about the fund

Wayfinder invests time and money at the earliest stages of your journey, sometimes before you've even picked a name.

We've been there

We are founders and engineers. We've started startups, raised money, hired people, built teams, and did the non scalable things. We've experienced the highs of being a founder, and we've also experienced the lows. Startups are a marathon, and we've run it. We want to help you run yours.

How we help

Our job doesn't stop when we write the check; that's when it starts. We'll do office hours, help you with your early sales, your early hires, and your go-to-market. We'll be there to help you interview your early team, and when you have to make hard decisions.

Who we love

We love founders who live and breathe their product. The ones who've experienced the pain points themselves and have an intense, personal passion for solving them. Visionaries with deep domain expertise and insights, not just big ideas. You're relentlessly resourceful, scrappy, and obsess over the smallest product details because you know those add up to something great.

our thesis

Does the world really need another VC fund? If you ask a VC, the answer is always no.

If you ask a founder, they'll tell you there's still a shortage of people willing to be the first to bet on them. Who not only write a check, but actually spend time with them. Who undersand.

For us, that understanding comes from nearly a decade as founders where we've made our fair share of mistakes.

It also comes from feeling, first hand, the highs and lows involved with running a startup and still loving the journey.

We've had the good fortune to learn from 1,000+ startups, and invest in iconic unicorn founders. We've learned from them what greatness truly looks like.

With Wayfinder, our goal is to have all of these lessons benefit the next generation of founders.

the fund in numbers

Introducing Wayfinder II — a $35M seed-stage fund investing $300k-$1M checks in founders building enduring companies solving tomorrow's hard problems.

$85M+

Assets under management

$2 Billion

Combined Portoflio Valuation

80+

Startups Partnered With

200+

Founders


Yuri Sagalov is the founder and Managing Partner of Wayfinder Ventures, a seed-stage B2B focused fund. Prior to Wayfinder, Yuri was a partner at Y Combinator from 2014-2018 and also an active angel investor who seed invested in over a half dozen unicorns with a combined enterprise value of over $25B. Yuri is also a former Y Combinator alumni and founder and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science with a Computer Engineering major from the University of Toronto.

When not spending time with founders, Yuri's happy place is flying or sailing.

in the press

The Social Radars: Yuri Sagalov

April 23, 2024

Anthony Pompliano: How to Invest in Billion Dollar Startups

June 5, 2023

industries we invest in

Finance

Enterprise Software

B2B

AI

Manufacturing

Technology

Robotics

Robotics

Our Investment Process

01.

Send over a general application or just reach out with your idea.

stage one

2023

02.

Send over a general application or just reach out with your idea.

stage one

2023

03.

Send over a general application or just reach out with your idea.

stage one

2023

04.

Send over a general application or just reach out with your idea.

stage one

2023

Our Investment Process

Founders First

We are fortunate to back the incredible founders we've backed.

Intellectual Humility

We respect a continual willingness to learn and improve.

Commercial Sophistication

We invest in industries with knowledge and commercial advantage

Transparency

We leave opacity at the door. Our values are built on trust, truth and transparency.

Diversity

We aim to bring a wide range of ideas, people and cultures into our investments and lives.

Founders First

We invest in industries with knowledge and commercial advantage

Respect

Carbon capture for semi-trucks. Your dreams and insights are a vital part of the collective subconscious.

Speed

We respect a continual willingness to learn and improve.

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We prioritize relationships above transactions

We invest early – pre-seed and seed rounds that are often the first institutional capital into a businesses. We invest early – pre-seed and seed rounds that are often the first institutional capital into a businesses

We cultivate a rookie determination

Diversity is at the heart of our strategy. Contrarians drive outsized venture returns, and contrarian insight primarily comes from diversity of thought. Perspective. Culture. Gender. Race. Relationships.

We achieve outperformance through diverse thinking

We’ve assembled our team, our investors, and the founders and VCs we invest in, all with diverse heritages and experiences, giving us advantages that ultimately drive outperformance. Not only is diversity important to us, it’s great for business.

We help great founders foster their ideas into the world.

In the constantly changing world of technology and venture capital, a deep hunger for learning and relentless determination propels us onward, rather than resting on past achievements. Elite athletes in every domain never lose their rookie mentality, committing to continuous improvement and growth. Since we’re never done, we’re always just beginning.