2021 Reflection
FUSE's mission is to be the most active early-stage partner and supporter to the
Pacific Northwest entrepreneur community – we are all about you. As part of our mission to be more about you, and with our inaugural $170m Fund, we are honored to share FUSE's 2021 developments.
As we entered 2021, we were in the thick of it all – fundraising, constructing the
beginning of our portfolio, and building our foundational team. We began the
year having partnered with two companies and bringing on a promising Associate
in Sara Lindquist that joined us in early January.
Fast forward 12 months, we could not be more excited by the developments here at
FUSE. We added our 3rd Founding Partner in Brendan Wales (result of a six-year courtship!) and built a product that entrepreneurs in this ecosystem deserve: unparalleled speed and resources to help founders accelerate and actualize their vision.
We believed in and partnered with 14 new founding teams in 2021: We partnered with six companies at the early seed stage and eight at the Seed / Series A stage. It is our continued duty to serve the teams that have chosen FUSE as their partner. We’ve made 17 investments since the launch of FUSE. Check them out on the portfolio page of the website.
We are believers in the PNW: The PNW is the most important technology
ecosystem in the world.
The data: for every tech worker that the PNW lost in 2020, the PNW also gained 2.2 tech workers. This is by far and away superior to the Bay Area, which gained 0.9 tech workers for every tech worker it lost – i.e. a net departure from Silicon Valley.
With technology goliaths such as Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google Cloud all being built in Seattle, this region continues to attract global AI/ML talent.
We fundamentally believe that data, AI and machine learning will augment every industry and every job in the world.
Therefore, Seattle and the broader PNW is poised to make a substantial impact in one of the most significant technology shifts of our lifetime.
We are believers in community: They say there is something in the water here in the PNW; it is home to some of the most important companies in the world. We believe the secret sauce in the PNW is the power of the community. We are blessed to have formed a unique LP community of business and technology leaders that help FUSE raise the bar and are an incredible resource for the entrepreneurs we partner with.
Looking Forward
2021 was a momentous year for FUSE and our portfolio community, and it sets the stage for an exciting 2022. Already in the first few weeks our new associate, Seattle community standout Zane Khatib, has started his new role and we’ve closed on our 17th investment.
The PNW will continue to see more and more relentless, remarkable entrepreneurs solving unique problems across every role and industry. We at FUSE will continue to serve the entrepreneur with the support and resources they deserve. If you are looking to embark on your new journey, please come talk to us.
We are honored by the companies that have chosen FUSE as their partner and are grateful to our Limited Partners that have enabled us to do so.
To all of you, thank you.
The FUSE Team