Chris Kong

GP, PaperJet Ventures. Inception capital for Physical AI.

San Francisco Bay Area

About

PaperJet Ventures writes the first check into Physical AI companies. Semiconductors, robotics, defense-adjacent technology. The fund's edge is sequencing. First check in. Then compress time to validation through government contracts, strategic partners, and milestone architecture. Background: investment banking, B2B SaaS founder, AI product management. Mentor in NSF I-Corps and MIT Climate and Energy Prize ecosystems. Active in the US, Japan, Korea and Taiwan manufacturing and defense supply chains. Writing at Ante Up on Substack. paperjet.vc for the fund.

Experience

  • General Partner at PaperJet Ventures
    Jan 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 6 mos

    PaperJet Ventures writes the first check into Physical AI companies. The fund's focus is semiconductors, robotics, and defense-adjacent technology. Edge: inception-stage entry followed by active compression of time to validation. Government contracts, strategic partners, Asia sourcing networks, and milestone sequencing built around each portfolio company. Portfolio includes companies in photonic chip packaging, humanoid robotics, nuclear infrastructure, electric aviation propulsion, and hypersonic launch systems. Fund I is actively raising. paperjet.vc

  • Advisor & Angel Investor at Various Startups
    Dec 2020 - Present · 5 yrs 7 mos

    Angel investor and advisor to pre-seed and Series A companies across deep tech, robotics, industrial software, and climate. Selected investments include H3X Technologies, HeyCharge, Sitenna, Polymath Robotics, Kyber, Alba Orbital, Skyryse, Databento, Runway, and others. Focus on founder support across product development, fundraising, and early commercial traction.

  • Angel Squad Member at Hustle Fund
    Aug 2021 - Present · 4 yrs 11 mos

    Angel investor cohort with Hustle Fund. Early-stage deal flow across pre-seed and seed.

  • Product Manager at Contract Wrangler, Inc.
    Jun 2018 - Jul 2020 · 2 yrs 2 mos

    Product manager for a contract management SaaS. Owned customer-facing feature development, API partnership integrations, and user engagement analytics. Contract Wrangler was acquired by Conga.

  • Founder, Product Manager & Developer at Uptick, Finance iOS App
    Jan 2015 - Apr 2018 · 3 yrs 4 mos

    Founded and built a finance iOS app. Owned product, design, development, and distribution. Grew daily active users 33% through WeChat marketing campaigns targeting Chinese mobile users. Shipped three major releases.