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Work-Bench
Work-Bench is NYC's go-to seed fund for founders with enterprise ambitions. The firm backs early, conviction-driven founders building the next generation of...
Work-Bench
Work-Bench is NYC's go-to seed fund for founders with enterprise ambitions. The firm backs early, conviction-driven founders building the next generation of enterprise, SaaS, and infrastructure software. It is a high-conviction, thesis-driven investor that leads Seed rounds in enterprise software startups across AI infrastructure and developer tools, cybersecurity, and enterprise apps plus vertical AI. Work-Bench emphasizes go-to-market support and access to its NYC enterprise community.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
2013
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Principals
Jessica Lin
Co-Founder & General Partner
Jonathan Lehr
Co-Founder & General Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Work-Bench?
Co-founders and General Partners Jessica Lin and Jonathan Lehr lead investment decisions. Lin previously sourced enterprise deals at Bowery Capital, while Lehr focused on enterprise technology investments at DFJ Gotham Ventures before they launched Work-Bench's community in 2013.
How does Work-Bench source proprietary deal flow?
The firm runs a weekly enterprise technology meetup in New York that has drawn over 12,000 attendees since inception. This gathering of corporate IT leaders, founders, and engineers functions as an ongoing radar for early-stage enterprise startups, often surfacing companies before they formally fundraise.
Does Work-Bench operate as a venture fund or a community organization?
Both. Work-Bench began in 2013 as a physical coworking and event space catering to enterprise technology startups, then raised its first institutional fund. Today the firm operates as a dedicated seed-stage venture fund while maintaining its enterprise meetup series as a core sourcing and portfolio-support mechanism.
Does Work-Bench invest outside of New York?
The firm concentrates heavily on the New York metro enterprise ecosystem, where its corporate buyer network is densest. It has extended selectively to Boston and other East Coast hubs, but geographic proximity to its community events is a major underwriting criterion.
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