Ascend is a pre-seed venture capital firm investing in SaaS 3.0: (vertical AI agents and applications), Gen AI 2.0 ("fast followers" in horizontal AI/infrastructure), and Frontier AI (AI applied to the physical world's hardest problems). Kirby Winfield, Founding General Partner; Associate Nate Bek; and Partner and Chief of Staff Jen Haller work to support portfolio founders on their journey from the idea stage to seed, Series A, and beyond - connecting them with customers, talent, and Silicon Valley venture capital. Preferred stage is pre-seed, preferred check $250-$750K, and we focus primarily on Seattle-area founders.