Seattle-based early-stage venture capital firm Founders’ Co-op led by Chris DeVore and Aviel Ginzburg, has launched its sixth fund, locking in $50 million to back startups across the Pacific Northwest. The new vehicle maintains the same fund size as the firm’s previous fund and will continue to target early-stage, technical founding teams in the region.
According to details shared with founders and investors, the fund is expected to support around 30 startups, with individual investments of up to $1.5 million. The firm aims to act as the first institutional check for these companies, giving teams early capital to build products and validate their markets.
Managing Partners are keeping the firm’s strategy consistent rather than chasing short-term market fashions.
Chris DeVore and Aviel: Backing Technical Founders In A Changed Market
Founders’ Co-op is raising this fund in a very different environment than its earlier vehicles. The firm points out that the zero-interest rate era has ended, making capital more expensive and tightening venture markets. At the same time, the pandemic-era surge in remote work has partially reversed, with more companies pushing employees back to physical offices.
Alongside those shifts, the artificial intelligence investment boom has concentrated money and talent around a small set of global technology leaders. These large companies are pushing new waves of automation, which could reduce local technology employment even as it reshapes opportunities for startups.
The fund is positioned against that backdrop: a regional early-stage investor trying to provide stable, first-check capital while the global technology and capital markets re-organize.
Not An AI-Only Fund: A Thesis Around Founders, Not Fads
Despite the intensity of the AI hype cycle, Founders’ Co-op is not branding this as an “AI-only” fund. In its communication around the raise, the firm emphasizes that the vehicle is not dedicated solely to artificial intelligence.
Instead, the team is staying with its core thesis: back ambitious founders tackling complex problems, regardless of whether they are working directly in AI or in other technical domains. The firm stresses that long-term outcomes are driven more by entrepreneurial talent than by any single technology trend, and frames AI as one important tool among many, not the exclusive focus of the fund.
For founders in the Pacific Northwest, that means the fund is open to a range of technical ideas rather than being restricted to one specific stack or sub-sector.
Community-Building Through Foundations
Beyond writing cheques, Founders’ Co-op has been investing in community-building across the Seattle startup ecosystem. Managing Partner Aviel Ginzburg has led the development of Foundations, a private clubhouse and network designed to reconnect founders, investors, and operators after the fragmentation of the pandemic period.
The space has become a gathering point for hundreds of founders and industry contributors, according to the firm, and is used to host events, conversations, and informal meetups within the region’s tech community.
In the context of a market where remote work and distributed teams are still being rebalanced, Foundations is intended to provide a physical hub for early-stage builders in and around Seattle.
A Regional Bet On Early-Stage Teams
With the sixth fund now launched, Founders’ Co-op plans to keep looking for early-stage teams in the Pacific Northwest that can grow into market-leading companies. The goal is to support them early and help them reach a stage where they can attract later-stage investors from outside the region.
In practical terms, that means:
- A $50 million pool dedicated to early-stage startups in the Pacific Northwest
- Roughly 30 portfolio companies, each receiving up to $1.5 million as a first institutional cheque
- A focus on technical founding teams and complex problem spaces, without restricting the fund to a single technology trend
- Added support through the Foundations clubhouse and network in Seattle
For founders in the region, the sixth fund represents a clear, defined source of early capital paired with a local community platform, at a time when both money and human networks are being reshaped by changes in interest rates, workplace norms, and the rapid rise of AI.
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