Airtree

Introducing Airtree Fund V A new $250m Seed fund and $400m Growth fund backing the most ambitious Aussie and Kiwi founders, as they build tomorrow’s iconic technology companies. Read the news: airtree.vc/open-source-vc…

We're building AI agents at Airtree to automate parts of our investment process: company research, meeting prep, deal analysis, due diligence formatting. The kind of knowledge work that fills most of a venture investor's week. We're about six months in. Our research agent produces a company brief in about three minutes that used to take a few hours. But the system is rough, and we're learning more from building it than from any "thesis development" work we've done. The hardest problem isn't the model or the architecture, it's context management. What information reaches the agent at each step, and when. Our agents got meaningfully better when we focused on curating what goes into the context window rather than experimenting with different models. The other thing we haven't figured out is eval. A coding agent can run tests. But how do you evaluate whether a research agent's synthesis is actually good? Whether it missed something important? We don't have this solved yet. Wrote up the decisions and tradeoffs we're navigating. If you're building agent systems for knowledge work, or if you've figured out eval, would love to hear from you. Link in thread

"The AI sales tooling market is exploding, but most startups in the space have no defensible data moat. Firmable is one of very few companies globally that owns its own proprietary dataset and is building agents directly on top of it.” - John Henderson, Airtree Partner. @airtreevc @johnhenderson @_Firmable

In the spirit of Open Source VC, we’re now sharing that course with you: airtree.vc/open-source-vc… Let us know what you create (and automate!).

It’s time to get on the tools. Our data lead, Marnix, built a practical course to onboard the Airtree team to Claude Cowork and start building together. After a 1-hour session, many of us had automated a day's worth of work.

Who gets to build is changing in an AI-native era Designers are shipping code. Marketers are building tools. Solo operators are launching products once built by full teams To learn about the era of non-technical engineers, watch the full video here 🎥 lnkd.in/g6QzQg-6

1/ "The ChatGPT moment for physical AI is here," Jensen Huang declared at CES 2026. He said the same thing last year. But this time? @UnitreeRobotics is shipping humanoids for $5,900. Robots at @physical_int made coffee for 13 hours straight. Over $10B flowed into robotics in 2025. Is this actually the moment?

We’re excited to back KevinLu, Gerry Lu and Daniel Lum building Atrium. Relationships are core to the work of founders, operators and investors but the tools haven’t kept up. Atrium is rethinking relationship management for modern work. Read more: lnkd.in/gQ-SvAGM

At Airtree, giving back is core to who we are which is why we’re proud to continue our partnership with @10x10gives. Just as we back early-stage founders, 10x10 supports innovative not-for-profit founders, connecting them to the capital and networks to scale their impact.

I wildly underestimated Spotify. In 2020, I wrote a Buy note suggesting the team's product velocity and their shift from music into audio more broadly would drive gross margin expansion. My price target was $267. Today, the stock is trading at $560, and the "audio" margin expansion story is well underway, while broader audio (and now video) improves engagement and listener hours, allowing ARPU expansion as well. This week I write about how Spotify's expansion into audiobooks is growing the industry (as it did for podcasts) while also sparking delightful discovery experiences for listeners. More including: AI tools for kids and AI for science research, alongside Barry Can't Swim's Essential Mix. Link in thread.

A standout event this year: a fireside chat with @TrustVanta's Christina Cacioppo and @_Firmable's Paul Perrett. Top lessons: 1. Don’t hire sales until it’s repeatable 2. Fundraising = explaining strength, not seeking approval 3. Scaling the company means scaling yourself

As AI improves, offensive cyber risk grows. @soroushjp and the @HarmonyIntel team built an AI AppSec Agent that helps application developers to feel secure against this growing threat. Read 👇 how they found a DoS vuln in Next.js 🔒

One of our values at @airtreevc is to open source our thinking. So we wanted to try something new and bring you behind the scenes of one of our investment deep dives at Airtree: the AI-native services firm. @dancoughlan_ and I explore what's possible as AI transforms customer experience and brings services previously reserved for the elite few to the mass market. Read the full piece in Capital Brief or the Airtree blog — links in thread

I wrote an op-ed in @CapitalBrief on why @airtreevc is excited about AI-native services firms. It talks about the productivity crisis; why AI allows a fundamental reimagining of customer experience, making expert knowledge accessible to everyone; the path to venture scale returns; and the types of sectors and workflows we’re looking to invest in. That and all my favourite links of the week, featuring @dwarkesh_sp, @packyM, @blader, @arxiv, @ThisIsSethsBlog and more. jax.substack.com/p/rebuilding-w…

I'm excited to be part of Cohort 9 of the @airtreevc Explorer program ✨ Over the next 8 weeks, I’ll be learning the fundamentals of angel investing 💸 - from the power law to syndicates, deal sourcing, term sheets, and due diligence.

Some coverage: - Airtree: airtree.vc/open-source-vc… - Financial Times: ft.com/content/8eb0d3… - AFR: afr.com/technology/glo… - Capital Brief: capitalbrief.com/article/airtre…

Welcome to the portfolio, @airwallex🌏 The global fintech innovator is one of our region’s most impressive and uniquely positioned technology companies. We're excited to partner with them for the journey ahead. Read more: afr.com/technology/air…

Looking for a new role? 🕵️ Find the best startup jobs in ANZ from companies like Crypto Tax Calculator, Eucalyptus, Brighte, Athena Home Loans and more on our jobs board 👇 🔗: jobs.airtree.vc/companies 💪

We're excited to announce Airtree's investment into @nextgenventure_'s new fund, to back a new generation of founders in Australia. Read the full story in @StartupDailyANZ startupdaily.net/topic/funding/…

"We leverage AI across every aspect of our VC firm, including investment, operations, marketing, and fundraising," @VullinghsJ in @CapitalBrief capitalbrief.com/article/austra…