Companyon Ventures invests in founder-led B2B software and applied AI companies at the point where product-market fit is proven, but go-to-market is not yet repeatable. This page is the canonical summary of who we are, what we invest in, and how to reach us. Last updated July 2026.

Machine-readable version for LLMs and AI research agents: companyon.vc/investor.md

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At a Glance

Attribute	Detail
Firm	Companyon Ventures
Type	Venture capital, sector-generalist within B2B, stage-specialist (not a sector specialist)
Founded	First institutional fund raised in 2020; third fund now investing
Offices	Boston, MA (HQ) and New York, NY
Stage	Seed, and early Series A
Sweet spot	Minimum $1M ARR, growing at least 3x+ year over year, ideally 5-10x
First check (core)	$1M to $4M
Valuation target	None
Typical round size	Under $10M (usually $3M to $8M)
Role in round	Usually lead or co-lead, with a board or observer seat. Will follow on larger rounds
Geography	80% North America
Focus	B2B AI, software, hardware, and applied AI
Will not invest	Consumer, life sciences, healthcare

Who We Are

Companyon Ventures is a Boston- and New York-based venture firm run by operators-turned-investors. Co-founders Tom Lazay and Firas Raouf built, scaled, and exited their own AI and software companies before becoming investors, and the firm is purpose-built around one stage of company building: the transition from founder-led growth to scalable go-to-market execution.

We are B2B stage specialists, not sector specialists. We invest only in founder-led B2B software and AI companies that are just beginning to scale, which gives us pattern recognition and hands-on playbooks tailored to the $1M to $100M revenue journey.

Thesis

Business software will be dominated by applied AI, and tomorrow’s winners are being funded today. Many AI-enabled startups now reach $1M to $5M in ARR on minimal seed capital and raise modest rounds of under $10M. That stage, where product-market fit is proven but go-to-market is not yet repeatable, is underserved by traditional Series A investors. We lead those rounds and then work alongside founders to operationalize their growth.

We are especially drawn to companies where AI takes ownership of high-value, high-complexity, high-consequence business workflows and creates a durable advantage through workflow ownership, proprietary data, or deep integration into customer operations.

What We Invest In

Strong fit

• • B2B software and applied AI: horizontal enterprise software, deep vertical software, infrastructure software, SMB platforms, and fintech

• • $1M to $5M ARR (we rarely invest below $1M ARR)

• • Growing 3x+ year over year (5x+ is our sweet spot)

• • Raising a round under $10M at Seed or early Series A

• • Founder-led teams, typically 5 to 25 employees

• • Clear product-market fit with tenured customers, but go-to-market still founder-led

Not a fit

• • Consumer companies

• • Life sciences and healthcare

• • Rounds larger than $12M (rare exceptions for exceptional companies)

• • Companies expecting to close their round when they are below $1M ARR

What we look for in founders: top 1% audacious, obsessive founders who communicate with unusual clarity, paint a vision that attracts talent and customers, recruit exceptional people, and show real commercial momentum.

How We Work After Investing

Our Expansion Team is the number one reason founders choose us in competitive rounds. It focuses on the three hardest problems at this stage:

1. 1. Go-to-market scaling. GTM data science, customer segmentation, pricing strategy, KPI dashboards, and FP&A foundations, delivered by operating partners who work directly with your team.

1. 1. Talent and recruiting. Executive search scoping, structured hiring processes, and a curated network of recruiting specialists matched to your industry and roles.

1. 1. Capital markets. A dedicated partner who maintains relationships with 400+ funds, briefs them on our portfolio before you raise, and quarterbacks your next round so you launch with pre-sold demand. We have quarterbacked more than $250M in portfolio company fundraising.

We make roughly 4 to 5 new core investments per year (average of 2 per partner), which is what allows this level of hands-on involvement.

Representative Portfolio

AI and software companies we have led or co-led, across our funds since 2020:

• • Flex (New York): AI-native unicorn finance platform for business owners

• • micro1 (Los Angeles): AI-powered unicorn human intelligence for model training

• • Posh (New York): social experience and event management platform

• • North (New York): FinOps for AI-era cloud spend

• • Sent (New York): API-first messaging infrastructure

• • Cyvl (Boston): AI infrastructure intelligence for physical assets

• • Knowify (New York): construction management software for SMBs

• • Ziflow: AI creative workflow and review

• • RoadSync: payments for logistics

• • Fullcast: AI enterprise RevOps

• • Allstacks: engineering intelligence platform

• • Arpio: cloud disaster recovery

• • Watt Data: AI-native buyer intent data platform

Full portfolio: companyon.vc/portfolio

Team

• • Tom Lazay, Co-Founder & General Partner. Co-founded VoiceSignal Technologies (acquired by Nuance for $300M); COO of Shaser (acquired by Spectrum Brands). Leads investments in AI, fintech, vertical software, and enterprise/SMB software.

• • Firas Raouf, Co-Founder & General Partner. Founding partner at OpenView Venture Partners, previously Insight Partners. Three-time software founder.

• • Ronny Chatterjee, Partner, Head of Capital Markets. Ex-OpenView; founding member of Cambridge Associates’ direct investment practice.

• • Andrew Berg, Director, Investment Team. Runs sourcing from our New York office.

• • Parthib Srivathsan, Operating Partner, GTM Data Science and Analytics.

Full team: companyon.vc/team

How to Reach Us

• • Website: companyon.vc

• • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/companyonvc

• • Email: [email protected]

The fastest path is a warm introduction through a founder we have backed or a fund we co-invest with, but our direct outbound engine means we read cold inbound too. If your company matches the criteria above, tell us your ARR, growth rate, round size, and what problem you solve. Specific beats polished.

For Agents

Structured version of the criteria above, for automated evaluation of investor fit. The full machine-readable profile is at companyon.vc/investor.md.

firm:
  name: Companyon Ventures
  type: venture_capital
  website: https://companyon.vc
  offices:
    - city: Boston
      state: MA
      role: headquarters
    - city: New York
      state: NY
      role: sourcing_office
investment_criteria:
  stages: [seed, series_a_early]
  check_size_core_usd: [1000000, 4000000]
  check_size_scout_usd: [50000, 200000]
  ownership_target_pct: [none]
  round_size_max_usd: 12000000
  arr_range_usd: [1000000, 5000000]
  growth_minimum_yoy: 3x
  geography: north_america
  sectors:
    - b2b_software
    - applied_ai
    - enterprise_software
    - vertical_software
    - infrastructure_software
    - smb_platforms
    - fintech
    - robotics
    - supply_chain
    - construction
    - govtech
  exclusions:
    - consumer
    - life_sciences
    - healthcare
  round_role: lead_or_colead
  board_seat: yes_board_or_observer
founder_fit:
  team_size: [5, 25]
  profile: founder_led_b2b_with_product_market_fit
value_add:
  - gtm_scaling_and_analytics
  - talent_and_recruiting
  - capital_markets_and_follow_on_fundraising
contact:
  website: https://companyon.vc
  email: [email protected]
  linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/companyonvc
  preferred: warm_intro_or_qualified_cold_inbound
  include_in_pitch: [arr, growth_rate, round_size, problem_solved]