Gene Munster explains why he’s becoming a VC

Known for his bullish calls on Apple, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster surprised everybody last month when he revealed that he was leaving the analyst world to become a VC.

Now Munster is launching his seed stage fund, Loup Ventures, and he’s ready to discuss what kind of investments he’ll be making.

He told TechCrunch that his team, which includes former colleagues Doug Clinton and Andrew Murphy, will be focused on four categories: virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and robotics.

“These are all going to be transformative and very real,” he said. “We think that these four combined can radically change how we do work.”

Munster spoke of his belief that 70% of jobs will become automated and that as a result, these categories will be the biggest areas of growth.

“In 10 years we’ll look back and we could not imagine what life was like without robots,” he explained.

Munster will be staying in Minnesota, but will invest throughout the United States. While the team plans to travel a lot, Munster thinks that his midwest roots keep him in touch with reality. It seems to him that San Francisco investors “get a little bit a feedback loop that can be intense in the valley.” Loup will also have an office in New York.

The group will be looking toward universities for investment ideas. “A lot of these companies are coming from academia.” They’ve already made their first investment in Neurable.

 

Munster is leaving Piper Jaffray on good terms and they will even be an LP in his new firm. He’s targeting $20 million for his fund and is currently in the midst of fundraising.

And don’t worry, he’ll still be doing research notes. They’ll be centered around his investment themes and relevant divisions at major tech companies. Expect those to appear about three times per month, he says.