Our Philosophy
Backing extraordinary research led startups from day zero and beyond
Backing extraordinary research led startups from day zero and beyond
We Get Involved Early
Idea, pre-seed, seed? We work with you early and don't care what your round is called.
Tailored Support for Each Founder
We don't believe one size fits all founders, and find specific ways to support you.
We're Partners in Your Journey
As UW alumni, investors and operators, we connect you to the people who can support your journey.
We Open The Right Doors
We don't need warm intros or a lead investor. We get involved early and introduce you to the right people.
Our Approach
We've built Pack VC from day one as a community-focused fund.
We believe in the founders building the future, not hyped market trends. We invest across all verticals, but below are some areas we're particularly excited about. If you're working on any of these, we'd love to talk to you.
Investment Thesis
Areas We're Especially Excited About
While we invest across all sectors, these technology frontiers particularly excite us for their potential to create category-defining companies.
Intelligence Everywhere
Transforming every industry through AI integration
We want to see technologies that embed AI and smart systems into everyday processes, revolutionizing work, play, and fundamentally transforming our interaction with the world around us.
Convergence of AI + Biology
Creating the next generation of healthcare and life science breakthroughs
We're excited about startups at the intersection of AI and biotech, revolutionizing drug discovery, personalized medicine, and synthetic biology.
Autonomous Systems & Robotics
Reimagining physical work and operational efficiency
We want to see innovations in robotics and autonomous systems that streamline operations, improve safety, and redefine human-machine collaboration.
Evolving Compute Layer and Photonics
Building the infrastructure for tomorrow's computational challenges
We want to see companies working on next-generation computing architectures and photonics technologies that overcome current computational limits.
Founders' FAQs
Answers to some common questions
Do we have to have a connection to the University of Washington?
Pack invests in startups with key contributors from the UW or the ability to partner with UW researchers, labs and departments deeply.
Some are spinouts from campus, some are founded by students, alumni, faculty, or staff, others with investors or advisors connected to UW, and some come from anywhere in the world but have a specific opportunity to accelerate with UW as a partner.
We focus on our amazing community to support the ecosystem and its founders. If you fit the criteria, we'd love to talk to you! If you're not sure you fit, talk to us and we'll figure it out together!
When should I pitch you?
It's never too early to come and talk to us. At the earliest stages, we can help you with brainstorming or customer discovery. We can maybe introduce you to a potential customer or co-founder, or help you figure out the right milestones to get started. Even if you're not ready for an investment yet, you can put us to work - we're part of the community, and here to help.
Where do you invest?
We invest in great companies anywhere in the US.
When and how much do you invest?
We ideally want to be part of your first institutional round - typically before product-market fit, but with some early signals of traction. We invest anywhere from $100k to $500k, depending on the best fit for yoru company.
We sometimes invest in seed, pre-A, and even A rounds.
We also love supporting founders at their earliest stages, so even if you are at the idea stage, let's chat about your idea.
Do you lead rounds?
We want to be a meaningful investor in your earliest rounds -- sometimes that means leading, and sometimes that means introducing you to the right lead.
We have reserves to participate in subsequent rounds of investment. We want to support the founders we back through the lifecycle of the company.
What types of companies do you invest in?
We are generalist investors with experience operating in multiple verticals.
We invest broadly across software, healthcare, and life sciences companies.
What don't you invest in?
We don't invest in companies outside our fund's core strategy. This includes companies that are series B and beyond (we occasionally participate in series A's), lifestyle businesses like family restaurants, art projects, or brick and mortar SMBs.
We've been pitched to invest in an incredible mountain resort town, but unfortunately had to decline.
If you are a later-stage founder, we'd love to reconnect when you work on your next idea!
What's your process?
We know that you want to get back to building your company, so we move fast on making a decision.
Each company is unique, so we try to lay out a clear timeline when we first meet with you.
Ready to build something extraordinary?
Get In Touch