First Avenue Ventures

Howard L. Morgan, a computer-science academic turned venture investor, directs the firm. Morgan co-founded First Round Capital in 2004 alongside Josh Kopelman, taught at the Wharton School, and served as a dean at the University of Pennsylvania's engineering school. His angel investing dates to the 1980s with early bets on companies including Meta (as Facebook).

First Avenue Ventures is Howard Morgan's personal investment vehicle and is legally separate from First Round Capital, the institutional seed fund he co-founded with Josh Kopelman in 2004. Morgan continues to hold an emeritus role at First Round Capital, but the two entities make investments independently and maintain distinct portfolio strategies.

The firm concentrates on seed-stage and pre-seed technology companies in enterprise software, artificial intelligence, and financial technology. Morgan has consistently backed technical founders building infrastructure software, developer tools, and applied AI platforms. His most prominent early investment, MongoDB, fits this pattern of database and enterprise-infrastructure deals.

The firm functions as a personal venture investment vehicle. It does not publicly raise institutional limited partner commitments the way a traditional venture fund does. Its deployment capacity is tied to Howard Morgan's personal capital and his broader co-investment network.

Morgan's angel portfolio includes an early investment in Meta (then Facebook) and Idea Lab, a technology incubator. His board service has included MongoDB from its seed stage through its 2017 IPO, and he currently serves as a venture partner at B Capital Group. He also sat on the board of the New York City Investment Fund, where he helped shape regional technology development policy.

Morgan's sourcing network combines his academic ties at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell, his co-founder relationships at First Round Capital, and his venture-partner role at B Capital Group. This multi-institutional reach gives First Avenue Ventures access to deals across the Northeast corridor and, selectively, the broader US enterprise software market.

Yes, the firm remains active in early-stage venture investing. Morgan's ongoing role as a venture partner at B Capital Group and his continued board and advisory engagements in the technology sector suggest First Avenue Ventures maintains a current pipeline of seed-stage investments, though the firm does not publicly disclose its pace of deployment or individual new positions.