Work-Bench

ActiveVenture Capital

Updated: Dec 24, 2025 ·

About

Work-Bench is NYC's go-to seed fund for founders with enterprise ambitions, focusing on early-stage investments in enterprise, SaaS, and infrastructure software.

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Feb 5, 2026	Flock AI	$6.0M Seed	Work-Bench	beehiiv, January Ventures, Outlander VC, Red Bike Capital, The AI Furnace
Oct 1, 2025	Meolaa	$6.0M Seed	—	Album VC, Bain Capital Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Oyster Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Signal Peak Ventures, Soma Capital, Venture Highway, Immad Akhund, Michael Ma
Sep 1, 2025	Eve Security	$3.0M Seed	—	LiveOak Venture Partners, Nitay Joffe
Aug 1, 2025	Apreo Health	$130.0M Series B	—	Amzak Health Investors, Breakout Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Casey Tansey
Aug 1, 2025	Strand Therapeutics	$150.0M Series B	—	Decibel Partners, FPV Fund, Kinnevik, Mozilla Ventures, Northzone, Playground Global, RRE Ventures, Sands Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Tiger Global Management
Jul 1, 2025	TACEO	$6.0M Seed	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg
Jun 1, 2025	Cloudquery	$16.0M Venture Round	—	Boldstart Ventures, Partech Ventures, David Mytton
Jun 1, 2025	Castle	$1.0M Seed	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Boost VC, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Cyberstarts VC, Founders Fund, F-Prime Capital Partners, Index Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, The General Partnership, Trajectory Ventures, UpHonest Capital, Valar Ventures, Venture Guides, Winklevoss Capital, Y Combinator, Amos Elliston, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Charlie Songhurst, David Bettner, Jeff Arnold, Johan Lorenzen, John Collison, Mo El-Bibany, Nitay Joffe, Othman Laraki, Roger Ehrenberg
Jun 1, 2025	Octane	$5.0M Seed	—	500 Startups, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg
May 1, 2025	Prepared	$80.0M Series C	—	General Catalyst, Aaron Rankin (Sprout Social), Gokul Rajaram, Jeff Yoshimura, Spencer Kimball
Apr 1, 2025	Goodfire	$50.0M Series A	—	Builders, Juniper Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Apr 1, 2025	Aspora	$53.0M Series B	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Beat Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, DeNA, DST Global, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Global Founders Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Scrum Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Soma Capital, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Y Combinator, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Didier Valet, Gokul Rajaram, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg, Stefan Jeschonnek
Jan 1, 2025	DryRun Security	$9.0M Seed	—	Celesta, LiveOak Venture Partners, NextView Ventures, Redline Capital, Shay Banon
Dec 1, 2024	Prequel	$3.0M Seed	—	5Y Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Ballistic Ventures, Blu Venture Investors, Cisco Investments, General Catalyst, Granite Asia, Infinite Capital, Lytical Ventures, Paradigm, Pareto Holdings, Runa Capital, S28 Capital, Sierra Ventures, Soma Capital, Summit Partners, Tribe Capital, Arash Ferdowsi, Douglas Merritt, George Kurtz, Ravi Grover
Nov 1, 2024	VISO TRUST	$7.0M Venture Round	—	7GC & Co, Addition, Bain Capital Ventures, Ballistic Ventures, Blu Venture Investors, Cisco Investments, Citi Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Kima Ventures, Lytical Ventures, Motier Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, #SecretFund, Sierra Ventures, Soma Capital, SYN Ventures, Y Combinator, Douglas Merritt, George Kurtz, Matt Carbonara, Nitay Joffe, Pete Koomen, Ron Pragides
Nov 1, 2024	FinTe	$3.0M Seed	—	Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Project 11
Nov 1, 2024	Halcyon	$100.0M Series C	—	Bain Capital Ventures, Ballistic Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blu Venture Investors, Cisco Investments, Cyberstarts VC, Dell Technologies Capital, Evolution Equity Partners, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lytical Ventures, Next47, Glenn Solomon, Oren Yunger, Obvious Ventures, Passion Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sorenson Ventures, Storm Ventures, SYN Ventures, Team8, TechAviv Founder Partners, Ten Eleven Ventures, Ameet Patel, Assaf Rappaport, Douglas Merritt, George Kurtz, Sharin Fisher Dibrov, Yevgeny Dibrov, Zohar Zisapel
Nov 1, 2024	Neo Financial	$79.0M Series D	—	500 Global, Alumni Ventures, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Future Planet Capital, GoAhead Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Saga, Script Capital, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Cory Levy, Frederic Kerrest, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg, Roneil Rumburg
Oct 1, 2024	AirForestry	$9.0M Seed	—	Kinnevik, Northzone, RRE Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Walerud Ventures, Fredrik Jung Abbou
Oct 1, 2024	Coframe	$9.0M Seed	—	AI4ALL, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Artisanal Ventures, Benchmark, Builders, C2 Investment, First Round Capital, General Catalyst, Greylock, Crystal Huang, Juniper Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Notion Capital, Rebel Fund, Suli, Sunset Ventures, Unusual Ventures, Y Combinator, Akshay Kothari, Anil Dharni, Arash Ferdowsi, Assaf Rappaport, Dave Balter, Dylan Field, Furqan Rydhan, Gabriel Jarrosson, Hubert Thieblot, Humberto Ayres Pereira, James Beshara, Kulveer Taggar, Liu Jiang, Mario Götze, Ofir Ehrlich, Ralph Gootee, Sara Lannin, Thomas Dohmke, Tracy Young
Sep 1, 2024	LiveFlow	$14.0M Series A	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg
Aug 1, 2024	Goodfire	$7.0M Seed	—	Arrive, Builders, Aniq Kassam, Greylock, Juniper Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pear VC, Mav Li
Jul 1, 2024	Courier Health	$17.0M Series A	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg
Jul 1, 2024	Spring Health	$100.0M Series E	—	7wire Ventures, General Catalyst, Geodesic Capital, IDInvest Partners, Kinnevik, Northzone, Quadrille Capital, RRE Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Threshold Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Alexis Bonillo
Jun 1, 2024	authzed	$12.0M Series A	—	General Catalyst, Hustle Fund, Lerer Hippeau, Phenomen Ventures, Spark Capital, Venture Guides, Sahin Boydas, Tom Chapman

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Work-Bench.

Leadership Team

Key people at Work-Bench.

Deep Dive

Work-Bench is a New York City-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in enterprise software startups, particularly those building in AI, cybersecurity, developer tools, and infrastructure. Their mission centers on backing gritty, conviction-driven founders with enterprise ambitions, emphasizing go-to-market (GTM) strategies as a key competitive moat. The firm supports seed-stage companies with check sizes typically ranging from $2 million to $10 million and has a strong track record of investing in high-growth startups like Spring Health and Socure, both unicorns. Work-Bench plays a significant role in the NYC startup ecosystem by fostering a community rich with talent and enterprise customers, helping founders scale their businesses through deep operational support and connections to strategic enterprise clients[1][2][3].

Founded in 2013 by Jonathan Lehr and Jessica Lin, Work-Bench has evolved with a disciplined, thesis-driven investment approach that focuses on enterprise software startups in New York City. The firm has steadily grown its funds, recently raising $160 million for its fourth fund to continue backing seed-stage founders. This evolution reflects a commitment to staying focused on enterprise SaaS and infrastructure while adapting to emerging trends like AI and cybersecurity. Early traction came from building a strong local network and investing in companies that have since achieved significant valuations, reinforcing their reputation as NYC’s go-to seed fund for enterprise startups[1][2][4].

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focused exclusively on enterprise software startups at seed stage, with a disciplined, thesis-driven approach emphasizing GTM as a moat.
Network Strength: Deep connections within New York’s enterprise ecosystem, including Fortune 500 companies and fast-growth startups, providing founders with strategic customer access.
Track Record: Portfolio includes multiple unicorns such as Spring Health and Socure, demonstrating success in identifying and scaling high-potential enterprise companies.
Operating Support: Hands-on involvement from Day 1, offering founders operational guidance, customer introductions, and community-building resources tailored to enterprise startups[1][2][3].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Work-Bench rides the rising trend of enterprise software innovation, particularly in AI, cybersecurity, and developer tools, sectors experiencing rapid growth due to increasing digital transformation and security demands. The timing is favorable as enterprises seek advanced software solutions to improve efficiency and security, creating a robust market for startups in these areas. By concentrating on NYC, Work-Bench leverages the city’s unique blend of financial services, media, and technology companies, influencing the broader ecosystem by nurturing local talent and fostering enterprise innovation outside traditional tech hubs like Silicon Valley[1][2][4][5].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Work-Bench is poised to deepen its impact by continuing to invest in cutting-edge enterprise startups, especially those leveraging AI and cybersecurity advancements. The firm’s focus on GTM excellence and community-building will likely enhance its portfolio companies’ chances of scaling successfully. As enterprise software continues to evolve rapidly, Work-Bench’s disciplined approach and strong NYC network position it well to capitalize on emerging trends and maintain its influence as a leading seed investor in the enterprise space. Their continued success will likely reinforce New York City’s status as a major hub for enterprise innovation[1][2][3].

Sources

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focused exclusively on enterprise software startups at seed stage, with a disciplined, thesis-driven approach emphasizing GTM as a moat.
Network Strength: Deep connections within New York’s enterprise ecosystem, including Fortune 500 companies and fast-growth startups, providing founders with strategic customer access.
Track Record: Portfolio includes multiple unicorns such as Spring Health and Socure, demonstrating success in identifying and scaling high-potential enterprise companies.
Operating Support: Hands-on involvement from Day 1, offering founders operational guidance, customer introductions, and community-building resources tailored to enterprise startups[1][2][3].