Gaetano Crupi

Background

Gaetano Crupi is the Managing Director at US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), a position he has held since 2023 ¹². USIT is a Pittsburgh-based venture capital firm founded by Thomas Tull that targets $3-5 billion to invest in dual-use technology companies serving both commercial and defense markets ³.

Prior to USIT, Crupi was a Partner at Prime Movers Lab, a deep-tech venture capital firm, where he focused on growth-stage investments from January 2021 through the end of 2022 ⁴⁵. At Prime Movers Lab, he led or participated in investments across quantum computing, materials science, biotech, food-tech, and climate technology ⁶⁷⁸.

Before entering venture capital, Crupi was an entrepreneur. He co-founded Cabin Technologies, a hospitality transportation startup that offered overnight sleep-pod bus service between cities, and served as its CEO ⁹¹⁰. Cabin, which was itself a Prime Movers Lab portfolio company, transported over 10,000 passengers and developed patented “Cabin Cloud” suspension technology before pausing service ¹¹¹². Prior to Cabin, Crupi served as Chief Operating Officer of Betable, a real-money gaming platform, from September 2012 to August 2016 ¹³. He began his career as an Analyst in consumer and retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs from 2004 to 2006 ¹³¹⁴.

Crupi holds a BA in International Studies and a BS from the Huntsman Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2000-2004), and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business (2011-2012) ¹³¹⁴.

Stated Thesis

At USIT, Crupi has publicly emphasized infrastructure as a defining investment theme. Regarding AI compute, he stated: “The most valuable infrastructure will convert kilowatts into tokens with minimal friction as AI scales” ¹⁵. On sovereign compute, he noted: “Compute infrastructure stands at a major inflection point, with many organisations being forced to rethink the viability of outsourcing such a critical part of their value chain to public clouds” ¹⁶.

During his time at Prime Movers Lab, Crupi described his investment philosophy as centered on transformative deep technology. On quantum computing, he stated: “Quantum computing will impact billions of lives, revolutionizing everything from drug discovery and financial modeling, to predicting climate change and the development of new, life-changing materials” ⁶. On materials science, he wrote: “What MycoWorks has achieved with its Fine Mycelium platform is not just a breakthrough, it is a revolution for industries that are ripe for change” ⁷.

In his blog series “What Founders Get Wrong About Series B,” Crupi described himself as having “been an investor for two years after 15 years of entrepreneurship” and emphasized that Series B fundraising requires emotional conviction: “Every deal that someone is championing means less attention in other places. We have never done a deal that one partner was not truly PASSIONATE about” ¹⁷.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 10 verified investments across two firms (USIT and Prime Movers Lab):

Stage distribution: Crupi invests across a wide range of stages but skews toward growth. At USIT, his verified investments are all Series B or later: Gecko Robotics (Series C extension), Oxide Computer (Series B and Series C), and Lambda (Series E). At Prime Movers Lab, he invested earlier: Bandit (Seed), Atom Computing (Series B), MycoWorks (Series C), and Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals (Series B). Of 10 verified investments: 1 seed (10%), 3 Series B (30%), 3 Series C (30%), 1 Series D (10%), 1 Series E (10%), 1 growth equity (10%).

Sector breakdown: Deep technology dominates. Of 10 verified investments: 3 are defense-tech/infrastructure (Gecko Robotics, Oxide Computer x2 — 30%); 2 are AI infrastructure/compute (Lambda, Oxide Computer counted above); 1 is quantum computing (Atom Computing — 10%); 1 is materials science (MycoWorks — 10%); 1 is biotech/pharma (Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals — 10%); 1 is food-tech (Bandit — 10%); 1 is climate/floating infrastructure (OCEANIX — 10%); 1 is AI compute (Lambda — 10%). The common thread is hard-tech companies building physical products or infrastructure, not pure software.

Check size: Varies enormously by platform. At Prime Movers Lab, investments ranged from $1.5M (Bandit seed) to participation in a $125M round (MycoWorks Series C). At USIT, he has led or participated in rounds from $100M (Oxide Computer Series B, Gecko Robotics Series C extension) to $200M (Oxide Computer Series C) and $1.5B+ (Lambda Series E) ¹⁵¹⁶¹⁸.

Board involvement: High. Crupi takes board seats at portfolio companies. Verified board seats include Gecko Robotics, Bandit, Atom Computing, MycoWorks, OCEANIX, and Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals ^819672021. This is 6 board seats across 10 verified investments, indicating an active, hands-on approach.

Founder profile pattern: Crupi gravitates toward technical founders building category-defining physical products: Jake Loosararian at Gecko Robotics (robotics for infrastructure inspection), Rob Hays at Atom Computing (nuclear physicist turned quantum CEO), Matt Scullin at MycoWorks (materials science PhD), and Bryan Cantrill and Steve Tuck at Oxide Computer (systems engineering veterans) ⁶⁷¹⁶¹⁹.

Geographic concentration: All verified investments are U.S.-based companies.

Co-investor patterns: At USIT, frequently co-invests with Founders Fund (Gecko Robotics, Anduril), Eclipse (Oxide Computer), and ARK Invest (Shield AI). At Prime Movers Lab, co-invested with Third Point Ventures (Atom Computing), Innovation Endeavors, and Venrock ⁶¹⁹.

Notable shift: Crupi’s move from Prime Movers Lab to USIT in 2023 marked a significant shift in check size and sector focus — from seed-to-Series-B deep tech across diverse sectors (food-tech, biotech, materials) to growth-stage defense-tech and AI infrastructure with check sizes 10-100x larger.

Portfolio

This table includes only investments where Crupi’s personal involvement has been verified through board seats, direct quotes in press releases, or blog posts authored by him. USIT has made approximately 26 total investments ³; Crupi’s involvement in additional USIT deals beyond those listed is likely but unverified. Prime Movers Lab investments represent deals where Crupi was the named partner.

In Their Own Words

“The most valuable infrastructure will convert kilowatts into tokens with minimal friction as AI scales.” — Gaetano Crupi, Managing Director at USIT, Lambda Series E announcement, November 2025 ¹⁵

“Oxide has met the moment, delivering the first truly integrated, cloud-capable infra solution that can be fully owned by the customer.” — Gaetano Crupi, Managing Director at USIT, Oxide Computer Series B announcement, July 2025 ¹⁶

“Thomas Tull’s strategic vision for sovereign compute infrastructure aligns with Oxide’s accelerating momentum.” — Gaetano Crupi, Managing Director at USIT, Oxide Computer Series C announcement, February 2026 ¹⁸

“Quantum computing will impact billions of lives, revolutionizing everything from drug discovery and financial modeling, to predicting climate change and the development of new, life-changing materials.” — Gaetano Crupi, Partner at Prime Movers Lab, Atom Computing Series B announcement, January 2022 ⁶

“What MycoWorks has achieved with its Fine Mycelium platform is not just a breakthrough, it is a revolution for industries that are ripe for change. This opportunity is massive and we believe that unrivaled product quality combined with a proprietary scalable manufacturing process has MycoWorks poised to serve as the backbone of the new materials revolution.” — Gaetano Crupi Jr., Prime Movers Lab blog, January 2022 ⁷

“We have been looking for a dairy-alternative investment, and at the end of the day, Bandit just tasted better than anything else we tried. They make delicious plant-based foods that will find broad acceptance among chefs at elite restaurants as well as the average American consumer shopping the aisles of their neighborhood grocery store.” — Gaetano Crupi, Partner at Prime Movers Lab and Bandit Board Member, July 2022 ⁸

“I have now been an investor for two years after 15 years of entrepreneurship.” — Gaetano Crupi Jr., Medium blog, September 2022 ¹⁷

“Every deal that someone is championing means less attention in other places. We have never done a deal that one partner was not truly PASSIONATE about.” — Gaetano Crupi Jr., “What Founders Get Wrong About Series B (Part 1),” September 2022 ¹⁷

“If your company only shines when YOU are telling the story, it might get you to the finish line but it’s much easier if your story is self-evident.” — Gaetano Crupi Jr., “What Founders Get Wrong About Series B (Part 1),” September 2022 ¹⁷

What Founders Say

“This round gives us the ability to scale confidently and sustainably in step with accelerating customer growth.” — Steve Tuck, CEO and Co-founder of Oxide Computer, on the USIT-led Series B, July 2025 ¹⁶

“This investment ensures our ability to serve customers for the long term, so they can confidently plan and execute projects measured in decades.” — Steve Tuck, CEO of Oxide Computer, on the USIT-led Series C, February 2026 ¹⁸

“This investment is designed to help supercharge our work ensuring the critical assets that our military relies on to protect our national security are ready. … we’re looking forward to having USIT and Founders Fund onboard helping us continue that growth.” — Jake Loosararian, CEO of Gecko Robotics, December 2023 ¹⁹

Note: The above quotes reference USIT as an institution rather than Crupi specifically. No independently sourced founder testimonials specifically attributing support or mentorship to Gaetano Crupi individually were found.

Connections

• Board member, Gecko Robotics — alongside Trae Stephens (Founders Fund Partner, Anduril co-founder) ¹⁹
• Board member, Atom Computing — joined board via Prime Movers Lab Series B investment ⁶
• Board member, MycoWorks — joined board via Prime Movers Lab Series C investment ⁷
• Board member, Bandit — joined board via Prime Movers Lab seed investment ⁸
• Board member, OCEANIX — floating city venture backed by Prime Movers Lab, in partnership with UN-Habitat and the city of Busan, South Korea ²⁰
• Board member, Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals — joined board via Prime Movers Lab Series B investment ²¹
• Co-founder and former CEO, Cabin Technologies — Prime Movers Lab portfolio company ⁹¹⁰
• Former Partner, Prime Movers Lab (2021-2022) — deep-tech VC, alongside Amy Kruse and other partners ⁴⁵
• Former Analyst, Goldman Sachs (2004-2006) — consumer and retail investment banking ¹³¹⁴
• Former COO, Betable (2012-2016) — real-money gaming platform ¹³
• Works alongside Thomas Tull (USIT Founder & Chairman) and Peter Tague (Managing Partner, former In-Q-Tel EVP) at USIT ³²²

Sources