Nicolas Dessaigne
Group Partner @ Y Combinator
San Francisco, United States
Nicolas Dessaigne is a pre-seed investor at Y Combinator in San Francisco focused on Software and Artificial Intelligence. Nicolas is a firm believer of “culture-first” companies and am focused on building just that at Algolia where team empowerment is how they accomplish their goals. Prior to co-founding Algolia with Julien, he spent over 12 years working on information retrieval at Exalead and Thales.At Algolia they believe every website and app deserves greatsearch! they offer a hosted Search API that helps developers deliver an instant and relevant search experience. We’ve seen that search is a great touch point to optimize – they regularly see double digit increases in engagement on sites when they improve their search UX.When they founded Algolia in 2012 it was originally going to be a local SDK for mobile app search. They changed direction and realized that they needed to offer search as a hosted SaaS service, but it was those early mobile optimizations that gave us their unique advantage. They are one of the few search solutions that has been developed from scratch, and they never would have gone that direction if they hadn’t originally been focused on mobile search.His focus has been first and foremost on making Algolia a great place to work. They have a unique culture here that values ownership as its pillar. They want to create a company where every team member takes initiative, gets out of their comfort zone, is empowered to make decisions; in short: be free to be their best.He is recently spoken at SaaStock on the challenges of running a company based in both Paris and San Francisco. His priority lately has been on scaling their growth and ramping up their team size.
- Total investments:
- 239
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 56%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Nicolas Dessaigne invests in
Stages Nicolas Dessaigne invests in
Countries Nicolas Dessaigne invests in
Round sizes
Round size
- Seed
- $1.6M–$10M
- Pre-Seed
- $500k–$550k
- Series A
- $8M–$25M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Software 67 (28%)
- Artificial Intelligence 65 (27%)
- SaaS 29 (12%)
- Information Technology 28 (12%)
- B2B 23 (10%)
Stage
- Pre-Seed 100 (42%)
- Seed 47 (20%)
- Series A 17 (7%)
- Funding Round 3 (1%)
- Series B 2 (1%)
Country
- United States 98 (41%)
- France 22 (9%)
- Germany 6 (3%)
- United Kingdom 5 (2%)
- Sweden 2 (1%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Playabl.ai
|
Playabl is an AI-powered platform for creating web games and interactive experiences through natural language chat. The product lets users describe game ideas in plain text and generates playable browser-based drafts with core loops, controls, user interface, and starter content. Creators can refine difficulty, rules, level layouts, visuals, andpacing by iterating in a conversational interface rather than writing code or configuring a separate engine. The platform also supports remixing existing games, publishing playables via shareable links, and using templates to avoid starting from a blank project. Built-in tools cover asset generation, basic 3D modeling, animation presets, and visual customization to support a range of desktop-style games, mobile-first prototypes, playable ads, and lightweight interactive web experiences. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Lumius
|
Lumius develops 3D ultrasound hardware and imaging technology for medical applications. The company offers a real-time 3D imaging solution focused initially on image-guided vascular access. Its product line includes a plugin module that adds 3D functionality to existing ultrasound systems and a full probe with integrated 3D capability. Lumius usesDiffractive Acoustic Tomography to provide isotropic 3D imaging with a defined field of view in a compact, portable device. The technology is designed to make 3D ultrasound more accessible in settings where conventional matrix-array probes are costly. Lumius targets healthcare providers and researchers who require intuitive volumetric visualization for ultrasound-guided procedures. The products are currently not cleared for medical use and are not intended to diagnose or treat medical conditions. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
BioStack
|
BioStack Platforms develops data infrastructure and simulation environments for healthcare and drug discovery AI. The company builds proprietary preclinical and clinical data pipelines that connect longitudinal, multimodal medical data such as EHRs, imaging, ECGs, labs, notes, audio, and outcomes. It structures this information intomachine-learning-ready datasets and workflow-aligned simulation environments rather than static text corpora. These environments support post-training, reinforcement learning, and multi-agent reasoning for medical AI systems. BioStack Platforms serves AI labs, biotechnology startups, pharmaceutical teams, and data providers that need domain-specific datasets, causal inference support, and robust reward models. Its offerings are used to test, evaluate, and train medical AI models on real-world clinical workflows before deployment in practice. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Adialante
|
Adialante develops deployable, clinical-grade MRI systems designed to reduce the cost and footprint of traditional scanners. The company focuses on a novel B1 encoding architecture that minimizes or removes B0 gradient coils to enable quieter, portable neuroimaging. Its platform targets cancer and brain screening in clinics and communities thatlack conventional MRI infrastructure. Adialante also offers workshops, innovation courses, and consultation services related to clinical partnerships and healthcare technology development. Customers include healthcare providers, clinics, and research organizations seeking accessible MRI solutions. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Infera
|
Infera develops an AI operating system for laboratories that converts scientific protocols into validated, instrument ready workflows. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Trellis
|
Trellis is a B2B SaaS (Business-to-Business Software as a Service) platform that provides enterprise AI agents to automate short-term rental operations, orchestrating guest relations and field workflows. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Netter
|
Netter is a data management company that offers a platform to centralize data to deploy analytics, workflows and machine learning models. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Wato
|
Wato is a shared AI workspace that connects agents, workflows, and team memory to build compounding workplace knowledge. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Atrisa
|
Refortif AI develops software for securing artificial intelligence models and automating hardware design workflows. The company offers a model weight obfuscation tool that protects proprietary machine learning weights at deployment time, enforcing security controls and digital rights management. Its technology keeps original model parameters hiddenduring runtime, including in untrusted edge, cloud, or partner environments. Refortif AI also builds Atrisa, an AI-driven assistant that helps engineers design, debug, and simulate analog circuits. Atrisa provides an agentic workflow for analog design by drafting schematics, editing circuit topologies, and running simulations based on engineer prompts. These offerings serve teams working in cybersecurity, AI deployment, semiconductor design, and electronic design automation. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
Prototyping.io
|
Prototyping.io provides an AI-driven manufacturing platform for mechanical parts based on customer CAD designs. The company enables users to upload 3D models, receive automated design for manufacturability feedback, and select suitable production options. Its system plans and executes production across processes such as CNC machining, sheet metalfabrication, 3D printing, injection molding, extrusion, and die casting. Prototyping.io generates machine programs, coordinates manufacturing workflows, and manages quality control to deliver functional prototypes and production parts. The service targets engineering and product teams that need precision components with support for complex geometries and tight iteration cycles. The platform focuses on automating the path from design intent capture through manufacturability analysis to finished parts. | $500K / Pre-Seed / Jun 16, 2026 | |
| See all 239 investments → | |||
Co-Investors
About Y Combinator
Y Combinator is a startup accelerator that provides funding and mentorship to early-stage companies. It offers a program where startups receive guidance from experienced entrepreneurs and investors. The organization helps founders in their business models and develop their products. Y Combinator serves industries such as technology, healthcare, andfinance.
Y Combinator Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Boris Jabes
Visiting Partner
|
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Luther Lowe
Head of Public Policy
|
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Max Kolysh
Visiting Partner
|
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Brad Flora
Group Partner
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Calvin French-Owen
Visiting Group Partner
|
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FAQ
What does Nicolas Dessaigne invest in?
Nicolas Dessaigne invests primarily in Software, Artificial Intelligence and SaaS startups, most often at Pre-Seed and Seed stage. Most of the 239 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is Nicolas Dessaigne's check size?
Nicolas Dessaigne typically joins rounds of $1.6M–$10M at Seed, $500k–$550k at Pre-Seed and $8M–$25M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Nicolas Dessaigne participates in.
When did Nicolas Dessaigne last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Nicolas Dessaigne closed in Jun 2026. Shizune tracks 239 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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