# James Isilay

> James Isilay is a seed investor at Cognism (Zürich) backing Software and Artificial Intelligence. See 10 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Cognism](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cognism)
- Location: Zürich, Switzerland
- Total investments: 10
- Last investment: Oct 2023
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-isilay-8164b910/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/JIsilay

James Isilay is a seed investor at Cognism in Zürich focused on Software and Artificial Intelligence. James Isilay serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Cognism.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1M–$9.7M |
| Pre-Seed | $652k–$998k |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 6 | 60% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 6 | 60% |
| SaaS | 3 | 30% |
| PaaS | 2 | 20% |
| Sales | 2 | 20% |

36 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 6 | 60% |
| Pre-Seed | 3 | 30% |
| Series A | 1 | 10% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | 4 | 40% |
| Switzerland | 2 | 20% |
| United States | 2 | 20% |
| Isle of Man | 1 | 10% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| viso.ai | The Viso Suite provides the world's first end-to-end computer vision application platform for businesses to build and scale computer vision applications dramatically faster and easier. The model-driven infrastructure is used by some of the world's leading organizations across industries.The end-to-end platform provides a no-codeinterface to increase productivity, maximize system compatibility, and establish standardization across a portfolio of different computer vision applications. Applications built with the Viso Suite are flexible, easily upgraded, and can be ported across different hardware platforms (cameras, computing) with little or no modification, providing a solution that future-proofs customers' investment in computer vision application development. |  | Seed | Oct 25, 2023 |  |
| viso.ai | The Viso Suite provides the world's first end-to-end computer vision application platform for businesses to build and scale computer vision applications dramatically faster and easier. The model-driven infrastructure is used by some of the world's leading organizations across industries.The end-to-end platform provides a no-codeinterface to increase productivity, maximize system compatibility, and establish standardization across a portfolio of different computer vision applications. Applications built with the Viso Suite are flexible, easily upgraded, and can be ported across different hardware platforms (cameras, computing) with little or no modification, providing a solution that future-proofs customers' investment in computer vision application development. | $9.7M | Seed | Oct 25, 2023 |  |
| Hyperbound | Hyperbound is a simulated AI Sales Roleplay platform that turns ICP descriptions into interactive AI buyers in less than 2 minutes. It helps your sales team onboard 50% faster and boosts your team's conversions on cold, warm, & discovery calls.Every sales team wants to do more roleplays, but it's often unscalable and biased. Insteadof having your sellers practice on real prospects and burn leads in the process, Hyperbound allows your reps to get realistic at-bats with an AI buyer. Sellers can finally gain call confidence and mastery in a simulated environment that doesn't put your pipeline at risk and gives time back to your managers. Interested in trying it out today? Start a free demo simulation at hyperbound.ai and contact us at founders@hyperbound.ai for next steps. | $3.3M | Seed | Sep 06, 2023 |  |
| Kluster | Kluster is at the forefront of predictive sales analytics. Harnessing the advanced modeling technology available, they give partners the tools to close more opportunities and forecast more accurately than ever before.Businesses have been tirelessly logging data on their CRMs for years. Kluster Intelligence turns this data into actionable insightsspecifically geared towards commercial gain. Intelligent reporting: comprehensive, flexible, pre-built reporting specifically for salespeople.Opportunity Management: Prioritise the right opportunities, identify those at risk, and continually monitor the top-level pipeline.Predictive Forecasting: Utilise sophisticated machine learning to produce live and accurate sales forecasts. | $5M | Series A | Apr 25, 2023 |  |
| 5Mins | 5Mins s a gamified learning platform designed to help employees improve their skills .It curates short-form video content from leading creators around the world and makes it available to teams and businesses via adaptive and gamified learning engine. | $5.7M | Seed | Nov 07, 2022 |  |
| Adadot | Adadot uses AI to help developers find and maintain a state of Flow, making them up to 500% more effective. We leverage the world's most complete database on developer working patterns with 2000% database growth quarterly. | $997.7K | Pre-Seed | Apr 28, 2022 |  |
| SkyeBrowse | SkyeBrowse enables you to use a drone to make a 3D model faster than you can brew a cup of coffee. Our patented videogrammetry simplifies and accelerates reality capture to 1 tap on our iOS app. Our competitive advantage is videogrammetry, which is significantly faster and easier than photogrammetry. The mission of SkyeBrowse is to simplifyemergency response and enhance situational awareness for public safety and defense. | $2.3M | Seed | Feb 28, 2022 |  |
| MONET | Financial technology for the $250Bn media & entertainment agency economy.MONET is building the finance platform for agencies (creative, talent management, PR, social media, affiliate, and other digital publishing). We currently provide tech-driven financing, end-to-end campaign management, and tools to manage and pay vendors (talent likeinfluencers, freelancers, creatives) globally, enabling MONET to be the operational backbone of agencies and positioning us to access granular and enriched underwriting data so we can provide just-in-time financing at scale. Our goal is to build a full-suite of finance and back-office essentials for agencies, in a vertical fintech platform, covering financing, banking, payments and operations tools.In addition to solving major pain-points in agency operations, our technology can ultimately deliver financial inclusion to over 200m freelancers and other independent creative suppliers globally through the unique EarlyPay technology we have created, which enables vendors to cash out earnings made via agencies immediately, which is also a revenue generating tool for agencies. | $652.4K | Pre-Seed | Sep 02, 2021 |  |
| Connect4 | Connect4 provides a client meeting app. It is designed to help client-centric teams deliver smarter client meetings. First-class client meetings lead to strong relationships and healthy recurring business. They built around the concept of pods, which are central workspaces for teams and clients. |  | Pre-Seed | Jul 31, 2021 |  |
| Kluster | Kluster is at the forefront of predictive sales analytics. Harnessing the advanced modeling technology available, they give partners the tools to close more opportunities and forecast more accurately than ever before.Businesses have been tirelessly logging data on their CRMs for years. Kluster Intelligence turns this data into actionable insightsspecifically geared towards commercial gain. Intelligent reporting: comprehensive, flexible, pre-built reporting specifically for salespeople.Opportunity Management: Prioritise the right opportunities, identify those at risk, and continually monitor the top-level pipeline.Predictive Forecasting: Utilise sophisticated machine learning to produce live and accurate sales forecasts. | $1M | Seed | Apr 30, 2020 |  |

10 of 10 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Accel](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/accel) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Fellows Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fellows-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Portfolio Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/portfolio-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [SuperSeed Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/superseed) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [AlbionVC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/albion-vc) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Blue Lion](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blue-lion-global) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Cognism

VC Fund · London, United Kingdom

Cognism is an end-to-end sales-acceleration solution that provides sales organizations with a more efficient way to prospect. Delivered as a software service (SaaS), with its unique data asset and compliance engine, Cognism is helping to enrich CRM records, stream leads into the funnel and is using artificial intelligence to surface opportunitiesand identify customer trends. The company is a pure AI sales technology company that generates prospect data at scale, cleaning and enriching it, helping sales teams to grow and scale across all levels of the sales process.  Cognism using patented AI technology, to provide B2B sales teams with a blend of real-time company, people and event data to streamline prospecting, find and deliver new revenue. It integrates seamlessly with all major CRM and Email Service systems. They use it to manage their database and provide high-quality, real-time B2B data to their clients.Cognism was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in London, England, UK, with offices in USA, Macedonia and Croatia.

5 contacts available at Cognism.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Antonia Williams | Chief of Staff | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antonia-williams |
| Biljana Galapcheva | Lead UX Designer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/biljana-galapcheva-710b |
| Ivana Mirchevska | Product Operations Manager, Analytics | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ivana-mirchevska |
| James Hodson | Chief Science Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/james-hodson-a3b7 |
| James Isilay | CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/james-isilay |

## Similar investors

### Similar industry
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

### Similar country
- [Blockchain Founders Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blockchain-founders-fund) — VC Fund
- [Force Over Mass Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/force-over-mass-capital) — VC Fund
- [NewBound Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/excelsior-financial-partners) — VC Fund

## Featured in investor lists
- [Artificial intelligence Angel Investors in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/artificial-intelligence-angel-investors-united-kingdom)
- [Artificial intelligence Angel Investors in Switzerland](https://shizune.co/investors/artificial-intelligence-angel-investors-switzerland)
- [Internet Angel Investors in Switzerland](https://shizune.co/investors/internet-angel-investors-switzerland)
- [Software Angel Investors in Switzerland](https://shizune.co/investors/software-angel-investors-switzerland)
- [Enterprise Angel Investors in Switzerland](https://shizune.co/investors/enterprise-angel-investors-switzerland)
- [Hardware Angel Investors in Switzerland](https://shizune.co/investors/hardware-angel-investors-switzerland)

## FAQ

### What does James Isilay invest in?

James Isilay invests primarily in Software, Artificial Intelligence and SaaS startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 10 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is James Isilay's check size?

James Isilay typically joins rounds of $1M–$9.7M at Seed and $652k–$998k at Pre-Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds James Isilay participates in.

### When did James Isilay last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for James Isilay closed in Oct 2023. Shizune tracks 10 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 Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co