Thiel Capital’s Jack Selby nabs stakes in hot startups like Etched through Arizona connections

Thiel Capital 的 Jack Selby 通过亚利桑那州的资源，成功入股 Etched 等热门初创公司

Nvidia competitor Etched announced this week that TSMC had manufactured its first chip earlier this year. While the four-year-old startup valued at $5 billion is getting ready to ship systems powered by that chip to customers later this summer, scaling production may prove challenging. Like other chip designers, Etched must compete for limited capacity at TSMC’s Taiwan factories. 英伟达（Nvidia）的竞争对手 Etched 本周宣布，台积电（TSMC）已于今年早些时候为其生产了首款芯片。这家成立四年、估值达 50 亿美元的初创公司正准备在今年夏末向客户交付搭载该芯片的系统，但扩大生产规模可能充满挑战。与其他芯片设计公司一样，Etched 必须在台积电的台湾工厂争夺有限的产能。

Copper Sky Capital, one of Etched early investors, is hopeful that the chip maker will find a solution to its manufacturing constraints by eventually producing chips at Arizona’s TSMC facility. When the four-year-old VC firm invested in Etched’s $120 million Series A two years ago, founder Jack Selby secured an allocation in part by promising to help the startup eventually reshore its chip fabrication to Arizona. 作为 Etched 的早期投资者之一，Copper Sky Capital 希望这家芯片制造商能通过最终在亚利桑那州的台积电工厂生产芯片，来解决其制造瓶颈。两年前，当这家成立四年的风投公司投资 Etched 的 1.2 亿美元 A 轮融资时，创始人 Jack Selby 之所以能获得投资份额，部分原因在于他承诺将帮助这家初创公司最终将其芯片制造业务迁回亚利桑那州。

Selby, a former PayPal exec and longtime managing director to Peter Thiel’s family office, Thiel Capital, founded Phoenix-based Copper Sky in 2021 (formerly known as AZ-VC). The firm’s first $115 million fund focused primarily on startups based in Arizona and the Southwest. Selby’s thesis was that most coastal startups, particularly those based in California, Massachusetts, and New York, are grossly overpriced compared to companies popping up in his region. Selby 曾是 PayPal 的高管，也是 Peter Thiel 家族办公室 Thiel Capital 的长期董事总经理。他于 2021 年在凤凰城创立了 Copper Sky（前身为 AZ-VC）。该公司的首支 1.15 亿美元基金主要关注亚利桑那州和美国西南部的初创企业。Selby 的投资逻辑是，与他所在地区涌现的公司相比，大多数沿海地区的初创公司（尤其是位于加利福尼亚州、马萨诸塞州和纽约州的公司）估值过高。

However, Selby saw an opportunity to bridge the gap in the other direction by helping California-based hardware startups move their production to Arizona. Selby credits Copper Sky’s investment in Etched — an otherwise hard-to-access startup — to his influential role in Arizona’s economy. As a board member of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Selby is deeply involved in recruiting out-of-state businesses to set up manufacturing operations in the region. 然而，Selby 看到了另一个方向的机遇：通过帮助加州的硬件初创公司将生产线转移到亚利桑那州来弥合这一差距。Selby 将 Copper Sky 能够投资 Etched（一家原本难以进入的初创公司）归功于他在亚利桑那州经济中发挥的影响力。作为亚利桑那州商务局的董事会成员，Selby 深度参与了吸引外州企业在该地区建立制造业务的工作。

“When Copper Sky invested with Etched, the company clearly understood our connectivity to the Arizona semiconductor industry, and in particular the local TSMC GIGAFAB,” Selby told TechCrunch. While Copper Sky has recently expanded its focus beyond the Southwest to include non-traditional venture hubs nationwide, Selby said that the firm is also interested in backing hardware companies, including in the defense sector, that can set up manufacturing operations in Arizona. “当 Copper Sky 投资 Etched 时，该公司清楚地了解我们与亚利桑那州半导体行业的联系，特别是当地的台积电 GIGAFAB 工厂，”Selby 在接受 TechCrunch 采访时表示。虽然 Copper Sky 最近已将其关注范围从西南部扩展到全国各地的非传统风投中心，但 Selby 表示，公司仍有兴趣支持那些能够在亚利桑那州建立制造业务的硬件公司，包括国防领域的企业。

The firm is expected to soon have more capital to invest in those higher-priced coastal companies, and those throughout the United States. Copper Sky is currently raising a $300 million second fund, according to a regulatory filing. 据监管文件显示，该公司目前正在筹集第二支规模为 3 亿美元的基金，预计很快将有更多资金用于投资那些估值较高的沿海公司以及全美各地的企业。