# Lachy Groom

> Lachy Groom is an Australian-born serial entrepreneur turned Silicon Valley solo capitalist who built and sold multiple companies before turning 18, spent 6+ years as employee #30 at Stripe rising to Head of Stripe Issuing, then became one of tech's most prolific angel investors (200+ companies including Figma, Notion, Ramp, OpenAI, Anduril) before co-founding Physical Intelligence in 2024 - a robotics AI company building general-purpose foundation models for robots that has since reached a $5.6B+ valuation.

- **Role:** Co-Founder at Physical Intelligence (π)
- **Organizations:** Physical Intelligence, LGF (Lachy Groom Fund), Stripe
- **From:** Perth, Australia
- **Nationality:** Australian
- **Education:** HTML/CSS (taught by grandfather), Self-taught, Web Development, Ruby on Rails Bootcamp
- **Known for:** Anthill 30under30 winner (2012) at age 18, Employee #30 at Stripe; rose to Head of Stripe Issuing, Led Stripe's international expansion across Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Europe

## Career timeline

- **~2004** — Grandfather teaches him HTML/CSS at age ~10, sparking obsession with the internet
- **2007** — Founds PSDtoWP.com (Photoshop-to-WordPress service) at age 13; sells it within 9 months
- **2007** — Founds PAGGStack.com (nutritional supplements marketplace) at 13; sells within months
- **2009** — Launches iPadCaseFinder.com at ~15-16; attracts 400,000 unique visitors in opening weeks before acquisition
- **2010** — Founds CardNap, Australia's largest gift card exchange marketplace
- **2012** — Wins Anthill 30under30 award at age 18
- **2012** — Skips university; moves to San Francisco for a Ruby on Rails bootcamp
- **2012** — Joins Stripe as approximately employee #30 (initially rejected, championed by employee Ric Burton)
- **2012-2018** — Rises from early employee to Head of Stripe Issuing; leads international expansion, financial partnerships with Visa/Mastercard, and builds end-to-end card issuance platform
- **2018** — Leaves Stripe to become a full-time solo capitalist / angel investor
- **2018-2024** — Builds LGF funds (I, II, III at $250M, Scale I/II, Opportunity Fund at $300M); invests in 200+ companies including Figma, Notion, Ramp, Lattice, OpenAI, Anduril, Deel
- **2024** — Co-founds Physical Intelligence (pi.ai) with robotics researchers from DeepMind, UC Berkeley, and Stanford
- **2024** — Physical Intelligence raises $400M Series B at $2.4B valuation
- **2025** — Physical Intelligence raises $600M Series C led by CapitalG/Alphabet at $5.6B valuation
- **2025** — Home invasion robbery targets Groom's San Francisco home; ~$11-13M in cryptocurrency stolen
- **2026** — Physical Intelligence in talks to raise $1B at $11B+ valuation; launches π*0.6 robot foundation model

## Achievements

- Anthill 30under30 winner (2012) at age 18
- Employee #30 at Stripe; rose to Head of Stripe Issuing
- Led Stripe's international expansion across Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Europe
- Built and sold 3 internet businesses before age 18
- Raised $250M for LGF Fund III and $300M opportunity fund
- Early investor in Figma (~185x return at peak $20B valuation)
- Early investor in Notion (grew from ~$800M to $10B+ valuation)
- 200+ angel investments including OpenAI, Anduril, Ramp, Lattice, Deel
- Co-founded Physical Intelligence - valued at $5.6B+ within 18 months of founding
- Built portfolio with 11+ unicorn companies

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Physical Intelligence launches π*0.6, a new robot foundation model that can perform tasks it was never explicitly trained on, at 90%+ success rates
- **2026-03** — Physical Intelligence reportedly in talks to raise $1B at an $11B+ valuation
- **2026-02** — Details emerge in press about November 2025 home invasion robbery targeting Groom's SF home; ~$11-13M in crypto stolen
- **2025-11** — Physical Intelligence raises $600M Series C led by CapitalG/Alphabet at $5.6B valuation
- **2025-11** — Home invasion robbery occurs at Groom's San Francisco home; FBI investigation opens
- **2024-11** — Physical Intelligence raises $400M Series B at $2.4B valuation, led by Thrive Capital with participation from Jeff Bezos
- **2024-02** — Co-leads $35M funding round for Meter alongside Sam Altman

## Links

- Website: http://lachygroom.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lachy-groom-b218895/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lachygroom
- GitHub: https://github.com/LachyGroom

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lachy-groom
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-27