About ASCEND
ASCEND is a venture capital firm founded in 2019. It is primarily based out of Seattle, United States. As of Jun 2026, ASCEND is an active investor, having invested in 65 companies, with 6 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Seed round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to High Tech and Retail. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of Endurance Energy Overall, ASCEND portfolio has seen 6 acquisitions including key companies like Why Labs, Spiral and Included. A lot of funds co-invest with ASCEND, with names like Madrona sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. ASCEND has team of 12 people including 8 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series A & 2 more
Portfolio Soonicorns
Deals in last 12 months
ASCEND's List of Top Investments
ASCEND has a portfolio of 65 companies. Their most notable investments are in Groopit and Meetingflow.Their portfolio spans across United States, Canada, Israel and 1 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Retail and 21 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 2 more. Here is the list of top investments by ASCEND:
1. Overland
Provider of AI-enabled self-driving delivery vehicles for off-road. The company develops off-road autonomous vehicles for terrain addresses and for labor shortages. It is used for diverse vegetation, uneven surfaces, changing terrain, and other obstacles.
Key facts about Overland
- Founded Year: 2022
- Location: Seattle (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $132M
- Employee Count: 125 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Shasta Ventures, TriplePoint Capital and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Venture Debt, Feb 03, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Wrench
App-based platform to book on-demand auto maintenance & repair services. It offers solutions via a fleet of mobile mechanics. Offers a range of services such as oil change, engine inspection, product installation, and brake repairs, among others. The mobile application is available for Android & iOS devices.
Key facts about Wrench
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: Seattle (United States)
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $77.2M
- Employee Count: 111 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Tenaya Capital, Vulcan Capital and 7 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Aug 07, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Vouched
Provider of identity verification solutions for multiple industries and AI agents. The company delivers identity verification, fraud detection, data verification, and compliance. It offers tools for healthcare, financial services, automotive, real estate, and hospitality sectors. The company provides application programming interfaces, software development kits, and JavaScript plug-ins.
Key facts about Vouched
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: Seattle (United States)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $30.9M
- Employee Count: 56 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: SpringRock Ventures, SK Ventures and 14 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Sep 04, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Why Labs
Provider of an AI analysis platform for ML models. Enables users to monitor raw structured or unstructured data, and features real-time actionable insights, data predictions, and actuals. Allows users to observe, analyze and explain model behavior through the user-friendly interface.
Key facts about Why Labs
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: Seattle (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $14M
- Employee Count: 54 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Bezos Expeditions, Defy and 5 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Nov 04, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Provider of EV battery health analytics and decision tools for vehicles. Collects and analyzes real-world driving and charging data from connected electric cars to estimate current and future battery performance. Gives shoppers model-level and vehicle-specific battery scores, range projections, and degradation insights to support confident new and used EV purchases. Helps owners track battery health over time and receive guidance on usage, charging, and resale timing. Equips dealerships with reports, valuation signals, and retailing tools tailored to electric vehicles so they can price, acquire, and sell EV inventory.
Key facts about Recurrent Auto
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Seattle (United States)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $24M
- Employee Count: 32 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Prelude Ventures, Goodyear Ventures and 15 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Jan 08, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
ASCEND's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
ASCEND has invested in 65 companies over the last 7 years, with an average of 6 new investments annually in the last 5 years. In 2025, it made 6 investments, while as of Jun 2026, it has made 2 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Endurance Energy and most recent follow-on round was in Overland.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2025 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
2024 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
2023 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
2022 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
2021 | 10 | 2 | 12 |
2020 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
ASCEND's Investments by Stage
ASCEND has made 33 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $4.06M, 6 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $16.3M, 1 investment in Convertible Debt stage with an average round size of $500K and 1 investment in Series B stage with an average round size of $100M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 33 |
Series A | 6 |
Convertible Debt | 1 |
Series B | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
ASCEND's Investments by Sector
ASCEND has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, High Tech, FinTech, Consumer and Retail. Notably, it has invested in 56 Tech companies, 48 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 44 Software companies and at least 27 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 27 |
High Tech | 13 |
FinTech | 7 |
Consumer | 6 |
Retail | 6 |
Others | 38 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
ASCEND's Investments by Geography
ASCEND has made most investments in United States (39), followed by Canada where it has made 2 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 39 |
Canada | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
ASCEND's recent investments
ASCEND has made 2 investments in 2026 so far - Endurance Energy and Stitcher.Here are the most recent investments by ASCEND:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 11, 2026 | United States | Series A | 3053 | [+6] | |
May 19, 2026 | United States | Seed | 2881 | [+1] | |
Nov 18, 2025 | United States | Seed | 8596 | ||
Nov 05, 2025 | United States | Seed | 6167 | [+7] | |
Oct 10, 2025 | United States | Seed | 6409 |
Acquired companies in ASCEND's Portfolio
6 companies from ASCEND's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Keyplay in Apr 2026 by Inflection for $*****.Here are ASCEND's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 08, 2026 | Dec 07, 2022 | Seed | 4151 | |
Jan 14, 2026 | Nov 16, 2021 | Seed | 4733 | |
Nov 18, 2025 | Dec 20, 2019 | Seed | 7282 | |
Jan 24, 2025 | Sep 23, 2020 | Seed | 2160 | |
Mar 06, 2023 | Sep 15, 2021 | Seed | 8733 |
Team profile of ASCEND
ASCEND has a team of 12 members including 8 Partners. ASCEND's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in ASCEND:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - | |
Partner | - | - | - |
Co-investors of ASCEND
Over the past 7 years, 214 investors have co-invested in ASCEND's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before ASCEND: Techstars, Y Combinator and 20 others have invested in rounds before ASCEND. There are 2 companies where Techstars has invested before ASCEND and 2 companies where Y Combinator has invested before ASCEND.
- Top Co-investors of ASCEND: 154 investors entered a company along with ASCEND. These include investors like Madrona (5 companies).
- Invested after ASCEND: A total of 38 investors have invested in ASCEND's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Hearst (2 companies), Alumni Ventures (2 companies) and 8VC (1 company).
Recent News related to ASCEND
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StitcherAI Emerges from Stealth with $3 Million Pre-Seed FundingFinTech Futures•May 19, 2026•Stitcher, Founders' Co-op, ASCEND, Plug and Play Tech Center
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US AI-powered software platform Clarify nets $22.5m total fundingTech in Asia•Jun 26, 2025•Clarify.ai, USVP, Gradient Ventures, Madrona and 4 others
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Leading Credit Unions Fund ModernFi CUSO to Drive Deposit Growth via the First Credit Union Deposit NetworkBusiness Wire•Nov 19, 2024•Modern Finance, Airbnb, ASCEND, Onevc and 4 others
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Moondream raises $4.5M to prove that smaller AI models can still pack a punchVentureBeat•Oct 28, 2024•Moondream, Felicis Ventures, M12, ASCEND
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Former Techstars Seattle Leader, Ridwell Co-founder Raise $4m For Stealthy New Ai StartupGeekWire•Jul 29, 2024•Ludlow Ventures, Four Acres, ASCEND, Breakers and 9 others
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Velou Raises $4M in Seed FundingFinSMEs•Mar 11, 2024•Velou, Animo, ASCEND, First Sentier Investors and 3 others
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