Arjun Sethi (born January 15, 1983) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and technology executive who has co-founded and led companies across social gaming, mobile messaging, financial technology, and cryptocurrency. He is the co-CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, a position he assumed in October 2024, and the co-founder and chairman of the venture capital firm Tribe Capital, which he founded in 2018.[1]
Sethi was born on January 15, 1983, and grew up in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. His parents were involved in the startup industry, and he learned to code at a young age, working as a freelancer building websites.[2] In a 2022 interview he recounted enlisting in the army at around 17 years old and spending time in the Middle East and other places at a young age while continuing to freelance and build webpages.[2]
Sethi studied economics at Boston University and earned a B.A. in history from the University of Maryland. On his own profile he lists study of history and mathematics at the University of Maryland in College Park between 2005 and 2007 and economics at Boston University.[1]
Sethi's entrepreneurial activity began early. In 1999 he co-founded the manufacturing company Advanced Tuning Products, and earlier in his career he served as chief product officer of the app monetization company Tapjoy. His first technology startup was ROFLplay, a social gaming company he founded in January 2007 and led as CEO. ROFLplay was acquired by Lolapps in June 2009, after which Sethi became the company's Head of Business and Corporate Development. Lolapps developed social games on the Facebook platform, including Ravenwood Fair, and at its peak reached 150 million monthly active users across its portfolio. Lolapps named Sethi its CEO in March 2010, and the company had been founded during the global financial crisis, scaling rapidly and requiring the buildout of robust data and infrastructure teams.[2]
In 2012 Sethi co-founded and became CEO of MessageMe, a mobile messaging app that combined audio, video, and doodles. The app reached five million users within 75 days of launch and raised around $12 million from Greylock Partners. Facebook revoked MessageMe's access to the "Find Friends" functionality of the Facebook Platform for competitive reasons.
Yahoo acquired MessageMe in 2014 for a price reported between $30 million and $40 million. After shutting down the MessageMe app, Yahoo assigned Sethi and the former MessageMe team to build a Yahoo messaging app intended to compete with Snapchat and WhatsApp. Sethi served as Senior Director of Product Management, Growth, and Emerging Products, leading development of the company's messaging products.
Sethi first joined the venture capital firm Social Capital in 2012 as an entrepreneur in residence, and it was there that he encountered a data-driven approach to investing.[2] In early 2016, after leaving Yahoo, he rejoined Social Capital as an investing partner focused on consumer startups. There he backed the firm's investments in Carta and Relativity Space and served on their boards, and he oversaw investments in companies including Cloud Kitchens and Front. He resigned from Social Capital in 2018 while retaining a number of board seats.
In 2018 Sethi and former Social Capital investing partners Ted Maidenberg and Jonathan Hsu formed Tribe Capital, an early-stage investment firm that uses quantitative data to inform its decisions. [1][2] Sethi served as Tribe Capital's CEO, and the firm's first investment under him was the cryptocurrency trading platform Sfox. [1] [2]
Tribe Capital targeted $200 million for its first fund, then raised $335 million for its second fund and $394 million for its third fund, and it also started an investment program for accredited investors. Its portfolio has included FTX, Kraken, Applied Intuition, EquipmentShare, Docker, Republic, Instabase, Momentus, Carta, Relativity Space, and Cover. In March 2021 Tribe and Arrow Capital co-sponsored a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that raised $240 million, with Sethi appointed its CEO, and Tribe filed plans for a second SPAC initial public offering later that month.
In December 2023 Sethi transitioned from CEO of Tribe Capital to chairman and chief investment officer. At that time the firm had approximately $1.6 billion in assets under management, about 20% of which was invested in India. In April 2024 the firm formed Tribe Capital Management India Pvt Ltd, an asset management company co-owned by Sethi and based in Gurugram, whose initial investment was in Shiprocket. Sethi has described a focused roughly $150 million deployed in Indian companies such as BlackBuck, Shiprocket, and Khatabook.[1]
