus: Primarily US-based companies. Notable exception is Zepto (Mumbai, India), which represents Contrary’s first and most prominent international investment 15.

Founder profile patterns: The firm’s venture partner network and university-campus sourcing model means a disproportionate number of portfolio founders are young, often college-age or recently graduated. Zepto’s founders were 17-18 when Contrary first invested 15. Hallow’s CEO was a first-year Stanford GSB student 16. The firm has also backed more seasoned operators through later-stage investments via Kyle Harrison.

Co-investor patterns: Notable co-investors appearing across multiple Contrary portfolio companies include Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Uncork Capital, and Y Combinator.

Notable gap: Despite the firm’s “people-first, sector-agnostic” positioning, defense tech and hard tech represent a meaningful and growing portion of the portfolio (Anduril, Valar Atomics, Voltra, Modern Intelligence), which is not prominently featured in the firm’s stated thesis.

Portfolio

Company Stage Year Sector Status
Alloy Seed ~2019 Enterprise SaaS Active (unicorn, $1.35B valuation) 1
Anduril Early stage ~2018 Defense tech Active ($30.5B+ valuation) 6
Armada Seed ~2021 Infrastructure Active ($239M total funding) 1
AtoB Seed ~2020 Fintech/payments Active 1
Base Seed ~2024 Energy Active 11
Bloom Seed ~2021 Fintech Active 1
Brevity Seed ~2021 Developer tools Active 1
Brightland Seed ~2019 Consumer/DTC Active 1
Candor Seed ~2020 HR tech Active 1
Check Seed ~2019 Fintech/payroll Active 1
DoorDash Late stage ~2018 Delivery/logistics IPO (NYSE: DASH, Dec 2020) 6
Doss Seed (Contrary led; Theory Ventures joined) ~2022 (late 2022 per Contrary Research); follow-on Series A 2025-04 ($18M, Theory-led); Series B 2026-03-24 ($55M, Madrona/Premji-led) Enterprise SaaS / AI operations Active 17222324
DualEntry Seed (Contrary participated, USD 6M with angel Tim Dilley of NetSuite) — 2024-05; Series A 2025-10-02 (USD 90M co-led by Lightspeed and Khosla; Contrary follow-on; GV, Vesey Ventures also participated; $415M post-money) 2024-05 (Seed); 2025-10-02 (Series A) Fintech/AI ERP Active 17252627
Endeavor Seed (Craft Ventures led; Heartland Ventures, Contrary, BoxGroup participated; USD 7M; founder Sahitya Senapathy) 2024-10-31 AI / Manufacturing Active 17282930
Feathery Seed ~2021 Developer tools Active (profitable) 1
Fractional Seed ~2021 Real estate/fintech Active 1
Hallow Pre-seed 2019 Consumer/faith-tech Active ($157M total funding) 16
Knoetic Seed ~2020 HR tech/analytics Active 1
Kyte Seed ~2020 Mobility Shut down (Aug 2025; assets sold to Turo) 1
Leland Pre-seed ~2020 Edtech Active ($17M total funding) 13
Lightyear Seed ~2021 Telecom Active ($63.9M total funding) 1
Maev Seed ~2020 Consumer/pet care Active 1
Modern Intelligence Seed (USD 5M; Vine Ventures + Geoff Lewis (Bedrock) + Nathan Benaich (Air Street Capital) + Contrary/Will Robbins participated; CEO John Dulin, cofounder Tristan; AI-based maritime surveillance for defense) 2022-03-16 AI/defense Active 1373839
Moment Seed (Contrary led — announced 2023-09-06) + Series A ($20M+ total funding; Andreessen Horowitz led 2023-09-14; Venrock, Contrary, Neo, and Henry R. Kravis participated; a16z’s David Haber joined the board; fixed-income APIs deployed via Apex Fintech Solutions to 220+ broker-dealers with $120B+ AUC) 2023-09-06 (Seed announced); 2023-09-14 (Series A) Fintech (fixed-income APIs) Active 114243
Nomic Series A ($17M; Coatue Management led; Betaworks Ventures and Contrary Capital participated; $100M post-money valuation; co-founder Andriy Mulyar; builds Atlas data engine and GPT4All open-source model) 2023-08-02 AI/ML Active ($25M+ total funding) 1841
OneSchema Seed ~2021 Developer tools Active 1
Orchard Robotics Pre-seed + Seed ($3.8M combined; Contrary led pre-seed; General Catalyst and others participated; founder Charlie Wu — Cornell dropout, Thiel Fellow) 2024-03-27 Agtech/robotics Active ($25M+ total funding; $22M Series A closed 2025-09-03 led by Quiet Capital and Shine Capital with General Catalyst) 14445
Pallet Seed ~2021 Logistics Active 1
Parfait Seed ~2021 Consumer Active 1
Patch Seed ~2020 Climate tech Active 1
Pave Seed ~2020 HR tech/compensation Active (unicorn, $1.6B valuation) 1
Power Seed ~2022 Healthcare Active ($30.8M total funding) 1
Ramp Series B 2021 Fintech Active (unicorn, $32B valuation) 14
Recurrency Seed ~2021 Enterprise SaaS Active 1
Rubrik Late stage ~2018 Cybersecurity/data IPO (NYSE: RBRK, Apr 2024) 11
Secureframe Seed ~2020 Cybersecurity Active (Series B) 1
Sora Schools Seed ~2021 Edtech Active ($31M total funding) 1
Tava Health Seed ~2021 Healthcare Active (Series B, $33M total funding) 1
Teamshares Seed ~2020 Fintech/SMB Pending IPO (SPAC merger with Live Oak V; Nasdaq: TMS) 1
Uprise Seed (USD 3.3M; Blank Ventures-led (Hannah Chelkowski, Abhi Tiwari); participants: Pathlight Ventures, TruStage Ventures, Dash Fund, Contrary, Phenomenal Ventures, Hustle Fund, Graham & Walker; SF-based embedded financial advisory for SMBs; embeds into Rippling and Carry) 2024-10-21 Fintech Active 17343536
Valar Atomics Series A (participant; Snowpoint Ventures / Doug Philippone lead; $130M; other participants Palmer Luckey, Shyam Sankar, Dream Ventures, Day One Ventures) 2025-11 Nuclear energy Active ($150M+ total funding as of Nov 2025) 140
Vesto Seed ~2021 Fintech Active 1
Vise Pre-seed ~2018 Fintech/AI Active (pivoted 2023) 6
Voltra Pre-seed (Contrary led; Hanover Capital and Velocity Fund participated; USD 1.8M; Waterloo-based; founders Alexander Stratmoen and Aryan Afrouzi) 2025-05-14 Energy / EV infrastructure Active 11313233
Corgi Series A (participated) 2026-01-09 Insurtech / AI Active ($1.3B at Series B) 21
Warp Seed ~2021 Developer tools Active ($70M+ funding, 700K+ developers) 1
Zepto Seed 2021 Quick-commerce Active (filed for IPO Dec 2025; $7B valuation) 15

Note: This table represents 46 of 57+ known investments. Many entries use approximate founding years as investment date proxies (marked with ~) because precise investment dates were not publicly available. Investments marked “Late stage” for DoorDash and Rubrik reflect later-round participation rather than the firm’s typical early-stage focus.

In Their Own Words

“It’s clear that extraordinary people are a precondition for iconic companies, but the venture industry has spent decades focused on companies, not people.” — Eric Tarczynski, Contrary Fund III announcement, March 2022 6

“The next generation of venture was going to be focused not on the company, but on the person.” — Eric Tarczynski, Outlier Academy podcast with Daniel Scrivner 12

“We’re trying to find the dozen most exceptional individuals in North America every single year and be their first investor.” — Eric Tarczynski, Outlier Academy podcast with Daniel Scrivner 12

“Everything that we do…is focused on essentially enabling as many net new founders as we possibly can.” — Eric Tarczynski, Outlier Academy podcast with Daniel Scrivner 12

“It’s not about the deal or the transaction, it’s about the person. And if you’re really genuine in that intent, it starts earlier.” — Eric Tarczynski, Outlier Academy podcast with Daniel Scrivner 12

“Nothing is too good to be canceled…the moment we start having these walled off gardens…is the moment we stop being a real startup.” — Eric Tarczynski, Outlier Academy podcast with Daniel Scrivner 12

“Big markets, well-made products, and such thoughtful and kind teams are rarely found in one place.” — Contrary blog, on investing in Ramp, April 2021 14

What Founders Say

“Contrary is our secret hiring weapon. They’ve built a remarkably unique firm, and are easily one of our most helpful partners.” — Karim Atiyeh, Co-Founder & CTO of Ramp, as quoted in Kyle Harrison’s Substack, May 2022 19

Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha described receiving Contrary’s first investment: “They said…just take ₹40 lakh if you’re building something interesting.” Palicha stated that he and CTO Kaivalya Vohra received their first capital from Contrary’s Will Robbins “for free…no questions asked” 20. Contrary issued a formal offer to be Zepto’s first investor on Palicha’s 18th birthday, and has invested in every round Zepto has raised to date 15.

Note: Only two independently sourced founder testimonials could be verified. The Ramp quote appeared in a blog post by Kyle Harrison (now a Contrary GP), written before he joined the firm. Additional independent founder testimonials were not found through dedicated searching.

Sources

  1. Contrary portfolio page, “Companies,” accessed April 2026. https://www.contrary.com/companies↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. TechCrunch, “Part fund, part accelerator, Contrary Capital invests in student entrepreneurs,” May 2019. https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/16/part-fund-part-accelerator-contrary-capital-invests-in-student-entrepreneurs/↩

  3. Crunchbase, “Contrary Company Profile,” accessed April 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/contrary-capital↩

  4. TechCrunch, “Contrary Capital’s $20M Fund II is all about community-first investments,” October 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/05/contrary-capitals-20m-fund-ii-is-all-about-community-first-investments/↩↩

  5. Contrary blog, “The Third Chapter: $75M to identify the world’s brightest,” March 2022. https://www.contrary.com/blog/75m-to-identify-the-worlds-brightest↩

  6. Benzinga / PR Newswire, “Contrary Raises A $75 Million Third Fund to Continue Investing in the World’s Top Talent,” March 2022. https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/22/03/n26069426/contrary-raises-a-75-million-third-fund-to-continue-investing-in-the-worlds-top-talent↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  7. AUM13F, “Contrary LLC Fund Information,” SEC filings, accessed April 2026. https://aum13f.com/firm/contrary-llc?view_all=fund↩↩

  8. Superscout, “Contrary Venture Partner Program,” accessed April 2026. https://superscout.co/program/contrary-capital↩↩

  9. Contrary blog, “First Check Program,” March 2022. https://contrary.com/blog/first-check-program↩↩

  10. Contrary Research, “About,” accessed April 2026. https://research.contrary.com/about↩

  11. Superscout, “Contrary Capital: The Early Stage Founder’s Guide,” accessed April 2026. https://superscout.co/investor/contrary-capital↩↩↩↩↩↩

  12. Daniel Scrivner / Outlier Academy, “#158 Contrary: Using software and scouts to invest in people before they even start their first company with Founder Eric Tarczynski,” accessed April 2026. https://www.danielscrivner.com/158/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  13. Contrary blog, “Welcoming Kyle Harrison,” accessed April 2026. https://contrary.com/blog/welcoming-kyle-harrison↩↩

  14. Contrary blog, “Investing in Ramp,” April 2021. https://www.contrary.com/blog/ramp↩↩↩

  15. Contrary portfolio page, “Zepto,” accessed April 2026. https://www.contrary.com/companies/zepto↩↩↩↩↩

  16. Contrary blog, “Investing in Hallow,” April 2021. https://contrary.com/blog/hallow↩↩

  17. Tracxn, “Contrary Capital Investor Profile,” accessed April 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/contrary-capital/__CiAoK4vIKYjiXzPKc3qOfTJ1QOwnaSp7dvAnZ8-ce8I↩↩↩↩

  18. Yahoo Finance, “AI Startup Nomic Raises $17 Million To Do What OpenAI Didn’t Want To: Open Source Artificial Intelligence For All,” 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-startup-nomic-raises-17-000409855.html↩↩

  19. Kyle Harrison, “Contrary: My Renegade of Choice,” Investing 101 Substack, May 2022. https://investing101.substack.com/p/contrary-my-renegade-of-choice↩

  20. Inshorts, “We got first capital of ₹40 lakh for free from Contrary: Zepto CEO,” September 2023. https://inshorts.com/en/news/we-got-first-capital-of-%E2%82%B940-lakh-for-free-from-contrary-zepto-ceo-1695379981033↩

  21. PR Newswire, “Corgi Insurance Raises $108 Million, Receives Regulatory Approval to Launch the First Full-Stack Insurance Carrier for Startups,” January 9, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/corgi-insurance-raises-108-million-receives-regulatory-approval-to-launch-the-first-full-stack-insurance-carrier-for-startups-302657727.html — Corgi’s $108M Series A (co-led by Y Combinator and Kindred Ventures at a $630M valuation, announced January 9, 2026) included Contrary as a participant alongside SV Angel, Oliver Jung, Glade Brook, Seven Stars, Leblon, Fellows Fund, Alumni Ventures, Quadri Ventures, Vocal Ventures, Phosphor Capital, and Tekedia Capital. Cross-referenced with PR Newswire, “Corgi Raises $160 Million Series B,” May 6, 2026, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/corgi-raises-160-million-series-b-to-continue-expanding-its-full-stack-insurance-platform-into-new-verticals-302764003.html (confirms Contrary as prior-round investor; Contrary not listed among Series B participants). Cross-referenced with Tekedia, “Tekedia Capital Portfolio Startup, Corgi, Raises $108M at $630M Valuation,” accessed May 2026. https://www.tekedia.com/tekedia-capital-portfolio-startup-corgi-raises-108m-at-630m-valuation/↩

  22. Contrary, “Investing in Doss,” April 15, 2025. Accessed July 2026. https://contrary.com/blog/investing-in-doss — Contrary’s own blog stating they were “delighted to lead their seed round” for Doss, published alongside the Series A announcement. ↩

  23. Contrary Research, “DOSS Business Breakdown & Founding Story,” accessed July 2026. https://research.contrary.com/company/doss — Contrary Research report noting “Prior to this DOSS had raised a seed round from Contrary in late 2022.” ↩

  24. TechCrunch, “Doss raises $55M for AI inventory management that plugs into ERP,” March 24, 2026. Accessed July 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/24/doss-raises-55m-for-ai-inventory-management-that-plugs-into-erp/ — Third-source confirmation of Doss’s funding trajectory including Contrary as a returning investor in the $55M Series B co-led by Madrona and Premji Invest, and confirming founders Wiley Jones (CEO) and Arnav Mishra (CTO). ↩

  25. DualEntry press release / company blog, “DualEntry Raises $90M Series A to Redefine ERP as AI-Native,” October 2, 2025. Accessed August 2026. https://www.dualentry.com/funding-announcement — Company-side primary announcement: $90M Series A co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures, with GV, Contrary, and Vesey Ventures participating. Total funding raised over $100M in 15 months. ↩

  26. PR Newswire, “DualEntry raises a $90 million Series A from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and GV (Google Ventures),” October 2, 2025. Accessed August 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dualentry-raises-a-90-million-series-a-from-lightspeed-venture-partners-khosla-ventures-and-gv-google-ventures-302573366.html — Independent primary wire confirmation of the Series A. ↩

  27. Contrary Research, “Report: DualEntry Business Breakdown & Founding Story,” accessed August 2026. https://research.contrary.com/company/dualentry — Confirms Contrary invested in DualEntry’s May 2024 seed round (USD 6M) alongside angel Tim Dilley (former Chief Customer Officer of NetSuite). ↩

  28. Contrary blog, “Investing in Endeavor,” November 2024. Accessed August 2026. https://contrary.com/blog/investing-in-endeavor — Investor-side primary announcement of Contrary’s participation in Endeavor’s seed round. ↩

  29. FinSMEs, “Endeavor Raises $7M in Seed Funding,” November 2024. Accessed August 2026. https://www.finsmes.com/2024/11/endeavor-raises-7m-in-seed-funding.html — Trade press primary confirmation: USD 7M seed closed 2024-10-31; Craft Ventures led; Heartland Ventures, Contrary, BoxGroup participated; founder Sahitya Senapathy. ↩

  30. Industrial Machinery Digest, “Endeavor Raises $7M to Revitalize American Manufacturing with AI,” November 2024. Accessed August 2026. https://industrialmachinerydigest.com/software/endeavor-raises-7m-to-revitalize-american-manufacturing-with-ai/ — Third independent trade press source confirming Craft Ventures, Heartland Ventures, Contrary, and BoxGroup as seed investors in Endeavor’s USD 7M round. Company founded 2023. ↩

  31. Yahoo Finance (via BusinessWire), “Voltra Emerges from Stealth with $1.8M Raise and a Plan to Rewire the North American Electrical Grid,” May 14, 2025. Accessed August 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/voltra-emerges-stealth-1-8m-140000077.html — Primary wire announcement confirming USD 1.8M pre-seed led by Contrary; Hanover Capital and Velocity Fund participated. ↩

  32. FinSMEs, “Voltra Raises $1.8M in Pre-Seed Funding,” May 2025. Accessed August 2026. https://www.finsmes.com/2025/05/voltra-raises-1-8m-in-pre-seed-funding.html — Trade press primary confirmation of the same pre-seed round; identical investor list. ↩

  33. Velocity Incubator (University of Waterloo), “Voltra announces $1.8M pre-seed to rewire the North American electrical grid,” May 2025. Accessed August 2026. https://www.velocityincubator.com/news/voltra-announces-1-8m-pre-seed-to-rewire-the-north-american-electrical-grid — Institutional primary source (Voltra founders emerged from Velocity/UWaterloo). Confirms USD 1.8M pre-seed led by Contrary with Hanover Capital and Velocity Fund; founders Alexander Stratmoen and Aryan Afrouzi. ↩

  34. Uprise blog, “Announcing our $3.3M Seed,” October 21, 2024. Accessed August 2026. https://blog.uprise.us/post/announcing-our-3-3m-seed — Company-side primary announcement dated October 21, 2024. Confirms USD 3.3M seed led by Blank Ventures (Hannah Chelkowski and Abhi Tiwari) with Pathlight Ventures, TruStage Ventures, Dash Fund, Contrary Capital, Phenomenal Ventures, Hustle Fund, and Graham & Walker as participants. ↩

  35. FinTech Global, “Small business financial advisory platform Uprise raises $3.3m in seed round,” October 22, 2024. Accessed August 2026. https://fintech.global/2024/10/22/small-business-financial-advisory-platform-uprise-raises-3-3m-in-seed-round/ — Independent trade press published one day after the announcement. Confirms USD 3.3M seed, Blank Ventures lead, and Uprise’s embedded financial advisory model for SMBs (Rippling, Carry). ↩

  36. news.fintech.io (via Passle), “Uprise raises $3.3m in Seed funding,” October 24, 2024. Accessed August 2026. https://news.fintech.io/post/102jmm3/uprise-raises-3-3m-in-seed-funding — Third-party finance press confirmation of USD 3.3M seed led by Blank Ventures, referencing the October 21, 2024 TechCrunch report of the round. ↩

  37. Contrary blog, “Investing in Modern Intelligence,” March 16, 2022. Accessed August 2026. https://contrary.com/blog/investing-in-modern-intelligence — Investor-side primary announcement of Contrary’s participation in Modern Intelligence’s seed round; identifies CEO John Dulin (a Contrary Fellow) and cofounder Tristan. ↩

  38. Vine Ventures blog, “Modern Intelligence: One AI for Defense,” 2022. Accessed August 2026. https://vineventures.com/blog/test-blog/ — Co-investor Vine Ventures primary announcement naming Geoff Lewis (Bedrock), Nathan Benaich (Air Street Capital), and Will Robbins (Contrary Capital) as fellow participants in Modern Intelligence’s seed round. ↩

  39. Gaebler VC Funding Database, “Modern Intelligence Funding Round,” entry dated March 16, 2022. Accessed August 2026. https://www.gaebler.com/VC-Funding-016BE4A0-4658-483C-B242-D1AAA6B97BF8-Modern-Intelligence-03-16-2022 — Third-party aggregator confirming USD 5M seed round announced March 16, 2022, with Vine Ventures, Air Street Capital, and Contrary Capital participating. ↩

  40. Contrary Research, “Report: Valar Atomics Business Breakdown & Founding Story,” accessed September 2026. https://research.contrary.com/reports/valar-atomics — Contrary’s own primary research page identifying “Contrary’s First Investment: Series A (November 2025).” Confirms Series A $130M led by Snowpoint Ventures (Doug Philippone) with Palmer Luckey (Anduril founder), Shyam Sankar (Palantir CTO), Dream Ventures, Day One Ventures, and Contrary participating. Also documents prior Seed round of $19M in February 2025 led by Riot Ventures with AlleyCorp, Day One Ventures, Initialized Capital, and Steel Atlas — Contrary was NOT named in the seed round; the prior “Seed | ~2023” entry in this table was an aggregator-derived misattribution and has been corrected. Total funding over $150M as of November 2025. Founders: Isaiah Taylor (CEO), Mark Mitchell (Chief Nuclear Officer, ex-USNC). ↩

  41. Contrary Research, “Nomic company profile,” accessed September 2026. https://research.contrary.com/company/nomic — Contrary’s own primary research page confirming Nomic raised a $17M Series A led by Coatue Management with Betaworks Ventures and Contrary Capital participating; total funding to date $25M. Nomic builds Atlas (data engine) and GPT4All (open-source flagship model). Cross-checked with Yahoo Finance / Reuters coverage 18 (2023-08-02) which confirms the $17M round, $100M post-money valuation, and co-founder Andriy Mulyar. Note: Reuters-syndicated coverage does not specify the round label; the “Series A” designation follows Contrary Research’s classification (Nomic’s investor-side primary), which supersedes the prior “Seed” entry in this table. Only 2 truly independent primary sources (Reuters syndication + Contrary Research) were accessible this session due to WebSearch budget exhaustion; correction moves from a year-only, mislabeled row to one grounded in the tier-1 contemporaneous press and investor-side primary. ↩

  42. Contrary blog, “Investing in Moment,” September 6, 2023. Accessed September 2026. https://contrary.com/blog/investing-in-moment — Contrary’s own primary announcement of its Seed investment in Moment (dated September 6, 2023). Describes Moment as building modern APIs for fixed income, with Apex Fintech Solutions representing $120B+ AUC across 220+ broker-dealer clients, and notes that Andreessen Horowitz subsequently led the Series A. Total funding disclosed at over $20M. ↩

  43. Andreessen Horowitz, “Investing in Moment,” September 14, 2023. Accessed September 2026. https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-moment — a16z’s own primary announcement of its Series A lead in Moment on 2023-09-14. Participants: Venrock, Contrary, Neo, and Henry R. Kravis. General Partner David Haber joined Moment’s board. ↩

  44. Contrary blog, “Investing in Orchard Robotics,” March 27, 2024. Accessed September 2026. https://contrary.com/blog/investing-in-orchard-robotics — Contrary’s own primary announcement confirming Contrary led Orchard Robotics’s pre-seed and joined the seed round; pre-seed and seed combined totaled $3.8M with General Catalyst and others participating. Founder Charlie Wu is a Cornell dropout and Thiel Fellow. Product suite: FruitScope Vision (AI camera system), FruitScope Vault (data management), FruitScope OS (farm management), Canary (automated farm decisions). ↩

  45. AgFunder News, “The ‘AI farming company’ Orchard Robotics bags $22M to expand precision ag platform,” September 2025. Accessed September 2026. https://agfundernews.com/the-ai-farming-company-orchard-robotics-bags-22m-to-expand-precision-ag-platform — Independent agtech trade press confirming Orchard Robotics’s Series A of $22M announced 2025-09-03 co-led by Quiet Capital and Shine Capital with General Catalyst and others participating; brings total raised to over $25M since founding in 2022. Confirms founder Charlie Wu is a former Cornell student and Thiel Fellow. ↩