FUSE Research
Investment Thesis
FUSE is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 by Cameron Borumand, Kellan Carter, and Brendan Wales, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Its stated philosophy is 'Bet the Founder, Win the Future' -- the firm invests early in exceptional founders before obvious market validation, prioritizing founder quality over rigid category focus. FUSE positions itself as 'the first to believe -- before the sales, the writeups, and the crowds waving their checks,' emphasizing a network of 300+ elite operators, executives, and founders that it makes available to portfolio companies for hiring, customer introductions, and operational support.
Sector Focus
FUSE invests across a deliberately broad set of categories rather than a single vertical:
- Enterprise and vertical software
- Artificial intelligence and applied AI
- Space and the hardware-software intersection
- Embodied AI and robotics
- Healthcare and HealthTech
- Logistics and supply chain
- Fintech and cybersecurity
In 2025 the firm layered on a dedicated space-focused investment program, writing smaller pre-seed checks (around $1M) into early space ventures, with the CEOs of portfolio companies Quindar and Lumen Orbit (now Starcloud) serving as scouts to source founders and ideas.
Stage Focus
FUSE leads Seed and Series A rounds, with a newer pre-seed motion specifically for its space program. It has historically emphasized being the first institutional check into Pacific Northwest founders, though its portfolio has expanded well beyond the region as the firm has scaled.
Check Size
Typical investment range is $1M-$10M for core Seed/Series A leads, with the space program writing smaller ~$1M pre-seed checks.
Lead Tendency
FUSE leads rounds. Public reporting explicitly describes the firm as leading Seed and Series A investments, and Kellan Carter has taken board seats or observer roles across multiple portfolio companies (e.g., Avante, Owl, Zuper, Pictory, Freightmate, and most recently Thira).
Recent Activity
FUSE raised $170M for its debut fund and closed an oversubscribed $250M second fund in September 2023, bringing total committed capital to more than $420M. The firm remains an active investor: as of February 2026 it had backed 45 companies, including 6 new investments in the trailing 12 months. Most recently, FUSE participated in Thira's $21M seed round (led by Madrona, announced July 14, 2026), with Kellan Carter joining as a board observer; Thira was founded by Apptio co-founders Sunny Gupta and Kurt Shintaffer. FUSE was also an early backer of Lumen Orbit (rebranded Starcloud), joining its $11M seed round led by NFX in December 2024 to build space-based data centers for AI compute.
Portfolio Highlights
FUSE's portfolio spans more than 40 companies, including Carbon Robotics (AI-powered agricultural laser weeding, which went on to raise a $30M Series C led by Sozo Ventures), Starcloud (space-based data centers), Quindar (space operations software), Griptape (AI agent infrastructure), Zuper (field service management), Pictory (AI video creation), WellSaid Labs (AI voice/text-to-speech), Visualping (web-page change monitoring), Trustle (access management/security), Xemelgo (supply chain IoT), Gallabox (WhatsApp business messaging), Operto (hospitality automation), Strac (data security/DLP), and Roboto (robotics data infrastructure), among many others across enterprise software, fintech, healthtech, and logistics.
Team
- Cameron Borumand, General Partner -- former Principal at Ignition Partners and technology investment banker; University of Washington graduate.
- Kellan Carter, General Partner -- former Partner at Ignition Partners, led early investments in Icertis and Symend; serves on multiple portfolio boards.
- Brendan Wales, General Partner -- former Partner at Headline, led early investments in Fetch Rewards, Bitwarden, Shopmonkey, and Shipt; focuses on space and hardware-software intersections.
- Zane Khatib, Principal -- previously helped launch Lenora Capital, the investment arm of Brighton Jones.
- Brooke Borseth, Senior Associate -- former investor at Moneta Ventures.
- Samarth Gandhi, Analyst -- based in NYC, previously in technology investment banking in San Francisco.
- Emily Harrison, Platform Lead -- previously held product and go-to-market roles at early-stage startups.
- John Connors, Operating Partner -- Managing Partner at Ignition Partners since 2005; 16 years at Microsoft including Corporate Controller, CIO, VP Worldwide Enterprise Sales, and CFO.
- Satbir Khanuja, Operating Partner -- former CEO of DataSphere and Amazon executive.
- Bobby Wagner, Operating Partner -- NFL All-Pro linebacker and Super Bowl champion.
- Ryan Baker, CFO -- CFO since FUSE's founding; also CFO/Administrative Partner for Ignition Partners.
- Carmen Ballagan, Office Manager -- former program manager at Costco, Trimble, and Nike.
Decision Process
Three-GP partnership structure (Borumand, Carter, Wales), supported by a bench of principals, associates, and operating partners drawn heavily from the Ignition Partners network.
Founder Preferences
FUSE emphasizes backing exceptional founders early, often before clear market validation, and leans on its operator network (300+ executives and founders) to help with hiring, GTM, and follow-on fundraising rather than purely financial support.
Geographic Focus
Founded with a Pacific Northwest focus (Seattle/Bellevue roots and deep ties to the Ignition Partners alumni network), FUSE has since backed companies broadly across the US, including dedicated programs (space) that source founders nationally.