This year, Willard predicts investors will lust after start-ups who want to make flying taxis, electric planes, quantum computing and autonomous vehicles a reality.
Entrepreneurs may never stop believing they can “defy physics,” he said. So he also hopes more rocket scientists and mechanical engineers will get in the VC business, a corner of finance otherwise dominated by software and IT brains.
“I’ve worked on big commercial planes, VTOL planes that look a lot like flying cars, supersonic airplanes, even pedal powered airplanes. So, I have a detailed understanding of the challenges, and how they can be overcome or not. While I appreciate the enthusiasm of any airplane startup, it is just unfortunate when the numbers don’t pencil out as far as flight,” Willard said.
His prior investments reflect Willard’s diverse interests. As an angel, and via his prior fund Subtraction Capital, Willard has backed aviation and robotics start-ups like Zipline, a company using its drones to deliver medical supplies and other humanitarian aid, and Boom, which is working on a supersonic passenger plane.
He’s also backed software and services that relate very specifically to venture investing, including Carta (formerly eShares), which helps start-ups manage their cap tables, and Trusted Insight, a network for private family offices and other investors in venture funds.
The fund Willard is joining, Storm Ventures, has a heavy enterprise focus, and $800 million in assets under management. Willard said he’ll be looking for deals in health-tech, robotics-as-a-service, and of course, enterprise tech and business software.
