The firm
Operator led, framework driven.
Layer H is a research-led venture firm. It backs fully autonomous AI companies from pre-seed to Series A, one company at a time, in the three layers a better model makes more valuable. Every company is underwritten against the same rubric and documented in a memo before anyone decides.
The film
One H, three layers, in 24 seconds.
The mark is the thesis. A machined H, and behind it the three layers we fund, lit from the gaps: a better model makes each of them more valuable, and the stack reforges into one company.
Who
Harrison Rolfes, General Partner.
Layer H is led by Harrison Rolfes, a three time founder and senior AI research analyst. He built the frameworks institutional investors use to underwrite the largest private AI companies, and applies them to companies early enough to matter.
The combination it takes to judge autonomous AI inside regulated markets. Most investors have one. This reads all three. The disciplines are applied mathematics, machine learning and patent law.
- Background
- Three-time founder, senior AI research analyst
- Disciplines
- Applied mathematics · Machine learning · Patent law
- Status
- Underwriting now across all three layers.
How we invest
Pre-seed to Series A, one vehicle per company.
- Stage
- Pre-seed to Series A
- Check
- $100K to $500K
- Structure
- One special purpose vehicle per company
- Offering
- Rule 506(b) private placements to accredited investors
- Focus
- Vertical Intelligence · Physical AI · Agentic Commerce
- Geography
- Wherever the company is, if we can underwrite it
We invest company by company through a dedicated vehicle for each, which means every decision is its own decision. There is no fund to deploy on a schedule and no pressure to say yes because a quarter is ending. A company gets in because it passed the underwriting, and only then.
The same discipline runs from the first cheque to the Series A. The bar rises with the stage, the question never changes: when the next model ships, does this company get stronger, or get erased.
What happens after you write in
A real read, a real answer.
The read
Every note is read by the General Partner, not a form filter. A few clear sentences and a deck link are enough to start. We reply either way.
The gates
Civilian, fully autonomous, not a thin wrapper, inside our coverage. If one fails, we say so at once so nobody's time is spent on a conversation that cannot end in an investment.
The call
One conversation about the function you run, who pays for the outcome, what you own that a better model cannot recreate, and what the next model does to your pricing.
The underwrite
A written memo against six questions, a durability score computed separately from the narrative, a valuation triangulated from more than one method, and the strongest case for and against.
The decision
A clear yes or no, with the reasons. If it is a no, you will know exactly what would change it. If it is a yes, terms follow quickly and a vehicle is formed for the company.
What we are not
A narrow filter, on purpose.
Not a generalist
Three layers, and only companies that pass the same test. If it is not in one of them, it is not for us, however good it is.
Not a defense investor
No weapons, no military buyers, no dual-use economics. Our thesis is labor and commerce.
Not a co-pilot investor
We fund the system that runs the function with no human in the loop, not the tool that makes the human faster.
Not a logo collector
We would rather own less of what lasts. We do not chase rounds, and we do not publish a wall of names.
Not a black box
Our thesis, our gates and our bar are on this site. The same rubric applies to every company, and founders hear the reasons behind every answer.
Contact
Building, or backing, the autonomy layer?
Founders: tell us what you are building through the pitch form. Investors: the investor page explains how a Layer H vehicle works and how to get in touch. One address reaches the firm for everything else.