Dylan Reid
Principal
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- Full Name
- Dylan Reid
- Title
- Managing Director (previously Partner / Principal)
- Firm
- Zetta Venture Partners
- Firm Type
- Venture Capital (early-stage AI fund)
- Investment Stage
- Pre-Seed and Seed
- Check Size
- ~$1M–$5M (sweet spot ~$2M)
- Target Company Profile
- Full-stack, AI-native startups working at the intersection of computing and the life sciences / physical world
- Sector Focus
- Healthcare, biotech, life sciences, robotics/manufacturing, logistics, and energy — with an emphasis on AI-native applications
- Geographic Focus
- United States, primarily New York City; also active in the SF Bay Area, Boston, LA, and the Pacific Northwest
- Location
- New York, NY
Background
Dylan Reid is a Managing Director at Zetta Venture Partners, an early-stage fund (roughly $160M in its investing vehicle) that describes itself as a "first believer in AI startups." He is based in New York and focuses on full-stack companies at the convergence of computing and the life sciences — spanning biology, manufacturing, logistics, and energy. Zetta's public materials list his current title as Managing Director; earlier profiles (and the stub data) show him as Partner and Principal, reflecting his progression at the firm since joining in 2018.
Before venture capital, Reid was a founder and operator: he co-founded and led Matter.io, a venture-backed digital manufacturing company, and was recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. That operating background informs his interest in "full-stack" startups that combine software with hardware, wet-lab, or physical-world components.
Reid moved into investing at KEC Ventures, an early-stage venture firm, where he launched and ran the firm's pre-seed program — investing across biology, manufacturing, logistics, and energy — before joining Zetta. He earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and remains active in the NYC startup ecosystem as a mentor with Techstars and the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL).
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests at pre-seed and seed, typically the "first believer" / first institutional check, with sizes in the ~$1M–$5M range (sweet spot ~$2M).
- Backs AI-native companies — startups where machine learning / AI is core to the product, not a bolt-on — especially at the intersection of computing and the life sciences.
- Core sectors: healthcare, biotech, drug discovery/biology, robotics, and industrial/physical-world applications (manufacturing, logistics, energy).
- Prefers full-stack startups that pair AI with real-world assets (labs, hardware, data pipelines), reflecting his own founder experience building a hardware/manufacturing company.
- Takes an active, hands-on role: he holds board seats (e.g., Nanite, Boltz, Faro Health) and board-observer roles (e.g., Noetik, Nabla Bio) at portfolio companies.
Notable Investments
- Nabla Bio — AI-driven protein/antibody design ("generative biology"); Zetta co-led an ~$11M seed round (2021). Reid is a board observer.
- Noetik — AI-native / "self-driving lab" platform for biomedical and cancer immunology discovery. Reid is a board observer.
- Boltz — Open-source AI models for biomolecular structure prediction (protein structure/interaction). Reid is a board director.
- Nanite — AI-designed biomaterials / programmable delivery for genetic medicines. Reid is a board director.
- Jimini Health — AI-powered mental health / therapy platform; launched with ~$8M in funding.
- Faro Health — Software for designing and optimizing clinical trials/protocols. Reid is a board director.
- Fox Robotics — Autonomous forklifts / robotics for warehouse and logistics operations.
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