Jawed Karim is an angel investor and co-founder of the venture firm Youniversity Ventures (also known as Y Ventures). See sector focus and contact routes.
Jawed Karim is an angel investor and co-founder of the venture firm Youniversity Ventures (also known as Y Ventures), which he launched in 2008 alongside Keith Rabois and Kevin Hartz after serving as a co-founder and advisor at YouTube. His investment thesis targets early-stage technology companies, with a focus on seed and initial rounds in sectors like video sharing, social platforms, and data infrastructure, primarily within the United States. Karim typically invests check sizes ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 as an angel, though his firm participated in larger seed rounds such as Airbnb’s in 2009, often acting as a follow investor rather than a lead. Notable portfolio companies include Airbnb, where he was one of the first investors in the seed round, as well as Reddit, Palantir Technologies, and Eventbrite. Unlike many public investors, Karim has remained relatively quiet since leaving YouTube in 2006, with no significant public writing or distinctive point of view documented beyond his advocacy for education through his board role at Stanford University and support for Khan Academy.
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