Team
Phil Inagaki
Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer
Phil Inagaki is Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer at Xora, where he oversees the firm’s investment strategy, portfolio management, and capital deployment across groundbreaking deep tech ventures. He also leads Xora Venture Labs, the firm’s startup incubation practice.
Phil serves as Interim CEO at Amperesand, Chair of the Board at Aether Fuels, and holds board positions at Cosmos Innovation, Peak Energy, Summit Nanotech, and Talus. He also led Xora’s investments in Celestial AI and Hyperlight.
Phil spent the first 15 years of his career as a deep tech founder and CEO, building companies in fields such as semiconductors, energy, advanced manufacturing, and AI. At 24, he founded Polyera, a semiconductor materials startup, where he led the company through various stages of growth. By the time he transitioned to venture capital at 38, Phil had served as both a founding and hired CEO, raised venture rounds from pre-seed to Series D, successfully commercialized multiple technologies, and completed joint venture and merger transactions. Phil started his career in venture capital with The Engine in Boston.
Phil graduated magna cum laude from Princeton with a B.A. in Physics, and holds 12 U.S. patents.
