# Designer Fund

> Designer Fund is a San Francisco venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies and supports their product, brand, design hiring, and fundraising. Founded by Ben Blumenrose and Enrique Allen, it backs businesses using design to improve health, sustainability, and prosperity, with a portfolio including Stripe, Gusto, Notion, Linear, Framer, and Omada Health.

- **Founded:** 2012
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Ben Blumenrose (Co-founder and Managing Partner; previously known as Ben Blumenfeld), Enrique Allen (Co-founder and former Managing Partner; died in 2024)
- **Products:** Early-stage venture investment, Designer Fund Collective, Product, brand, and design-team support, Designer Fund Partnership, Mason-assisted investment application
- **Notable:** Announced a $40 million third fund in September 2022., Fund II brought disclosed funds under management to $43.5 million in 2019., Portfolio includes Stripe, Gusto, Notion, Linear, Framer, Netlify, and Omada Health.

## Products & services

- **Early-stage venture investment** — Capital for companies from pre-seed through Series A, paired with design support. Fund III announced a $500K-$1M investment range in 2022.
- **Designer Fund Collective** — Community of 300+ founders, advisors, and design leaders, with a private Slack workspace, resources, and events.
- **Product, brand, and design-team support** — Office hours, product-flow reviews, design-system and branding guidance, recruiting assistance, and mentorship.
- **Designer Fund Partnership** — Historical structured offer announced with Fund III: average $500K investment for 5%, design sessions, community membership, and development opportunities.
- **Mason-assisted investment application** — Open application reviewed by the team alongside an AI agent trained on its investment decisions; offers tailored applicant feedback.
- **AI in Design research** — Research co-produced with Foundation Capital, including surveys, interviews, and design-team case studies.
- **Bridge** — Historical professional development program connecting experienced designers with startup work and peer learning; free for individual designers in the 2016 account.

## Achievements

- Announced a $40 million third fund in September 2022.
- Fund II brought disclosed funds under management to $43.5 million in 2019.
- Portfolio includes Stripe, Gusto, Notion, Linear, Framer, Netlify, and Omada Health.
- Reported more than 60 portfolio companies and a combined portfolio value above $80 billion in 2022; this was not the firm’s own valuation or realized return.
- Co-produced a 2026 survey of more than 900 designers across more than 60 countries.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Published a case study on how Anthropic’s design team works as coding becomes faster.
- **2026-09** — Published a case study on how Stripe shares AI experiments and workflows.
- **2026-08** — Launched an open application reviewed by its team and AI agent Mason.
- **2026-05** — Released AI in Design 2026 with Foundation Capital.
- **2025-06** — Welcomed Jackie Berardo as Principal on the investment team.

## Links

- Website: https://designerfund.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/designer-fund/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/designerfund
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@designer-fund
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designerfund/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/DesignerFund

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/designer-fund
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-27