Cantos

Cantos is a venture capital firm founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, California. It invests at the pre-seed and seed stages, frequently backing companies at a point when they are little more than ideas, and provides initial capital alongside ongoing counsel as founders build. The firm's stated focus is on businesses with the potential to shape the physical world and strengthen critical systems.

Its sector coverage is concentrated in what it terms deep technology: aerospace, defense, nuclear, energy, robotics, advanced manufacturing, biotech, climate technology and next-generation computing. The investment thesis is organised around technologies said to advance abundance, resilience and strategic advantage - a framing that places the firm within a cohort of early-stage investors targeting what it describes as civilizationally important challenges, from energy supply to sovereign industrial capacity.

By its own account, Cantos has raised more than $200m in assets under management, a figure reported in its own publication; other directory listings differ. More than 40 portfolio companies are listed on its website. Beyond capital deployment, the firm's described role is to accompany founders through company formation and technical development, consistent with a pre-seed and seed mandate in which diligence is often thesis-led and companies are backed ahead of commercial traction.