Travis Linderman

Travis has been building and investing in deep tech startups since 2011. His focus is Pre-Seed, Seed, and non-dilutive funding for intellectual property-backed ventures emerging from institutional research. He is interested in technologies that improve the characterization, modeling, or manipulation of advanced materials; robotics and automation; and companies applying artificial intelligence to vertical problems. Additionally, Travis tracks frontier technologies that may not fit traditional investment frameworks.

Prior to WAVE, Travis served as Managing Director of the Academic Venture Exchange (AVX). At AVX, his team successfully recruited CEOs for deep tech ventures originating from leading research universities.

With experience managing four venture accelerators, Travis has sourced, supported and directed early investment to startups that have collectively raised $1.48 billion in follow-on capital. He spearheaded fundraising efforts for Alchemist Accelerator Fund III and designed dual-use startup studios in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

Previously, Travis co-founded a startup in partnership with Princeton University, rapidly scaled the venture, and achieved a successful acquisition by a Fortune 50 company.

Travis heads the WAVE Silicon Valley office.