Chase Koch founded Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) in 2017, after realising that Koch Industries needed a better way to tap into the innovation in the startup community.
Koch Industries, which is the second largest privately held company in the US, had previously diversifi ed from its initial focus on energy into areas such as paper, chemicals, electrical components and software via acquisitions, but Koch was interested in exploring the possibilities of collaboration with startups.
In the past six years, KDT has deployed $4bn in more than 70 direct investments across a number of themes including supply chain and manufacturing, cyber security, fintech, semiconductors, connectivity, enterprise software, energy and healthcare. It has a team of 25, including three people based in Israel.
Koch helped develop an extensive capability, called Koch Labs, for getting Koch Industries’ subsidiaries and experts to collaborate with portfolio companies.
Recent investments include taking part in the $250m funding round for chipmaker Rivos, which plans to manufacture server chips for running AI operations. KDT also recently made a follow-on investment in another AI chipmaker, Celestial.AI, which is developing a photonics chip designed to speed up machine learning applications. KDT has been an investor in Celestial.AI since its series A round.
Koch helped develop an extensive capability, called Koch Labs, for getting Koch Industries’ subsidiaries and experts to collaborate with portfolio companies on everything 29 from joint projects to legal and media assistance. Five of the KDT team members are specifically focused on running Koch Labs, and executives across Koch Industries are incentivised to become involved in helping portfolio companies.
KDT has not yet seen many exits for its portfolio companies, but recently saw portfolio company Ibotta, a digital coupons app, go public in an IPO that valued the company at more than $3bn.
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