DCVC does not chase trends. DCVC hunts gravity. Founded in 2011 in Palo Alto by Matthew Ocko and Zachary Zack Bogue, the firm was built on a thesis that still feels underpriced: advanced computation and hard science can attack trillion dollar problems in the physical world. Not incremental SaaS optimizations. Not cosmetic innovation. Real infrastructure. Energy grids. Defense systems. Climate models. Drug discovery platforms. In a market that often rewards speed over substance, DCVC chose depth and let time compound the edge.
Matthew Ocko has been building technology for United States security and prosperity since the 1980s. His early investments include Zoom, Fortinet, D Wave Systems, Uber, AngelList, Xensource, and Facebook, companies that later embedded themselves inside Cisco, Google, IBM, Amazon AWS, Broadcom VMware, Salesforce, and Akamai. Zachary Zack Bogue brings 20+ years as entrepreneur, attorney, adviser, and investor, backing companies across computational drug discovery, nuclear energy, synthetic biology, geospatial informatics, and applied AI for climate. Their partnership sits at the intersection of technical fluency and market realism, a combination that carries weight inside the modern startup ecosystem.
Over 12+ years, DCVC and its principals have invested in 200+ companies and helped generate tens of billions in value. The firm operates 6 flagship funds focused on companies using AI and advanced computation to reshape industries that have barely moved in decades. Energy. Robotics. Space. Defense. Biology. Exascale computing. These are not polite markets. They require capital that understands regulatory friction, procurement cycles, and scientific risk. DCVC does not just write checks. It writes into complexity.
In 2018, DCVC expanded its thesis with the launch of DCVC Bio, co founded by Dr. John Hamer, Dr. Kiersten Stead, Matthew Ocko, and Zachary Zack Bogue. The platform manages 3 dedicated Bio funds focused on computational biology and life science products. Genetics, chemistry, molecular biology, agriculture, industrial fermentation, AI. The firm states it has more published scientists than MBAs across its broader team. That composition matters. In a startup ecosystem crowded with generalists, domain depth becomes leverage.
DCVC evaluates opportunities through technical defensibility, data moats, and the potential for step function cost reduction. The question is not whether a company can grow fast. The question is whether it can bend a cost curve or unlock new capability at scale. Post investment, DCVC supports founders with customer introductions, regulatory navigation, and talent recruitment, particularly in sectors where complexity is the entry barrier.
The firm frames its mission as multiplying the benefits of capitalism while reducing its costs. That language lands differently when applied to climate mitigation, food systems, water security, and national defense. DCVC’s portfolio companies are hiring across AI, climate, robotics, space, and life sciences, reinforcing its role as a capital engine inside the broader startup ecosystem.
