Kate McAndrew

Co-Founder and General Partner

2022 - Current

Baukunst is a collective of creative technologists advancing the art of building companies at the frontiers of technology and design. We are independent minded and invest with conviction. We lead pre-seed rounds, typically investing $500k-$1.5M in pre-product, pre-revenue startups. I am particularly excited about investing in female founders and BIPOC founders. I spend most of my time looking at consumer opportunities and am tech stack agnostic (software, AI, marketplaces, hardware, CPG). I work with leaders who are excited to push the culture of company building forward. I believe capitalism can be abundant, not extractive, and seek founders who are building billion dollar businesses that seek to share value within their ecosystems equitably and serve Mother Earth with reverence. If you are seeking to make an existing system 10% more efficient, I am not the investor for you. If you are seeking to run an existing playbook, I am not the investor for you. If you believe the status of the dominant culture is just fine, I am not the investor for you. I do not invest in fintech or healthcare (although I will look at consumer health.

Pre-seed Lead Investor and Board Observer

2023

Video first marketplace for Gen Z & millennials to discover vintage and antique home furnishings

Pre-seed Lead Investor & Board Member

2023

Leveraging novel drilling technology to transform the residential geothermal market.

Pre-seed Lead Investor & Board Observer

2023

Bindery is a membership platform that lets book tastemakers become publishers. Together, we’re building a more diverse, equitable, and independent world of books.

Pre-seed Lead Investor and Board Observer

2018

Board Member

2019

Board Member

2019

Partner

2014 - 2022

Investing in people is my highest calling. Bolt is a first-check VC firm investing at the intersection of the digital and physical world. Bolt was a first round investor in Desktop Metal, Tonal, Nautilus Biotechnology, Bobbie Baby and many more. I joined Bolt in 2014 as its first investment professional in San Francisco. I am most interested in partnering with founders using technology to shift the cultural zeitgeist. On that journey, I have led pre-seed and seed rounds in companies focused on everything from personalized health, to infant formula, to the mobile metaverse. While Bolt does not have a diversity investment thesis, we have a strong track record of backing diverse founders at the helm of billion dollar opportunities. Our current Bolt fund is backing female founders at 4X industry average and BIPOC founders at 2X industry average. Previous titles: 2014-2016: Associate 2016-2018: Senior Associate 2018-2020: Principal

Program Director, The Iron Yard Ventures

2013 - 2014

The Iron Yard is a mentorship-driven startup accelerator providing education and early stage funding for Digital Health and Edtech startups. I started the digital health program and lead the first cohort, investing in and supporting ten early stage startups. Along the way, I built a co-working space, code school for kids, and ran the communities first Startup Weekend event. My work at The Iron Yard convinced me I should jump into the deep end of VC. I moved to San Francisco to pursue this dream, which I am currently living out.

AmeriCorps Service Member

2011 - 2012

I volunteered building homes with Habitat for Humanity through the AmeriCorps program at a rural affiliate in Pittsboro, North Carolina. AmeriCorps is a civil society program engaging adults in involved public service work with a goal of helping others and meeting critical needs in the community.