Events

Designer Fund is hosting its first in-person event in San Francisco in more than two years! Come for good food, connections, and conversation.

Stop by SPARK Social on Wednesday, May 11 from 5:30-8:30pm PST to casually meet other designers in our community, learn about what's new at Designer Fund, and try out a new food truck or two.

Space is limited so RSVP now (we're still in a pandemic and don't want the bus to be too packed!)

Designer Fund invests between $100K - $1M in tech startups that are design leaders including Stripe, Gusto, and Omada Health. Designer Fund specializes in helping design products and scale design teams through their community of designers from companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Airbnb, Pinterest, and Dropbox.

Designer Fund SF Community Hangout

Designer Fund is hosting a meetup in Denver! Come for the brews, connections, and good conversation. 

Meet us at Long Table Brewhouse on Thursday, June 23 between 4-7pm to casually meet other designers in our community and learn about what's new at Designer Fund. Space is limited so please RSVP soon.

​Designer Fund invests between $100K - $1M in tech startups that are design leaders including Stripe, Gusto, and Omada Health. Designer Fund specializes in helping design products and scale design teams through their community of designers from companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Airbnb, Pinterest, and Dropbox.

Designer Fund Denver Meetup

Join the Designer Fund Collective kickoff event on Thursday, July 7! By attending this virtual meetup on Gatheround, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about our vision, get oriented, and connect 1:1 with other members. See you there! 👋

Designer Fund Collective Kickoff Event

Designer Fund and Air are hosting a rooftop design meetup in New York City! Come for drinks, connections, and conversation. Join us on Thursday, July 21 between 5-8pm to casually meet other designers in the community and learn about what's new at Designer Fund and Air. Space is limited so please RSVP soon.

 invests between $100K - $1M in tech startups that are design leaders including Stripe, Gusto, and Omada Health. Designer Fund specializes in helping design products and scale design teams through their community of designers from companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Airbnb, Pinterest, and Dropbox.

 is the Creative Ops System for Marketers. Our product automates the mindless tasks that marketers do every day to manage visual content. Air unblocks creative work through image recognition-powered search, automated versioning, and approval workflows.

Designer Fund NYC Meetup

A startup’s first design hire plays a foundational role, striking the precarious balance between executing on the day-to-day design work and building a design practice from the ground up. So what does it take to excel as a first designer, and what type of person is best suited for the task? In this conversation—moderated by Tara Kelly, author of 

we're bringing together three founding designers to learn about their journeys, lessons learned along the way, and tactical tips for succeeding as an early design hire.

, an online place for kids to find learning communities based on their interests. I’m currently based in New York and I enjoy playing saxophone and all things related to fashion.

, a financial wellness company where I lead our design efforts and work on our product. Outside of work, I work on music under the name Cordio and am a huge fan of traveling, plants, animals, Pokémon, and food!

, leading efforts across the business in growth, product, research, and marketing. Having spent a lot of my time in Fintech, I’m passionate about using data to create delightful and intuitive designs that democratize and modernize antiquated, inaccessible industries.

For over a decade, I worked as a designer in the startup world. I’ve made a career of being the first designer hired, then building up a team from scratch. So I wrote a book about it. I enjoyed writing so much that I've taken a hiatus from employment to explore publishing. I've since written multiple children's books under the pen name Kelly Tills.

Demystifying the Founding Designer Role

Building a strong design team at a company’s earliest stages is no simple task. In our upcoming event, learn about the nuts and bolts of constructing your startup's design org from the ground up—including laying the foundation for future hires, choosing the optimal organizational structure, and hiring the right people (at the right time).

. She considers herself a product person with a design background and is passionate about problem solving, product strategy and coaching product leaders in both.

, where he leads a growing team of designers. He’s focused on providing rituals, processes and focus to his team so that they feel empowered to do their best work.

, where he’s built and scaled the company from $100MM to $3.2B. Previously, he was at companies like Thumbtack, Palantir and Mode.

Growing Your Design Team From 0 to 1

Join Designer Fund's managing partners Enrique Allen and Ben Blumenrose at our virtual office hours session dedicated to answering any questions you might have about Designer Fund Partnership, including the application, timeline, and our investment decision-making process.

Designer Fund Partnership is the best investment and design support offer for early stage startups. It includes an average investment of $500K, monthly design help to hire and manage exceptional design teams, expert product and brand design advice, and professional development alongside our community of top designers. Applications for Designer Fund Partnership are due October 31st, 2022. 

Designer Fund Partnership Office Hours

As a continuation of our recent conversation on building startup design teams from the ground up, we’re now turning our attention to 

 from onboarding new designers to carving out career paths to building a thriving design culture. In our upcoming event, hear from three experienced design leaders about their path into management and their advice on leading design teams, particularly as a first-time manager.

As a product design leader and manager, Carly has spent over a decade helping companies focus on a seamless user experience with beautiful and intuitive design. She has worked with clients such as Jon Bon Jovi, America’s Cup, Fillmore Merchants' Association and more. She is currently a senior design manager at Instagram. Prior to that she led the UX team for Hipmunk where design and user experience is a core focus of the company. Carly began her career as a high school art teacher and finds design leadership to be a perfect intersection of her two major passions: solving real problems through human centered design and supporting the growth individuals on her team.

, Director of Product Design at All Turtles:

 Catt is a product design leader, game maker, and developer. She is currently the Director of Product Design at All Turtles. Catt has done design work for companies of all sizes including Asana, Etsy, SoundCloud, and Nasdaq. She started programming interactive games around the age of 10 and has been going ever since. In her spare time, Catt makes awkward video games, writes, and draws artwork of all kinds. You can view her work at 

Jacob has over 15 years of experience across a wide range of design practices, shipping products, and leadership. Currently, he is the Chief Product Officer at Mento, a career coaching and development platform, overseeing product, design, and engineering. Before joining Mento, he scaled and led design organizations at Tally, Remix, and held multiple leadership roles at Google.

Managing Design Teams From 0 to 1

The vast majority of software today is built in 2D. But the world we live in isn’t flat—it’s spatial and three-dimensional by nature. Why should designers care about 3D design, and how might designers apply it to their career and work? In this event, we’ll explore the opportunities that exist (even beyond gaming and animation) to delight users and solve real-world problems through spatial computing, and share practical ways for designers to get started in 3D design.

We’ll also hear from Bezel’s co-founders Cecilia Uhr and Julian Park in a fireside chat with Designer Fund’s Ben Blumenrose on lessons learned during their first year of building a startup, advice for aspiring designer-founders, and more.

Why Designers Should Care About 3D Design

Designer Fund is hosting a meetup in New York City for designers and founders in our portfolio and community! Join us for drinks, connections, and conversation with fellow community members. Space is limited so please RSVP as soon as you can.

​​​​📍 Lower East Side (exact location provided after registration)

NYC Designer Fund Meetup

We're hosting a meetup for designers and founders based in the Denver metropolitan area! Join us for coffee and pastries and get to know fellow Designer Fund Collective members at Corvus Coffee’s Broadway location.

 invests between $100K - $1M in tech startups that are design leaders including Stripe, Gusto, and Omada Health. Designer Fund specializes in helping design products and scale design teams through their community of some of the best founders, design leaderes, angels, and advisors in tech. 

Designer Fund Collective Denver Meetup

Join Designer Fund, Slope, and M13 for a design-focused meetup during LA Tech Week. Connect with fellow designers, founders, and investors while enjoying coffee and pastries.

 is a design and venture partner investing in early-stage tech companies that use design to improve health, sustainability, and prosperity for all people.

 is an end-to-end creative agency focused on working with high-growth technology startups. We are former YC + venture-backed founders with deep expertise across design and marketing. We’ve worked with hundreds of startups backed by venture firms like Y Combinator, a16z, Accel, Sequoia, and Lightspeed.

 is an early-stage consumer tech venture capital firm that provides founding teams with the necessary capital, expertise, and resources to build and scale a business.

Space is limited—the specific address will be shared with confirmed attendees closer to the event date. This event is a part of

 - a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem

LA #TechWeek Design Brunch

Join NEA and Designer Fund for an evening with fellow designers, founders, and technologists at the intersection of design and AI. We'll hear from founders building innovative AI-driven tools and explore how AI is transforming the way we design products. We’ll also have plenty of time reserved for connection, hors d'oeuvres, and drinks.

 is a global venture capital firm with a mission to make the world better by helping founders build great companies that improve the way we live, work and play.

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Design & AI: An Evening with NEA and Designer Fund

It can be tough to navigate the challenges that come with being the first or only designer at a startup. That's where DFC learning circles come in! These gatherings provide a space for designers to connect with others in similar positions. You can candidly share the challenges you're experiencing, get feedback, and exchange advice on everything from prioritization and defining what design means at your company, to career development and hiring.

The goal is to create a group of trusted friends that you can turn to for support as you grow your company's design function.

, a platform built for meaningful connection ✨

DFC Founding & Solo Designers Learning Circle

Join Designer Fund's managing partners Enrique Allen and Ben Blumenrose for a virtual office hours session dedicated to answering any questions you have about 

, including what we're looking for in founders, best practices for a great application, and our decision-making process and timeline.

Designer Fund Partnership is the best $500K investment and design support offer for early stage startups. We help you hire and manage exceptional design teams, provide expert product and brand design advice, accelerate your fundraising process, and connect you to our community of top designers, founders, and advisors. Applications are due September 22, 2023.

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Designer Fund Partnership: Office Hours

Designing Effective Pitch Decks: Best Practices from Top Founders and VCs

If you’re an early stage founder looking to land VC funding, one of the smartest investments you can make is to build a stellar pitch deck—but what’s the best way to design one? In this event, we’ll dive into the key elements that make a successful pitch, share tips and hot takes from top investors, and showcase real decks used by companies like Framer, Netlify, and Forma to secure funding.