Refactor Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Zal Zally, a former a16z partner who helped launch the firm's first Bio Fund. Prior to a16z, Zal spent a decade in product roles, including on YouTube's early monetization team and as Netflix's first Head of Mobile. He also had a stint as a founder. Refactor is deliberately structured as a solo GP firm, one investor, no partners, no associates, no investment committee, built around the conviction that founders deserve direct, immediate access to the person writing the check. Ten years and five funds later, the firm manages ~$300M in AUM and has backed six unicorns.
Refactor backs seed-stage hard tech founders building in the physical world. Core categories include aerospace, applied biology, critical materials, earth systems, energy, and robotics, with most portfolio companies having AI at the core. The firm invests at the intersection of computation and the physical sciences, targeting companies where technical execution is the moat and the market need is structural rather than speculative.
Refactor 5 is a $50M fund focused on hard tech seed, announced in May 2026. It is the firm's fifth consecutive $50M fund, a deliberate, consistent fund size the firm has maintained across ten years. 100% of Fund 5 capital came from existing LPs re-upping, which Zal describes as a 100% re-up rate. Across five funds and multiple SPVs, Refactor manages approximately $300M in AUM. Fund 5 will begin deploying in 2027 while Zal continues investing from Fund 4.
Leadership
Zal Zally is the sole GP and only employee at Refactor Capital. He joined a16z in 2013, moving into bio and hard tech, and founded Refactor in 2015 as one of a16z's first spinouts. Before a16z, he worked on YouTube's early monetization team and served as Netflix's first Head of Mobile.
Investment Strategy
Refactor leads or co-leads seed rounds with $1–2M checks, targeting 5–10% ownership, and does this roughly 20 times per fund. The solo GP model is a deliberate strategic choice: with no internal team to manage, the vast majority of Zal's time goes directly to founders. Decisions are made by one person, fast, with no investment committee. The firm's fund size is intentionally kept constant at $50M to keep fundraising fast and portfolio concentration high.
Refactor also covers the cost of mental health therapy and coaching for every founder and every employee at every seed-stage portfolio company through Lyra Health, paid directly from the Refactor management company with full anonymization.
Notable Investments
Solugen, Astranis, BioRender, Curative, PathAI, Akasa, Hexium, Brelle, Epana Bio, Causal Labs, TBC (The Biological Computing Company), General Galactic, Inferra, Adventris, 64-X Bio, Granza Bio, Onyx Bio, Parallel Bio, Orchid Health, Floodbase, Macro Oceans, Pila Energy, Pilgrim, Vitra Labs, YourChoice, Thalo Labs, Knowde, Checkerspot, Loyal, Mindbloom, Ophelia, Headspace, Picnic Health, Atlas, Lucy, Remedy Scientific, and more.
Notable Exits
Coinbase (IPO: $COIN), Clover Health (IPO: $CLOV), Betty Labs (acquired by Spotify), FactoryFour (acquired by Xometry), Able Health (acquired by Health Catalyst), ANA Therapeutics (acquired by NeuroBO Pharmaceuticals), Hero (acquired by People.AI), Kip (acquired by Modern Health), Tempest (acquired by Monument), Umbrella (acquired by IAC), Blockfolio (acquired by FTX), Enzyme (acquired by Roivant), and Uniform Teeth (acquired by Impress).
Other
Across four funds and ten years, Refactor has backed 100+ companies and produced six unicorns. The firm coined the phrase "Better Call Zal", a reference to the TV show Better Call Saul, as shorthand for the founder promise: pick up the phone anytime, get Zal, not a junior.
United States
