First Row Partners
Venture capitalSeattle · Pre-Seed–Seed · 4 people tracked
Find your way into First Row Partners
1,336 people in our graph share verified history with the First Row Partners team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Investment thesis
First Row Partners is a pre-seed specialist venture firm founded in the Pacific Northwest that applies arts-based approaches to early-stage technology investing. The firm backs startups where technology gives 'superpowers' to emerging brand builders, content creators, and storytellers who combine domain expertise with imagination. Since 2020, its founding partners have invested in more than 20 pre-seed companies across the United States and Canada, focusing on the intersection of creativity and emerging technology.
Source: firm website, verified Sep 13, 2026.
Team · 4 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 21 of 29 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×15SaaS ×13Enterprise Software ×7Fintech ×4Marketing Tech ×4Future of Work ×3B2B Marketplaces ×2Creator Economy ×2
HQs:United States×9
Who they back
founder profiles across 20 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×132 founders×63 founders×1
Where their founders studiedfrom 23 founders with education data
Stanford University ×2UCLA ×2University of Washington ×2
What their founders studiedfrom 19 founders with field-of-study data
Business & Management ×5Computer Science ×5Engineering ×3Finance & Accounting ×2Social Sciences ×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 24 founders with career history
Tiny Pulse ×2
Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program
2 founders hold a PhD (of 22 with degree data)
Investments · 29 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2024 · 12023 · 12022 · 12021 · 14 dated
Vancouver AI startup that turned publishers' written content into podcast-style audio and buyer-intent signals; acquired by Landbase.
Aquifer Motion builds facial-capture and animation software that turns phone-recorded performances into cinematic 3D animation.
Austin, US
Co-investorsGeekdomGurtin VenturesLDV CapitalTechstarsWXR FundWedbush Ventures
A workspace of the future platform co-founded by former Fintual alumni.
Gianina Rossi(Founder)in
Co-investorsHi Ventures2048 Ventures
Calendly is a scheduling platform that integrates with Microsoft Teams to automatically generate and include Teams video conferencing links in calendar events.
Enterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaS
Tope Awotona(Founder, Chief Executive Officer)in
Co-investorsAlumni VenturesAtlanta Tech VillageBasecamp FundCoatue ManagementCVX VenturesFusion+13 more
Candid Wholesale offers a software platform that helps brands and retailers set up, manage, and grow their wholesale business online, serving companies from small boutiques to established brands.
B2B MarketplacesE-commerceRetail TechSaaSPortland, US
Avery Bloom(Founder)in
Co-investorsAmplify.LALong Way VenturesToba Capital8VCCascade Seed FundOak HC/FT+3 more
COUNT is building an AI-native accounting operating system that automates bookkeeping tasks such as categorization, reconciliations, and month-end close.
AI & Machine LearningFintechSaaS
Chris Smith(CEO & Co-Founder)inDerek Harn(Co-Founder)in
Co-investorsCreative HQ — The IncubatorData TechLocalGlobe
Dathic uses data science and machine learning to help consumer packaged goods brands understand and engage with the diverse population of US shoppers.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureMarketing TechRetail Tech
Laura Rocha(Founder)inJosé Daniel Ramirez(Co-founder & CTO)in
Co-investorsThe Fund
Esteam builds an AI-powered reading tool, Esteam Reader, that uses speech recognition and generative AI to assess reading and create personalized stories and assessments for children.
AI & Machine LearningEdTech
Jennifer Wong(Founder)in
Co-investorsAI FundBoutique Venture PartnersMagnify Ventures
Ettos is a Medellín-based e-commerce company positioning itself as an online beauty store for Latin America.
Co-investors2048 Ventures
Scribble provides AI-powered clinical documentation software for home health agencies, capturing bedside information to automate OASIS forms and reduce administrative burden on clinicians.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareHealthtech
Sandeep(Founder and CEO)
Harmony Intelligence provides AI agents, managed by human security experts, that continuously test web apps, APIs, MCPs, and Chrome extensions for exploitable vulnerabilities.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecuritySaaS
Soroush J. Pour(Founder)in
Co-investorsAirTree Ventures
Humanly builds conversational AI and automated interviewing technology for high-volume hiring, helping organizations qualify candidates and conduct structured interviews at scale.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareHR TechSaaSSeattle, US
Andrew Gardner(Founder)inPrem Kumar(Founder)inBryan Leptich(Founder)in
BoardChris Olsen(Director)in
Co-investorsBranded Strategic HospitalityChaos VenturesConvergeDrive Capitalm]x[v CapitalMoneta Ventures+4 more
Impacked operates an online marketplace that lets brands search, sample, quote, and buy packaging components directly from vetted manufacturers, with a focus on cosmetic, personal care, and sustainable packaging.
B2B MarketplacesCircular EconomyNew MaterialsNew York, US
NATASHA TRUEMAN(Executive Officer, Director)Lisa-Marie Assenza(Founder)inDAVID WAXMAN(Director)
Co-investors2048 Ventures
Kickplan provides monetization infrastructure that abstracts payment details from applications and lets growth and product teams build and test pricing, packaging, and usage-based billing models without backend changes.
Developer ToolsFintechSaaSSales Tech
Robert Graff(Founder)inWill Clarkin
Co-investorsLong Way VenturesCascade Seed Fund
Liftoff is a hiring and networking platform that uses AI together with human insight to connect people with job opportunities through trusted professional relationships.
AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkHR TechSaaS
Eleanor Morgan(Founder)in
Co-investorsCity LightDesigner FundForerunner VenturesTorch CapitalBlackstone
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LocalAway is a platform for managing creator partnerships and influencer marketing campaigns at scale.
Creator EconomyMarketing TechSaaSAustin, US
Lukas Peter(Founder)in
Co-investorsGraham Walker VentureLair East LabsTechstars
Milk Video is a platform for creating and distributing short-form video content, allowing marketers to quickly collect and produce customer testimonials, employee testimonies, and expert commentary.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareMarketing TechNew York City, US
Ross Cranwell(Founder)inLeonard Bogdonoff(Founder)in
Co-investorsY CombinatorImmeasurable
Mpathic provides red-teaming and model safety evaluation services for conversational AI systems, using a curated network of over 5,000 licensed U.S.-based clinical experts including psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers to surface harms, test for bias and misinformation, and design evaluation frameworks.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDigital HealthEnterprise SoftwareMental Health
Co-investorsGraham Walker VentureNext Frontier CapitalPortland Seed FundVerissimo VenturesWXR FundFullCircle+1 more
Mars (formerly Pocket) is an accounting firm for consumer packaged goods brands, providing full-service bookkeeping, revenue reconciliation across channels, true landed COGS and margin-per-SKU tracking, deduction reconciliation, and fractional CFO services.
ConsumerFintechSaaS
Peter Zhu(Partner)inOm Agarwal(Partner)inSergio Peterson(Head of Engineering)
Digital health company offering app-based musculoskeletal pain prevention and recovery programs for employers.
Ashley Hunt(Founder)in
Co-investorsValar Ventures Llc
Prisms develops VR/AR learning experiences for middle school math and science education, with a focus on teacher professional development and classroom outcomes.
AI & Machine LearningEdTechHardwareSan Francisco, US
Anurupa Ganguly(Founder & CEO)in
BoardJeffrey Jordan(Director)
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzWXR FundAnorak VenturesAvalanche VCScout Fund
Runic is a marketing intelligence platform that uses AI to analyze unstructured customer feedback, generate recommendations such as copy and content strategy suggestions, and produce custom reports.
AI & Machine LearningMarketing TechSaaS
Co-investorsBantam Group
Thread provides AI "guides" that run customer onboarding and sales-to-customer-success handoffs on a per-account basis, pursuing goals across text, email, and voice while verifying each step against the customer's CRM, data warehouse, or product telemetry.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSales Tech
Justin Vandehey(Founder)in
Co-investorsOregon Venture FundGreycroftHeadlinePortage VenturesUpper90
Variata builds AI testing agents that navigate web and mobile apps like real users to surface issues before release.
Velt provides collaboration features that integrate into applications and Microsoft Teams, enabling real-time commenting, notifications, and data synchronization through webhooks.
AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSSan Francisco, US
Rakesh Goyal(Founder)in
Co-investorsY CombinatorAmino CapitalSpider Capital
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WaveAI is a team of researchers developing generative AI for music.
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyDeep TechMedia & EntertainmentSaaS
Maya AckermaninMaya Ackerman, PhD.(Founder)in
Co-investors500 Global
WealthMore is a wealth management platform that combines human advisors with AI to provide personalized financial guidance and portfolio management for people who cannot afford traditional wealth advisors.
AI & Machine LearningFintech
Mical Jeanlys-White(Founder and CEO)in
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzEmmeline VenturesThe BFM Fund
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
ApertureDataLogoi
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesCalendly · en.wikipedia.org · Aug 26, 2026
Liftoff · gurufocus.com · Aug 17, 2026
Candid · healthcareittoday.com · Aug 4, 2026
Velt · ycombinator.com · Apr 7, 2026
Thread · getthread.com · Mar 11, 2026
Aquifer Motion · nasdaqprivatemarket.com · Dec 23, 2025
Adauris · siliconangle.com · Aug 14, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has First Row Partners made?
- First Row Partners has 29 tracked investments, 2 of which have exited.
- What stage does First Row Partners invest at?
- First Row Partners invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What sectors does First Row Partners focus on?
- First Row Partners focuses on Creator Economy, Media & Entertainment, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is First Row Partners located?
- First Row Partners is headquartered in Seattle, US.
- Does First Row Partners lead rounds?
- First Row Partners typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
- Who does First Row Partners co-invest with?
- First Row Partners most often shares deals with WXR Fund, Y Combinator, 2048 Ventures, among 53 tracked co-investors.
Images
Co-investors · 1
Preston-Werner Ventures is a venture capital firm associated with Tom Preston-Werner, cofounder of GitHub, who has moved into venture investing.
Firms observed investing alongside First Row Partners, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with First Row Partners's recorded portfolio.
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