Powerset

Samantha Lewis runs investment decisions as the sole founder and managing partner. She exited Mercury, where she built the fund administration product, and seeded Powerset entirely with her own liquidity before inviting select LPs from the Mercury alumni network (per Fortune, 2023). No other general partners have been announced.

Powerset's deal flow derives from the Mercury alumni network and adjacent enterprise-fintech operator communities. Portfolio companies in fintech infrastructure and tax software frequently seek early integration with Mercury's banking and payment APIs, creating an organic pipeline that Powerset converts into investment opportunities. The firm also leverages its LP base of former Mercury engineers and go-to-market leads who surface early-stage enterprise startups through their own professional networks.

Powerset occupies a hybrid position. Lewis founded it with personal capital from the Mercury exit, making it a single-family office in origin, but the firm actively syndicates deals through special purpose vehicles to a concentrated group of external LPs who are almost exclusively Mercury alumni. It does not accept institutional fund commitments and does not charge the 2-and-20 fee structure typical of a venture firm, operating instead on a deal-by-deal carried-interest basis.

Powerset does not make fund commitments or function as a limited partner to other venture firms. All capital is deployed through direct equity positions and special purpose vehicles, with Lewis typically leading or co-leading rounds. The firm has co-invested alongside established funds such as Bain Capital Ventures when participating in later seed extensions (per Axios, 2024).

Powerset targets pre-seed through Series A rounds, with a concentration in seed-stage enterprise software startups. The firm occasionally participates in seed extensions for existing portfolio companies, as it did with Column Tax in 2024 when the company raised additional capital alongside existing institutional backers (per Axios, 2024).

The underlying wealth originates from Samantha Lewis's equity and subsequent exit from Mercury, the San Francisco-based banking and credit-card startup for founders. Lewis led Mercury's fund administration product line before leaving in 2022 to launch Powerset the following year (per Fortune, 2023). The firm's LP base also derives its capital from Mercury liquidity events.

Powerset actively co-invests alongside institutional venture firms and other operator syndicates. In its most visible deal, the firm co-invested with Bain Capital Ventures in Column Tax's seed extension (per Axios, 2024). Lewis has indicated that co-investing with larger funds provides portfolio companies with operational support from Powerset's LP network while ensuring sufficient capital for scaling.