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About Ascend

Ascend is a pre-seed venture capital firm investing in both AI infrastructure and what we call SaaS 3.0: AI-native vertical software applications disrupting the b2b software status quo. 

Kirby Winfield, Founding General Partner; Associate Nate Bek; and Partner and Chief of Staff Jen Haller work to support portfolio founders on their journey from the idea stage to seed, series A, and beyond - connecting them with customers, talent, and Silicon Valley venture capital.

Preferred stage is pre-seed, preferred check $250-$750K, and we focus primarily on Seattle-area founders.

About Kirby

I’m Kirby Winfield, Founding General Partner. My CV is on LinkedIn.

If you want to know my story and why I do what I do the way I do it, this podcast uncovered some truths about me that I didn’t even realize. Prefer text? This interview covers the basics.

I was part of four exits out of four attempts as an operator.

2x IPO…but 2x acquihire too.

I raised venture capital twice and had to recap once.

I like helping entrepreneurs avoid the mistakes I made, and replicate the successful moves.

about jen

I’m Jen Haller, Partner and Chief of Staff. You can reach me at jen at ascend dot vc. I don’t always have the answers, but I know where to find them.

I’ve had the joy of growing some of Seattle’s coolest startups and most recently helped Ascend portfolio company Attunely scale through their Series A.

I earned my 15+ minutes of fame as the first person in the world to get the COVID-19 vaccine, I’ve fostered 20+ dogs, and have a long history of civic involvement from volunteering with social justice causes to political organizing. I’m also raising two extraordinary teenagers and in my spare time, enjoy finding ways to relax.

About Nate

I’m Nate Bek, Associate. You can reach me at nate at ascend dot vc. 

I most recently worked as a startups reporter at GeekWire, covering the newcomers in the Pacific Northwest tech scene. My journalism career took me down many rabbit holes, from pasta to pet care. 

I fell in love with entrepreneurship in college. I was CEO of Lucy's Lab Creamery, an ice cream parlor in Honolulu. Along with some friends, we experimented with flavors, teamed up with local restaurants, and even tried an online delivery platform during the pandemic. Spoiler: delivering ice cream in tropical heat is very hard. 

I was born and raised on the leeward coast of O‘ahu, HI, and graduated from UH Manoa.

About THomas

I’m Thomas Stahura, Analyst. You can reach me at thomas at ascend dot vc. 

I recently graduated from Purdue engineering, where I co-founded two AI startups: Quasi, a pre-ChatGPT AI content creation tool, and Pondr, an AI-powered product analytics platform.

My job at Ascend includes developing internal automation tools, performing technical diligence, and scouting new startups. I’ll also code alongside engineers, hacking together new projects and tools.

I grew up in Sammamish, just east of Seattle.