About Icon
Founded in 2003, Icon Ventures has been at the forefront of venture investing for over two decades, partnering with founders to build category-defining businesses. Our mission has always been to set the highest standards in venture capital, and we now apply it as a focused commitment to building AI companies. Throughout our history, one thing has remained constant: our belief that the best results come from experienced partners building trust with the most talented and gifted founders.
Our evolution to focus exclusively on AI investing over three years ago is a natural progression for Icon. We have a long history of embracing new waves of innovation trends well before they become mainstream. From cybersecurity to digital health, we have consistently aligned with founders who were early in their respective industries.
The Icon Ventures AI Braintrust
Icon’s AI Braintrust brings together investors and operators with direct experience building, deploying and investing in AI. Their perspective shapes how we evaluate companies and how we support founders after we invest.
Preeti Rathi
General Partner
An early investor in AI and data infrastructure
Preeti has focused on AI, data and machine learning across 12 years in venture capital, including leading Icon’s investment in Rockset, later acquired by OpenAI. She pairs that investing record with a technical foundation from her years in product management at Cisco.
Abhas Ricky
Venture Partner
Direct access to the leading AI companies
As Chief Business Officer and GM of Applied AI at Cloudera, Abhas has built partnerships with the major AI model and infrastructure companies. His relationships and record across 43 AI investments help Icon gain allocation in rounds otherwise closed to outside capital.
Toki Sherbakov
AI Advisory Council
Working with the startups building on OpenAI
Toki leads OpenAI’s global Applied AI Engineering team for startups and its global Ecosystem team, guiding companies from ideation to scale on OpenAI’s platform. He joined OpenAI more than five years ago as its second go-to-market hire and first Applied AI Engineer.
The principles that helped us identify and scale category leaders like Palo Alto Networks, Bill.com and Teladoc remain critical in the AI era. Just as these companies transformed their industries through technological innovation and exceptional execution, today’s AI founders are reshaping the entire landscape. Our expertise in helping founders build enduring businesses from initial product-market fit to market leadership has never been more relevant.
Our Core Values
Venture capital investing is a service business.
We strongly believe in the value of partnering and relationships.
Excellence in our value-added propositions is core to our business.
The value-creation process works best when there is alignment of interest among all constituents.
We are unwavering with respect to our ethical compass heading.
Venture Capital as a Force for Good
As AI reshapes every industry, venture capital practitioners have a profound responsibility to guide innovation toward worthy outcomes. We believe that investing in AI means more than building financial success. It means ensuring this transformative technology serves humanity’s best interests. Through our responsible investment practices, our partnerships with ethical founders, and our commitment to expanding opportunity, we are dedicated to making venture capital a force for good.