Ascend (Ascend.vc) is a Seattle-based pre-seed venture capital fund founded by Kirby Winfield in 2019, investing in SaaS, AI/ML, data, and e-commerce software startups primarily in the Pacific Northwest. It is the most active pre-seed venture capital fund in the Pacific Northwest and raised $25 million for its second fund in 2023.
Deal activity increased 75% year-over-year (7 deals in the last 12 months). Average disclosed round size is $22.8M (across 44 rounds with reported amounts).
Portfolio
45
Fund Size
—
Top Stage
Seed
Last 12 Mo
7
Portfolio Breakdown
Stage Distribution
Sector Distribution
Investment Activity
DealsAvg Round Size
Portfolio
50 investments
| Company | Round | Amount | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 Overland AI | Series D | $100M | Feb 2026 |
 Endurance Energy | Series A | $54M | Jan 2026 |
 Govstream | Seed | $3.6M | Dec 2025 |
| GGovstream.ai | Seed | $3.6M | Dec 2025 |
 Pionix | Seed | — | Nov 2025 |
 Hearvana | Pre-Seed | $6M | Nov 2025 |
 Hest | Seed | — | Oct 2025 |
 Revolute Robotics | Unknown | $1.9M | Oct 2025 |
 Clarify | Series A | $22.5M | Jun 2025 |
| Overland AI | Series A | — | Jan 2025 |
 Neon Health | Unknown | $6M | Jan 2025 |
| OOumi Ai | Seed | $10M | Jan 2025 |
| LLeap Financial | Seed | $3.5M | Dec 2024 |
 Moondream | Pre-Seed | $4.5M | Oct 2024 |
 Velou | Seed | $4M | Jan 2024 |
 Candidate | Pre-Seed | $4M | Oct 2023 |
 Bean Box | Unknown | $1.2M | Sep 2023 |
| Ppiur imaging | Series A | — | Jul 2023 |
 Groundlight, Inc. | Seed | $10M | Apr 2023 |
| GGroundlight AI | Seed | $10M | Apr 2023 |
 Xembly | Series A | $15M | Oct 2022 |
 Yoodli | Seed | $6M | Aug 2022 |
 Elation Health | Series D | $50M | Jul 2022 |
 SafeDigit | Pre-Seed | $1.2M | Jul 2022 |
| Xembly | Series A | $15M | Jan 2022 |
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Top Co-Investors
Madrona Venture Group8 shared
Redpoint Ventures4 shared
Shasta Ventures4 shared
Point72 Private Investments4 shared
Greycroft4 shared
Plug and Play Tech Center4 shared
Norwest Venture Partners3 shared
8VC3 shared
Ascend Venture Capital3 shared
Overmatch Ventures3 shared
XYZ Venture Capital3 shared
Flying Fish3 shared
Techstars3 shared
Gradient Ventures3 shared
Fika Ventures3 shared
Recall Capital3 shared
Founders' Co-op3 shared
Seven Peaks Ventures2 shared
Lightspeed Venture Partners2 shared
StepStone Group2 shared
Last updated: 7 October 2026