About Initialized
Initialized is looking for founders working on hard problems. We invest across all sectors because we believe founders know best what the technologies and markets of the future will be. We’ve never been this excited about the pace of technological change and what it means for people obsessed with building things. What was hard to build is becoming trivial, and a huge number of products that were impossible are suddenly within reach for startups. The type of founder we work with is leaning into this moment, so if that sounds like you, we’d love to hear about what you’re working on.
Our History
Initialized is an early stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco. We were founded by Y Combinator partners (including current president and CEO, Garry Tan) to write follow on checks into the YC companies they were working with. In 2016 we became a standalone firm that makes larger investments into fewer companies but retains Y Combinator’s founder-centric ethos. We continue that strategy, leading pre-seed and seed investment rounds, working closely with the founders on their path to product market fit and a Series A.
How We Work
With Founders
Over the years we’ve had the privilege to work with many world class founders and our collective institutional knowledge from this informs not only how we invest but also how we advise companies. We run dedicated programs for the portfolio in talent and culture, communications and storytelling, and raising follow-on capital. But more than anything we pride ourselves on being dependable, supportive long term partners who have deep empathy and respect for how hard being a founder can be and what it takes to find product market fit and drive extreme growth.
