Community Newsletter #45
The latest news and events from your friends at Graham & Walker
🔥 What’s New?
Please welcome Graham & Walker’s brand new Chief of Staff, Ryan Hughes!
Applications are open for New York Founder Day on May 12th! Join us on the journey—early-stage builders, this is your chance to learn, grow, and connect with the right people.
Next virtual fireside: Let’s talk climate investing with Josh Felser, GP at Climactic on May 6th.
New Investment Spotlight: Skylight
Latest Funding Report: See which startups recently secured capital
ICYMI: Leslie Feinzaig’s latest Substack breaks down how AI is making it possible for founders to raise less, scale faster, and hold onto more ownership. Read more here.
Upcoming Events
New York Founder Day – May 12th
Join us for a power-packed day featuring top founders, investors, and experts.
What to expect:
AI & Scaling Panel: Discover how early-stage startups can leverage AI to operate like a larger team while staying lean. Learn from experts who will cut through the noise and share practical tools you can start using today.
Investor Panel: Get insights from NYC’s top VCs, Heather Hartnett (General Partner, Human Ventures), Bradley Tusk (Managing Partner, Tusk Ventures) , Cassie Young (General Partner, Primary Venture Partners). Moderated by Julie Griggs, co-founder & CEO of Fourplay Social.
Fireside Chat with Vanessa Rissetto (CEO at Culina Health) Moderated by Leslie Feinzaig (Graham & Walker).
👉 Register here for NYC!
Fireside chat with Josh Felser - May 6th
Join us next month for an inspiring chat with Josh Felser, co-founder and Managing Partner of Climactic, a early stage VC on a mission to accelerate the growth of our CEOs and their businesses as they decarbonize the planet. 🌱
May 6th, 11am PT/ 2pm ET 👉 RSVP here.
Meet our new Chief of Staff
💌 A note from Leslie:
Over the years, I’ve been lucky to surround myself with brilliant operators who believe in this mission as much as I do. I'm so excited to finally introduce the newest one 🥁
Ryan joins us after five years at Goldman Sachs, where she helped oversee billions in institutional assets. Even beyond her accomplishments, what truly set her apart was her attitude, drive, and passion. I can’t wait to see where she takes us.
Read more about our unique — and old school! — hiring process in my recent Blind Spots post.
New Investment Spotlight: Skylight 🚀
We’re thrilled to share our latest investment in Skylight, a bold new social platform reimagining short-form video. Built on the decentralized infrastructure of Bluesky, Skylight is carving out a space for creators that prioritizes transparency, innovation, and user control.
Even more exciting? They just received backing from none other than Mark Cuban—and made headlines in TechCrunch. 🎉
At Graham & Walker, we’re always looking to support founders who challenge the status quo, and Skylight is doing exactly that. We're proud to join them on this journey.
Stay tuned—big things ahead.
Funding Report
Alinea Invest, a U.S.-based wealth management platform, has secured $10.4M in Series A funding led by Play Ventures, with participation from GFR Fund, Y Combinator, Gaingels, FoundersX, F7, and Visible Ventures.
Octane, a SaaS platform, has raised $6.75 million in seed funding. The round was led by Archetype and Winklevoss Capital, with participation from Gemini, Circle, and Legion Capital.
Ropes, a New York-based AI-powered platform designed to transform the evaluation of technical talent, has raised $3.1 million in seed funding led by GSV Ventures with participation from Box Group.
Arlo, the AI-powered health insurance underwriter for small businesses, today announced $4 million in seed funding led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from 8VC and General Catalyst.
Starday, the AI-driven food innovation company reinventing category growth, announced today it has raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Slow Ventures and Equal Ventures.
(…Continue reading the Funding Report on the blog)
ICYMI on Fortune: how AI levels the playing field in entrepreneurship
Leslie recently wrote a powerful piece for Fortune on a topic we at Graham and Walker care deeply about: how the rise of AI could further unlock potential for underrepresented founders. In this article, Leslie breaks down the risks, but also the responsibility we have as investors, builders, and community leaders to do better.
At Graham & Walker, this isn’t just commentary—it’s a call to action we’re already answering.
Before you go…
Have You Taken Our Founder Survey yet? Help us capture the full story of startup funding in 2025—your insights matter!
See you at New York Founder Day!
🔥 Team G&W