Jack Selby of Thiel Capital Acquires Stakes in Trending Startups, Including Etched, Through Arizona Networks

This week, Etched, a rival to Nvidia, announced that TSMC has manufactured its first chip earlier this year. As the four-year-old startup, valued at $5 billion, gears up to provide systems fueled by this chip to clients later this summer, it could encounter difficulties in scaling production. Similar to other chip designers, Etched is vying for the limited production capacity at TSMC’s facilities in Taiwan.

Copper Sky Capital, an early investor in Etched, is optimistic that the chipmaker will address its production challenges by shifting some of its manufacturing operations to TSMC’s site in Arizona. When the four-year-old venture capital firm participated in Etched’s $120 million Series A funding round two years ago, founder Jack Selby secured his investment partly by committing to assist the startup in eventually moving its chip production to Arizona.

Selby, previously an executive at PayPal and long-time managing director of Peter Thiel’s family office, Thiel Capital, founded Phoenix-based Copper Sky in 2021 (formerly known as AZ-VC). The firm’s initial $115 million fund primarily targeted startups in Arizona and the Southwest. Selby believes that startups on the coasts, particularly in California, Massachusetts, and New York, are significantly overpriced compared to emerging companies in his region. However, he saw an opportunity to facilitate the relocation of California-based hardware startups to Arizona for manufacturing.

Selby credits Copper Sky’s investment in Etched — an otherwise challenging startup to access — to his influential role in Arizona’s economic landscape. As a board member of the Arizona Commerce Authority, he plays a critical role in attracting out-of-state businesses to set up manufacturing operations in the area.

“When Copper Sky invested in Etched, the company recognized our connections to the Arizona semiconductor sector, especially to the local TSMC GIGAFAB,” Selby shared with TechCrunch.

While Copper Sky has recently expanded its focus beyond the Southwest to include non-traditional venture hubs nationwide, Selby mentioned that the firm remains eager to support hardware companies, including those in the defense sector, that can establish production in Arizona.

The firm is expected to have additional capital soon to invest in higher-valued coastal companies and other opportunities across the U.S. Currently, Copper Sky is in the process of raising a $300 million second fund, according to a regulatory filing.