Darius Sankey
Partner @ Zone Ventures
Los Angeles, United States
Darius Sankey is a Series A investor at Zone Ventures in Los Angeles focused on Computer and Hardware. N. Darius Sankey, PhD is a founding General Partner at Sway Ventures, as well as a seasoned executive in the venture capital and technology industries.Before his work with Sway Ventures, Darius served as a Senior Director of Portfolio Management at Intellectual Ventures, a Managing Director at DFJ – Zone Ventures, and has served as a boardmember for several companies including Siimpel Corporation and Neven Vision (acquired by Google). He has worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, Inc. and held strategic planning, consulting, and R&D positions at RAND and AT&T Bell Laboratories.Darius holds a Ph.D. in Optical Engineering from the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester and a B.S. in Physics and Electrical Engineering from MIT. He is also an adjunct professor at Rady School of Business at the University of California, at San Diego (UCSD).
- Total investments:
- 7
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 14%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Darius Sankey invests in
Stages Darius Sankey invests in
Countries Darius Sankey invests in
Contacts
| Type | Contact | Validation |
|---|---|---|
| Work email | ||
| Personal email | ||
| Work phone | ||
| Personal phone | ||
| Socials |
Investment Focus
Industry
- Computer 1 (14%)
- Hardware 1 (14%)
- Software 1 (14%)
- Web Hosting 1 (14%)
- Enterprise Software 1 (14%)
Stage
- Series A 2 (29%)
- Series B 1 (14%)
- Series C 1 (14%)
- Series D 1 (14%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siimpel Corporation has been in the business of innovation since its original founding in 2000 as SiWave. With a heritage from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a background in high-precision navigation grade MEMS sensors, the company has maintained a leadership in technology. In its short history, Siimpel Corporation created the smallesthigh port count optical switches in the world, packaged MEMS components for NASA's Mars rovers, developed the world's first MEMS horizon sensor, developed the highest precision laser ranging system, and created the world's smallest stages using MEMS technology. A recipient of the ATP (advanced technology program) award from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Siimpel is proud of its history of ground breaking innovation. Since 2004, Siimpel has been applying the high precision MEMS platform technology to enable the drastic reduction in size of high performance digital cameras. Siimpel's innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. | $8.7M / Series D / Nov 26, 2008 | ||
| Siimpel Corporation has been in the business of innovation since its original founding in 2000 as SiWave. With a heritage from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a background in high-precision navigation grade MEMS sensors, the company has maintained a leadership in technology. In its short history, Siimpel Corporation created the smallesthigh port count optical switches in the world, packaged MEMS components for NASA's Mars rovers, developed the world's first MEMS horizon sensor, developed the highest precision laser ranging system, and created the world's smallest stages using MEMS technology. A recipient of the ATP (advanced technology program) award from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Siimpel is proud of its history of ground breaking innovation. Since 2004, Siimpel has been applying the high precision MEMS platform technology to enable the drastic reduction in size of high performance digital cameras. Siimpel's innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. | $21.5M / Series D / Oct 23, 2007 | ||
| Siimpel Corporation has been in the business of innovation since its original founding in 2000 as SiWave. With a heritage from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a background in high-precision navigation grade MEMS sensors, the company has maintained a leadership in technology. In its short history, Siimpel Corporation created the smallesthigh port count optical switches in the world, packaged MEMS components for NASA's Mars rovers, developed the world's first MEMS horizon sensor, developed the highest precision laser ranging system, and created the world's smallest stages using MEMS technology. A recipient of the ATP (advanced technology program) award from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Siimpel is proud of its history of ground breaking innovation. Since 2004, Siimpel has been applying the high precision MEMS platform technology to enable the drastic reduction in size of high performance digital cameras. Siimpel's innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. | $20.1M / Series C / Nov 11, 2005 | ||
| Siimpel Corporation has been in the business of innovation since its original founding in 2000 as SiWave. With a heritage from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a background in high-precision navigation grade MEMS sensors, the company has maintained a leadership in technology. In its short history, Siimpel Corporation created the smallesthigh port count optical switches in the world, packaged MEMS components for NASA's Mars rovers, developed the world's first MEMS horizon sensor, developed the highest precision laser ranging system, and created the world's smallest stages using MEMS technology. A recipient of the ATP (advanced technology program) award from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Siimpel is proud of its history of ground breaking innovation. Since 2004, Siimpel has been applying the high precision MEMS platform technology to enable the drastic reduction in size of high performance digital cameras. Siimpel's innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. | $9.5M / Series B / Nov 16, 2004 | ||
| Siimpel Corporation has been in the business of innovation since its original founding in 2000 as SiWave. With a heritage from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a background in high-precision navigation grade MEMS sensors, the company has maintained a leadership in technology. In its short history, Siimpel Corporation created the smallesthigh port count optical switches in the world, packaged MEMS components for NASA's Mars rovers, developed the world's first MEMS horizon sensor, developed the highest precision laser ranging system, and created the world's smallest stages using MEMS technology. A recipient of the ATP (advanced technology program) award from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Siimpel is proud of its history of ground breaking innovation. Since 2004, Siimpel has been applying the high precision MEMS platform technology to enable the drastic reduction in size of high performance digital cameras. Siimpel's innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. | $1M / Series A / Sep 08, 2003 | ||
| Siimpel Corporation has been in the business of innovation since its original founding in 2000 as SiWave. With a heritage from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a background in high-precision navigation grade MEMS sensors, the company has maintained a leadership in technology. In its short history, Siimpel Corporation created the smallesthigh port count optical switches in the world, packaged MEMS components for NASA's Mars rovers, developed the world's first MEMS horizon sensor, developed the highest precision laser ranging system, and created the world's smallest stages using MEMS technology. A recipient of the ATP (advanced technology program) award from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), Siimpel is proud of its history of ground breaking innovation. Since 2004, Siimpel has been applying the high precision MEMS platform technology to enable the drastic reduction in size of high performance digital cameras. Siimpel's innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. | $6M / Series A / Feb 22, 2002 | ||
| PING is a family-owned company that provides its clients with various products and services related to golf. Its product portfolio is comprised of golf clubs and golf gear. PING was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. | $2M / Series A / Aug 03, 2000 |
Co-Investors
About Zone Ventures
Zone Ventures is a partnership funded by institutional investors for the purpose of providing equity capital to young, high-growth companies, while achieving superior returns to its investors.Located in Los Angeles, Zone Ventures has been instrumental in building the Southern California Technology Community. They have built strong relationshipswith Universities, R&D labs, Entrepreneurs, and Financial Institutions to bridge the gap between the revolutionary technologies of tomorrow with the investment capital of today.While many of their investments are centralized in Southern California, their investments are not geographic specific, as they have and will continue to make investments outside of California.Their focus is on information technology businesses with enormous market potential, and pursues a people-focused approach to venture capital, funding entrepreneurs with the energy, vision, experience, and desire to build great companies.
Zone Ventures Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Frank M. Creer
Co-Founder and Managing Director
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Darius Sankey
Partner
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Tim Draper
Co - Founder & MD
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William Lewis
Partner
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FAQ
What does Darius Sankey invest in?
Darius Sankey invests primarily in Computer, Hardware and Software startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 7 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact Darius Sankey?
Public channels for Darius Sankey include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
When did Darius Sankey last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Darius Sankey closed in Nov 2008. Shizune tracks 7 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Nov 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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