Venture Capital

Playground Global

Playground Global is an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Andy Rubin, Bruce Leak, Matt Hershenson, and Peter Barrett, and headquartered at 380 Portage Ave, Palo Alto, California. The firm invests "somewhere between improbable and impossible," backing technical founders who take large technology risks and build companies from first principles. Playground concentrates on four pillars: next-gen compute (quantum computing, novel AI chip architectures, advanced interconnects, and semiconductors), automation (robotics, supply-chain and industrial automation with tangible ROI), energy transition and decarbonization, and engineered biology (AI-driven drug discovery, RNA editing, and next-generation therapies). It invests at the earliest stages, often at company formation, and operates Studio Palo Alto, a lab and prototyping environment for hardware and deep-science founders. Reported assets under management are over $1.2 billion across its funds. Notable portfolio companies include PsiQuantum, Relativity Space, Ultima Genomics, d-Matrix, Velo3D (NYSE), and MosaicML (acquired by Databricks).

43 portfolio companies 5 publish APIs here 10 properties
Venture CapitalDeep TechEarly StagePre-SeedSeedQuantum ComputingSemiconductorsRoboticsAutomationEnergy TransitionEngineered BiologyAINorth America

Playground Global has 43 portfolio companies tracked on the APIs.io network, of which 5 (12%) publish APIs indexed here.

Its highest-rated API providers on the network are MosaicML, Skydio, Relativity Space, Velo3D, Branch.

Portfolio on the Network

Portfolio companies that publish APIs indexed on APIs.io, grouped by their API Evangelist rating. Exemplar and Strong are expanded by default.

Exemplar 1 Complete, well-documented, and agent-ready
Thin 1 Limited public surface area
Emerging 3 Early or largely undocumented

Rest of Portfolio

38 further portfolio companies that don’t yet have a provider page on the network.

1910 GeneticsAgility RoboticsAlva EnergyAmber BioAnjunaAtomic AIAyar LabsBodyportBoxbotd-MatrixDeiceElement ZeroFabricGigaCropIdeon AIInfinimmuneInsamoManifold BioNautoNextSiliconNVision Imaging TechnologiesOutpace BioOwl LabsPhasecraftPicoJoolPower LatticePsiQuantumRapidSOSRobust.AISizable EnergySnowcap ComputeSyentaSynthetic Design LabUltima GenomicsUnconventionalVertical SemiconductorVirta HealthxLight

Scroll for all 38

Properties

Portfolio

Where the firm publishes its investments

Team

Partners and investing staff

Content

Blog, podcast, newsletter, and research

Firm

The firm itself

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑
aid: playground-global
name: Playground Global
description: >-
  Playground Global is an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm founded in
  2015 by Andy Rubin, Bruce Leak, Matt Hershenson, and Peter Barrett, and
  headquartered at 380 Portage Ave, Palo Alto, California. The firm invests
  "somewhere between improbable and impossible," backing technical founders who
  take large technology risks and build companies from first principles.
  Playground concentrates on four pillars: next-gen compute (quantum computing,
  novel AI chip architectures, advanced interconnects, and semiconductors),
  automation (robotics, supply-chain and industrial automation with tangible
  ROI), energy transition and decarbonization, and engineered biology
  (AI-driven drug discovery, RNA editing, and next-generation therapies). It
  invests at the earliest stages, often at company formation, and operates
  Studio Palo Alto, a lab and prototyping environment for hardware and
  deep-science founders. Reported assets under management are over $1.2 billion
  across its funds. Notable portfolio companies include PsiQuantum, Relativity
  Space, Ultima Genomics, d-Matrix, Velo3D (NYSE), and MosaicML (acquired by
  Databricks).
image: >-
  https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67a0cf547fd16e142c2fba80/67a313441369d4566db3b44e_playground-logo-symbol.svg
x-type: venture-capital
x-category: Venture Capital
created: '2026-07-17'
modified: '2026-07-17'
specificationVersion: '0.20'
tags:
  - Venture Capital
  - Deep Tech
  - Early Stage
  - Pre-Seed
  - Seed
  - Quantum Computing
  - Semiconductors
  - Robotics
  - Automation
  - Energy Transition
  - Engineered Biology
  - AI
  - North America
apis: []
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://www.playground.vc/
  - type: Portfolio
    url: https://www.playground.vc/portfolio
  - type: Portfolio
    url: portfolio/playground-global-portfolio.yml
  - type: Team
    url: https://www.playground.vc/people
  - type: Team
    url: team/playground-global-team.yml
  - type: InvestmentThesis
    url: https://www.playground.vc/about
  - type: News
    url: https://www.playground.vc/news
  - type: Jobs
    url: https://careers.playground.global/jobs
  - type: LinkedIn
    url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/playground-global/
  - type: Contact
    url: mailto:info@playground.global
  - type: Features
    data:
      - 'Stage: Pre-seed / earliest stage (company formation)'
      - 'Sectors: next-gen compute, automation, energy transition, engineered biology'
      - 'Geography: North America (US), select global'
      - 'AUM: over $1.2 billion (reported)'
      - 'Founded: 2015'
      - 'Founders: Andy Rubin, Bruce Leak, Matt Hershenson, Peter Barrett'
      - 'HQ: 380 Portage Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306'
      - 'Studio: Studio Palo Alto (in-house deep-tech lab)'
    sources:
      - https://www.playground.vc/about
      - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playground_Global
      - https://pulse2.com/playground-global-410-million-raised-bringing-aum-to-over-1-2-billion/
    updated: '2026-07-17'
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com
    url: https://apievangelist.com
  - FN: APIs.json
    url: http://apisjson.org
  - FN: Playground Global
    email: info@playground.global
    url: https://www.playground.vc/