Seattle VC Profile: Katelyn Donnelly, Avalanche Venture Capital

When I started Ascend in 2019, I realized even though I was o-l-d OLD, I had more in common with the folks in town who were earlier in their professional investing journeys than the venerable VC’s I’d pitched as a founder. I admire and respect the new wave of Seattle/Pacific Northwest venture capitalists, and thought it would be fun to profile some of our region’s up and coming VC talents in these pages. —KW

Katelyn Donnelly is a terrific investor. Whenever I partner with her for diligence on a new opportunity, or to think through how to help a mutual portfolio company, I come away impressed with her clarity of thought and her intellectual honesty.

What made you decide to be a professional investor?

I’ve always been an investor. Even in high school, I invested in public equities and thought about building a portfolio. I wrote my senior thesis on time zone arbitrage trading strategies. Investing is the greatest strategic game on the planet. I started Avalanche VC because there are some trends that are obviously the future and I wanted to make bets behind those that I had a competitive advantage or unique insight. It’s a privilege to be able to work with talented founders at the earliest stages.

What did you do before becoming an investor and how does that benefit your founders?

I started my career at McKinsey and then founded the corporate venture arm of Pearson in 2012. I’ve been an investor for a long time and have a deep background in education - spanning early childhood to life long learning. I’ve also started a company (Delivery Associates) that was boot strapped, profitable, and still growing strong.

For founders, I bring a well-rounded background. I know what it’s like to be a builder, a capital allocator, and a market thinker. I can particularly help those in education because I have participated and published on those markets develop globally for over 10 years. On future of work, I’ve founded and scaled a global, remote-first company to over 100 FTEs so I intuitively understand the customer experience through first-person experience.

What are your most successful investments so far?

From my Pearson days, my most successful investments are chains of low cost, high quality school in emerging markets. Spark Schools and APEC Schools are the two big ones that I was the first significant lead investor in.

From the last couple years, a carbon negative hydrogen power company called Wabash Valley Resources.

My Avalanche investments are too early to tell.

Why should founders want you on their cap table?

I aim to be the best value per dollar. I’m honest, direct, straightforward, and always act in your best interest. I’ll bring the full force of my creativity, problem-solving, and network to every conversation.