First Row Partners
Venture capitalSeattle · Pre-Seed–Seed · 4 people tracked
Investment thesis
First Row Partners invests at the very earliest stages, running a process designed to be swift, decisive, and founder-first. Investment decisions typically take two to three weeks, moving from a first conversation with a partner, an asynchronous written Q&A, a full team call, and light diligence covering cap table, financials, and references. The firm aims to add value before writing a check, with diligence topics flowing directly into post-investment support. After investing, it seeks to be the most helpful, least annoying investor through structured onboarding, a founder resource hub, workshops, a private Slack community, and responsive support. The firm also incorporates arts-based approaches into its venture investing.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 27, 2026.
Team · 4 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 19 of 27 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×15SaaS ×12Enterprise Software ×5Fintech ×4Marketing Tech ×4Creator Economy ×2Cybersecurity ×2Developer Tools ×2
HQs:United States×9
Investments · 27 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2024 · 12023 · 12022 · 13 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-investorsGeekdomLDV CapitalTechstarsWXR FundWedbush Ventures
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)
Co-investorsLong Way VenturesToba Capital8VCAmplify.LACascade 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)
Co-investorsThe Fund
Ettos is a Medellín-based e-commerce company positioning itself as an online beauty store for Latin America.
Co-investors2048 Ventures
Scribble is a point-of-care AI tool for home health that listens during patient visits, interprets clinical context, and automatically fills OASIS documentation fields, pushing completed records to the EHR.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtech
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 is a B2B online marketplace for sourcing primary packaging such as bottles, jars, tubes and closures.
New York, US
NATASHA TRUEMAN(Executive Officer, Director)LISA-MARIE ASSENZA(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
LocalAway is a platform for managing creator partnerships and influencer marketing campaigns at scale.
Creator EconomyMarketing TechSaaSAustin, US
Lukas Peter(Founder)
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 Combinator
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
Grin Lord(Founder)in
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)Om Agarwal(Partner)Alice Zhang(Fractional CFO)Sergio Peterson(Head of Engineering)
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 FundAvalanche 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 Fund
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
WaveAI is a team of researchers developing generative AI for music.
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomyDeep TechMedia & EntertainmentSaaS
Maya Ackerman, PhD.(Founder)inMaya AckermanRonen(UI/UX)Jerry(Fractional CFO)Bibek(Engineering)
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
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesCount · finance.biggo.com · Aug 18, 2026
Liftoff · gurufocus.com · Aug 17, 2026
Candid · healthcareittoday.com · Aug 4, 2026
Velt · ycombinator.com · Apr 7, 2026
Aquifer Motion · nasdaqprivatemarket.com · Dec 23, 2025
Harmony Intelligence · thesaasnews.com · Mar 12, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- 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.
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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