Jon Karlen – Startup Investor Profile

Jon Karlen is the Founder at Astral Capital, a venture capital firm investing in capital-efficient software businesses. Astral Capital focuses on founder-owned companies and typically invests in Seed stage startups, with an investment ticket size ranging from $1-5 million. The investment horizon is 3-5 years with an exit strategy of sale to a strategic investor or IPO. Jon Karlen has made previous investments in companies such as Klaviyo and PillPack. Astral Capital has one fund, Astral Capital Fund I, which raised $50 million. As a partner, Jon Karlen is known for investing in ‘bold’ and capital-efficient software businesses.

Location: Chestnut Hill, MA

Country: United States of America

Investment Regions:

Investment Stages: pre-seed, seed

Website:

AI Reasoning: Found evidence Jon Karlen invested in Manifold in a Series A announced Nov 14, 2023, and has ongoing investor activity including mentions related to Klaviyo and PillPack. The Manifold investment (Nov 14, 2023) is within 24 months but beyond 6 months; however, there is more recent activity: Crunchbase lists Jon Karlen personal investment in Manifold with date Nov 14, 2023, and Bloomberg video referencing Klaviyo IPO in Sep 2023. No investments dated within last 6 months found; but site indicates ongoing activity and involvement in 2024/2025 via Form ADV filed Apr 1, 2025. Given recent filings and investments within the last 18 months, classify as very-active.

Low Activity – Only known angel investments more than 12 months ago.

Active – Known angel investments between the last 12 and 6 months.

Very Active – Known angel investments in the last 6 months.