Ben Blumenrose co-founded Designer Fund in 2014 after more than five years as a design lead at Facebook, built on the then-unusual premise that design should shape a company's formation from day one rather than get bolted on after product-market fit. The firm backs design-led early-stage software companies and has invested in Stripe, Notion, Gusto, Commure, Omada Health, and Framer, all still private. Designer Fund's own materials put the combined value of its portfolio above $80 billion as of its 2022 Fund III close, and the firm runs a fellowship program, Bridge, connecting designers directly to startups.
No public exit yet - Designer Fund's portfolio includes still-private companies like Stripe and Notion, both valued in the tens of billions, alongside Gusto and Framer