# Kurt Schmidt

> Kurt Schmidt is a seed investor at Duke Capital Partners backing Machine Learning. See 7 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Duke Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/duke-capital-partners)
- Location: Durham, United States
- Total investments: 7
- Last investment: Mar 2025
- Lead investor: 14%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtschmidtlinkedin/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/whereskurt
- Website: https://x.com/whereskurt
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kurt.schmidt.5437

Kurt Schmidt is a seed investor at Duke Capital Partners in Durham focused on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Kurt Schmidt is the current Managing Director of Duke Capital Partners. He previously worked at Lifeable (Robin) as a Founder & CEO. Kurt Schmidt attended Duke University School of Law.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Machine Learning | 3 | 43% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 3 | 43% |
| Computer Vision | 2 | 29% |
| SaaS | 1 | 14% |
| Fitness | 1 | 14% |

14 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 3 | 43% |
| Series B | 2 | 29% |
| Series A | 1 | 14% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 1 | 14% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VQ Biomedical | VQ Biomedical is developing a revolutionary, minimally invasive catheter that delivers supplemental oxygen directly into the bloodstream in hospitalized patients with respiratory failure. | $1.7M | Seed | Mar 27, 2025 |  |
| Liquid AI | Building AGI, AI as Service, Generative AI | $37.5M | Seed | Dec 01, 2023 |  |
| Pryon | Pryon is an artificial intelligence company focused on enterprise knowledge management. Its natural language processing platform transforms unstructured data into experiences that increase productivity with unmatched accuracy and speed. Pryon’s automated machine learning engines deliver rapid time to value by enriching existing content. Thisno-code approach prevents operational disruption and allows organizations to quickly maximize the business value trapped within their information assets. Pryon was founded by Igor Jablokov, whose previous company defined the state of the art for AI assistants and was acquired by Amazon to form the basis for Alexa. | $100M | Series B | Sep 19, 2023 |  |
| Pryon | Pryon is an artificial intelligence company focused on enterprise knowledge management. Its natural language processing platform transforms unstructured data into experiences that increase productivity with unmatched accuracy and speed. Pryon’s automated machine learning engines deliver rapid time to value by enriching existing content. Thisno-code approach prevents operational disruption and allows organizations to quickly maximize the business value trapped within their information assets. Pryon was founded by Igor Jablokov, whose previous company defined the state of the art for AI assistants and was acquired by Amazon to form the basis for Alexa. | $19.6M | Venture - Series Unknown | Jan 11, 2023 |  |
| Superb AI | Superb AI is a company that develops computer vision and MLOps solutions designed to support AI deployment across industries such as manufacturing, logistics, physical security, and autonomous systems. Its platform provides tools for data annotation, model training, deployment, monitoring, and dataset management to help organizations manage AIworkflows more efficiently. The company also develops industry-focused Vision AI technologies, including foundation models and video analytics systems that can be applied to industrial and operational environments. Superb AI works with enterprises in sectors including automotive, electronics, energy, and infrastructure, supporting applications such as defect detection, surveillance analysis, and autonomous driving data processing. In addition to its software platform, the company conducts research and development in areas such as data-centric AI, physical AI, and spatial recognition technologies. The company helps enterprises accelerate AI adoption through automated data labeling, model training, and continuous AI performance optimization. | $16M | Series B | Sep 21, 2022 |  |
| Sparta Biomedical | Sparta Biomedical develops cartilage-like implants for the knee. They specialise in the creation of biomimetic implants that require minimally invasive therapy for chondral or osteochondral knee cartilage abnormalities, providing orthopaedic surgeons with enhancements that fundamentally restore movement for their patients. | $5M | Seed | Dec 14, 2021 |  |
| Superb AI | Superb AI is a company that develops computer vision and MLOps solutions designed to support AI deployment across industries such as manufacturing, logistics, physical security, and autonomous systems. Its platform provides tools for data annotation, model training, deployment, monitoring, and dataset management to help organizations manage AIworkflows more efficiently. The company also develops industry-focused Vision AI technologies, including foundation models and video analytics systems that can be applied to industrial and operational environments. Superb AI works with enterprises in sectors including automotive, electronics, energy, and infrastructure, supporting applications such as defect detection, surveillance analysis, and autonomous driving data processing. In addition to its software platform, the company conducts research and development in areas such as data-centric AI, physical AI, and spatial recognition technologies. The company helps enterprises accelerate AI adoption through automated data labeling, model training, and continuous AI performance optimization. | $9.3M | Series A | Feb 02, 2021 |  |

7 of 7 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Good Growth Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/good-growth-capital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Triangle Tweener Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/triangle-tweener-fund) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Aperture Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aperture-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Atinum Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/atinum-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Breyer Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/breyer-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [KT Investment](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kt-investment-inc) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About Duke Capital Partners

VC Fund · Durham, United States

Duke Capital Partners' investment process educates the next generation of investment professionals and startup founders through their associate program. If you want any information please contact them through email or phone call.

3 contacts available at Duke Capital Partners.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kurt Schmidt | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kurt-schmidt-4 |
| Willa Townsend | Venture Capital Investment Associate | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/willa-townsend |
| Samir Shah | Angel Investor | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/samir-shah |

## Similar investors

### 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

## FAQ

### What does Kurt Schmidt invest in?

Kurt Schmidt invests primarily in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision startups, most often at Seed 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.

### When did Kurt Schmidt last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Kurt Schmidt closed in Mar 2025. 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 Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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