Minda Brusse
Founding Partner at First Row Partners
Greater Seattle Area
Overview
Work Experience
Founding Partner
2019 - Current
We invest in software companies that tackle complexity to deliver data and software solutions that put the power of tech and equity in the hands of more individuals and emerging enterprises. We often look at API-first businesses, low or no code tools, and creator controlled media solutions. Stage: pre-seed
We invest in the future of how people earn and spend money. Born in Seattle and covering the West Coast.
Network Partner
2020
Focusing on the Pacific Northwest, I connect with founding teams at the earliest stages. 2048 Ventures is a high-conviction, earliest stage lead investor focused on science and technology based innovations.
2048 Ventures is a thesis-driven venture capital firm.
Scout
2021
LA's first seed fund, backing entrepreneurs developing cutting-edge frontier technologies to address the world's most pressing problems.
Lecturer
2022
Teaching two graduate-level, experiential-learning courses at the Foster School of Business: Angel Investing and Creative Destruction Lab - Seattle.
Board Observer
2022
Xemelgo is a Seattle-based startup that brings IoT and cloud technology to manufacturing.
Raised $5,987,449.00 from Puget Sound Venture Club.
Fund Manager, Accelerator Participant
2021 - 2021
Sutton Capital invests in deep tech and software
Co-Founder
2020 - 2021
Raised and distributed $3.3M to over 1,100 families in 10 months. Inspired by the immense needs felt by families in the pandemic, we came together to connect families in crisis with direct support of $1k each month for 3 months from a sponsor family. Within a few tweets, a team of entrepreneurial, tech and design talent came together to start The $1k Project. We use personal networks to directly match a family impacted by the pandemic with a family committed to giving them $1k for 3 months.
Fund Manager XVI, Investor
2019 - 2020
Responsible for establishing a fund entity, onboarding 35-40 angel investors & their investment dollars, and recruiting 50+ companies for a 10-week conference. Facilitated the 10-week weekly investor sessions and due diligence on six finalists. Our selected investments were Xemelgo and Trova Trip. I led both investments and negotiated both convertible notes. Total investment exceeded 400k, a near-record for SAC. Both companies have raised subsequent funding rounds.
Seattle Angel Conference is a program to build new Angel Investors in the local Seattle startup ecosystem.
Core Team, Investor
2018 - 2019
We are a group of active angel investors in Seattle who fund and mentor startups. Our mission is to foster an engaged, collaborative, and smart angel investor community and ensure that startup founders are well financed to succeed through exit. Our defining characteristic is our collaborative spirit. Grubstakes members are accessible to others, responsive to inquiry, and generous with their time. We help each other and the startups we fund. Startups that we invest in must have an ambitious vision and a realistic plan to get there. We have resources, experience, and the right attitude to partner with you for the long haul.
Grubstakes is a Seattle-based investment company that fund startup.
Chief Of Staff
2017 - 2018
The Storm app lets global consumers earn crypto rewards for shopping, redeeming offers, and playing games. As Chief of Staff, my role was to build our operations, team and culture to execute on our mission. Managed the budget and project of our office lease, buildout, and furnishings.
StormX is a Blockchain and micro-task company that provides crypto cashback.
Raised $32,175,000.00 from Optimista Capital, Chun-Kai (CK) Wang, Anthony Yoon, Ohana Northwest LLC, Plug and Play, Sean Kim, Zee Zheng, Chek Lim and Kosmos Ventures.