Work Bench
also invests · investor profileNew York, US · Founded 2012 · 42 employees on LinkedIn · 7 known investors
Work-Bench is a New York City seed-stage venture capital fund that invests in early-stage founders building enterprise, SaaS, and infrastructure software, with a focus on go-to-market support. It backs companies across AI/ML, cybersecurity, dev tools, and enterprise applications.
Also known as Work-Bench
Founders & leadership
Work Bench was founded in 2012 by Gil Banyas and Gal Lellouche.
Investors · 7
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Work-Bench is a New York City venture capital firm focused on B2B enterprise software. It leads pre-seed and seed rounds, positioning itself as the first institutional check into companies building applied AI and infrastructure software. The firm describes its investment scope across AI/machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud-native infrastructure, and enterprise applications, and states a preference for technical founders, repeat founders, and operators who have worked inside large companies.
The firm's stated operating thesis is that go-to-market capability, rather than product alone, determines outcomes in enterprise software, and it works with portfolio companies from the earliest stage on customer acquisition, sales motion, hiring, and scaling through exit. Named portfolio companies include Cockroach Labs, Dialpad, Spring Health, Socure, Goodfire, Courier Health, GovWell, FireHydrant, Arthur, and Authzed. Work-Bench reported $375 million in assets under management in a 2023 job posting and describes itself as a lean team.
Business model
Work-Bench operates as a venture capital fund, deploying capital from limited partners into pre-seed and seed rounds of enterprise software startups and seeking returns through equity appreciation and exits.
Traction
Work-Bench lists portfolio companies that have raised substantial later-stage rounds, including Cockroach Labs (Series F, with Greenoaks, Altimeter and Benchmark), Dialpad (Series F, with Andreessen Horowitz, GV and ICONIQ), Spring Health (Series E, with Generation Investment Management, Kinnevik and Northzone), Socure (Series E, with Accel, T. Rowe Price and Scale Venture Partners), Goodfire (Series B, with B Capital, Menlo Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners), Courier Health (Series B, with Oak HC/FT and Cascade Seed Fund), and GovWell (Series A, with Insight Partners and Bienville Capital). Other named companies include FireHydrant, Arthur, and Authzed.
Latest developments
The firm's site highlights recent published research on infrastructure primitives for AI agents and on AI security, along with an announcement of an investment in Petra Labs. A job posting sought the firm's first dedicated Researcher, based in New York, to publish long-form research reports and market landscapes and contribute to investment decisions.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Work-Bench positions itself as New York's B2B software seed fund, concentrating on enterprise, applied AI, and infrastructure software at the pre-seed and seed stage, with reported assets under management of $375 million as of a 2023 posting.
Work-Bench emphasizes hands-on go-to-market support rather than capital alone: helping portfolio companies through enterprise 'seed firsts' such as first product launch, first sales hire, and first six-figure contract; navigating procurement, security reviews, SOC 2, proofs of concept, and MSAs; providing access to a network of Fortune 500 buyers, operators, and design partners; sharing playbooks for discovery calls, outbound sequences, and pricing; and recruiting engineering, product, sales, and growth candidates.
Go-to-market
The firm sources deals through its New York enterprise technology community, including the cofounders.nyc co-founder matching network, a recurring 'Best of NYC Operator Club' meetup for operators at AI-native companies, and a future founder dinner series. It also publishes written research and investment announcements, and accepts inbound pitches and introductions by email.
Founders of early-stage B2B enterprise software companies, particularly technical founders with customer empathy, repeat founders, and operators from large enterprises, across AI/ML, cybersecurity, cloud-native infrastructure, and enterprise applications.
Geography
Headquartered and staffed in New York City, with the firm describing itself as NYC-based and NYC-biased while backing founders located anywhere who intend to sell to New York customers.
History
The firm's website states that Work-Bench was started in 2013 on the thesis that New York would become a leading location for building enterprise software companies; a 2023 job posting refers to having built a New York SaaS community over the prior 11 years.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through Work Bench went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors · 1
by search overlapCompanies competing with Work Bench for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Work Benchwork-bench.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Work Bench do?
- Work-Bench is a New York-based seed venture firm leading pre-seed and seed rounds in B2B enterprise software founders.
- Who founded Work Bench?
- Work Bench was founded by Gil Banyas, Gal Lellouche in 2012.
- Who are Work Bench's investors?
- Work Bench's investors include Emerge, January Ventures, Outlander VC, Red Bike Capital, Work-Bench, IronGate Capital Advisors, Level Ventures.
- Where is Work Bench headquartered?
- Work Bench is headquartered in New York, US.