Lan Xuezhao

Founder & Managing Partner at Basis Set Ventures

Reviewed Updated Jun 23, 2026

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Location San Francisco, California
Check Size $1M-$5M (seed lead; ~$2.5M sweet spot)
Last Verified Investment Simular (Series A) — 2025
Social @xuezhao LinkedIn
Stage Focus
seed series-a
Sector Focus
AI automation enterprise-saas machine-learning robotics developer-tools

Background

Lan Xuezhao is the founder and Managing Partner of Basis Set Ventures, a San Francisco-based early-stage venture firm focused on AI, automation, and enterprise SaaS 12. She founded the firm in 2017, and as of 2026 it manages over $850M in assets across four funds: an initial Fund I (2017), Fund II at $165M (2021), Fund III at $185M (announced 2024), and Fund IV at $250M (2026) 235.

Lan earned an M.A. in Statistics (2008) and a Ph.D. in Psychology (2009) from the University of Michigan, where her doctoral research focused on quantitative cognitive science and was published in journals including Science 12. After her PhD she founded a brain-training game startup for children (later acquired), worked as an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, and in 2013 joined Dropbox, where she built and ran the Corporate Development Strategy team during its most acquisitive period 12.

She serves on the advisory board of the University of Michigan School of Information 12. In 2026 she was named to Business Insider’s “Seed 40” ranking of female early-stage VC investors 2. According to SVB, Basis Set was the largest early-stage venture firm by AUM founded by a solo woman in 2017 1.

Stated Thesis

Basis Set publicly describes its mission as creating “universal abundance by uniting the power of machine intelligence with human ingenuity” 1. Lan has stated: “We are a seed-stage fund that focuses on AI and automation” and “We invest in companies that transform the way people work. Most of our portfolio are enterprise companies” 6. She has described investing “both down and up the stack, anything from infrastructure to the data layer, to algorithm, to application” 6.

The firm self-describes as one of the earliest to specialize in early-stage AI startups 3. Basis Set uses an internal AI sourcing system named “Pascal” and operates a “HyperGrowth” platform connecting portfolio companies with mentors 23.

Inferred Thesis

Based on a verified sample of ~14 portfolio companies (PitchBook/Signal list 36 investments on record for Lan personally 7; this is a subset):

  • Stage: Predominantly seed, with Lan often leading. Her stated check range is $1M-$5M with a ~$2.5M sweet spot 7. She made her first seed investment (Scale AI) in 2016, the year before founding the firm 1.
  • Sector concentration: Of the 14 verified investments below, approximately 10 of 14 (~71%) are AI/ML-native (Scale AI, Path Robotics, CuspAI, Sakana AI, OpenArt, DataGrail, Rasa, Mem0, Simular, Octolane AI). The remainder are automation-of-work plays (Workstream for hourly workforce, Ergeon for residential construction, Drata for compliance, Quince for commerce). Both clusters fit the stated “transform the way people work” framing 237.
  • Fund discipline: Lan has stated, “We’re pretty careful with consistency and discipline on fund size. It’s the same thesis, the same fund construction since fund one” 5. Fund sizes stepped from ~$100M → $165M → $185M → $250M over four vintages — modest growth versus comparable AI-focused firms.
  • Founder profile: Strong preference for technical / PhD-credentialed founders. Lan’s own approach emphasizes measurable “founder superpowers” — agile thinking, confidence, day-to-day effectiveness, founder-market fit, and learning speed — drawn from her psychology background 64.
  • Notable early bet: Scale AI seed in 2016 (Alexandr Wang), years before generative AI became consensus. Across her portfolio, Basis Set claims aggregate value exceeding $20B 1.
  • Co-investor pattern (limited sample): Recent 2024-2025 rounds (CuspAI, Mem0, Simular, Octolane AI) frequently as co-investor rather than lead, suggesting a barbell of lead-seed plus selective participation in later rounds 7.

Sample size is modest (14 of 36+ on record); treat percentages as directional.

Portfolio

Company Year Stage Source
Scale AI 2016 Seed (personal angel) 15
DataGrail ~2018 Seed 3
Path Robotics ~2018 Seed/Series A 235
Workstream ~2018 Seed 2
Ergeon ~2018 Seed 23
Quince ~2019 Seed 23
Drata ~2020 Seed 235
OpenArt ~2022 Seed 3
Sakana AI ~2023 Seed 3
CuspAI 2024 Seed 127
Rasa 2024 Series C 7
Echo Labs 2024 Pre-Seed 7
Talofa 2024 Seed 7
Mem0 2025 Series A 7
Simular 2025 Series A 7
Flint 2025 Series A 7
Octolane AI 2025 Seed 7

Years for older entries are approximate where the cited sources did not specify exact dates. This table represents a subset of the 36+ investments PitchBook/Signal lists on record 7.

In Their Own Words

On her thesis (SaaStr, ~2020):

“We are a seed-stage fund that focuses on AI and automation. We invest in companies that transform the way people work. Most of our portfolio are enterprise companies.” 6

“We’re investing both down and up the stack, anything from infrastructure to the data layer, to algorithm, to application.” 6

On evaluating founders during a downturn (SaaStr, ~2020):

“We think some of the better predictors of founder success in up-market or down-market are actually these, what we call critical aspects of psychological profiles” — citing “agile thinking, confidence, day-to-day effectiveness, founder market fit, whether a quick learner or not, whether you’re a scrappy or storytelling.” 6

“This is a market for underdogs. If you have been through tough times, this is the market for you.” 6

On fund discipline (Newcomer, 2024):

“We’re pretty careful with consistency and discipline on fund size. It’s the same thesis, the same fund construction since fund one.” 5

On firm operating philosophy (Basis Set website):

“All problems can be solved with rigorous thinking, experimentation, and a little humor.” 1

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found at fetch time. Basis Set’s website and firm-published materials are the primary first-party sources; founder-side commentary describing the working relationship with Lan specifically (as distinct from firm marketing copy) was not located during this research pass.

Sources

  1. Basis Set Ventures, “Dr. Lan Xuezhao | Founder & Partner,” team page, accessed June 2026. https://www.basisset.com/team-members/dr-lan-xuezhao↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. Wikipedia, “Lan Xuezhao,” accessed June 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Xuezhao↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  3. Wikipedia, “Basis Set Ventures,” accessed June 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basis_Set_Ventures↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  4. Venture Unlocked / Samir Kaji, “Lan Xuezhao of Basis Set Ventures on using data science and human behavior to guide investments, finding LP/GP fit, Founder super powers, and conviction base investments,” July 13, 2021. https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/lanxuezhao↩

  5. Newcomer, “Exclusive: Basis Set Raises $185 Million Third Fund, Doubling Down on AI & Automation,” February 1, 2024. https://www.newcomer.co/p/exclusive-basis-set-raises-185-million↩↩↩↩↩↩

  6. SaaStr, “Changing the Way We Work with Founding Partner Lan Xuezhao at Basis Set Ventures (Video + Transcript),” ~2020. https://www.saastr.com/changing-the-way-we-work-with-founding-partner-lan-xuezhao-at-basis-set-ventures-video-transcript/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  7. Signal by NFX, “Lan Xuezhao’s Investing Profile - Basis Set Ventures General Partner,” accessed June 2026. https://signal.nfx.com/investors/xuezhao-lan↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩