Hiring the first ten
We keep a working list of engineers and operators who are close to moving, and we make the introduction before the role is posted.
Portfolio
Sixty-four companies, and we were first money in most of them.
A selection of the work below. Some of these companies are now well known, several are still quiet, and a few did not make it. All of them took the same first meeting.
64
Companies funded since 2019
71%
Where we wrote the first institutional check
58%
That raised a priced round within 18 months
9
Acquisitions to date
Northwind
Serverless data pipelines that scale to zero.
Voltage
Grid-edge software for clean-energy interconnection.
Tidewater
Real-time treasury for global SMB operators.
Latticework
Type-safe infrastructure as code for platform teams.
Ascend
Copilots for field-service technicians.
Hexboard
Runtime defense for AI agents and tool servers.
Orbital
Onboard compute for small-satellite constellations.
Kindling
A calmer way for households to plan money.
Acquired
Meridian
Warehouse-native analytics built for operators.
Synapse
Structured records clinicians actually keep.
Verdant
Lab automation for synthetic-biology startups.
Acquired
Bastion
Identity for machines, not just people.
Company names and descriptions are shown with permission. Several investments are not listed at the founder's request.
Recent news
Rounds, outcomes, and the occasional hire.
What happened lately.
How we show up after
Being on the cap table is not the same as being useful.
Once the money moves, our job changes. Here is what founders actually use us for, based on what they ask.
The next round
A candid read on whether you are ready, then warm introductions to the funds that actually invest in your shape of company.
Pricing and packaging
The conversation most early teams postpone for a year and then regret postponing.
Bad weeks
Co-founder conflict, a lost customer, a failed launch. Call early. It is easier to help before it is a crisis.
From a founder
“Our seed round came together because Mara spent a Sunday rewriting our narrative with us. She never once mentioned her ownership.”
Jonah Adeyemi, co-founder, Ascend
Next step
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