The Athenaeum Fund I

A Different Approach to Finding Exceptional Founders

The Athenaeum Fund I is a $5M Seattle-based pre-seed and seed venture fund led by Jordan Baker, founder of ThirtySixNorth and Moonrock (Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. 5000 #36).

The fund operates on a simple thesis:

Exceptional founders are often discovered long before traditional institutional venture capital notices them.

Rather than relying solely on conventional VC sourcing pipelines, Athenaeum focuses on identifying talented, often underpriced founders directly within the communities where they actually build and operate:

• Tier-two and tier-three startup ecosystems
• Technical communities
• Founder-media adjacencies
• Operator networks
• Direct relationship-driven channels

The belief is that some of the most promising founders are systematically overlooked because they emerge outside the traditional Silicon Valley venture visibility machine.

The accumulated spread between early entry pricing and later institutional valuations becomes operational proof of how this sourcing model works.

Why This Matters to the Eastside

This thesis maps directly onto the Eastside startup ecosystem.

Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Woodinville, and the surrounding communities continue to produce highly sophisticated technical founders, operators, and entrepreneurs at a scale that traditional tier-one VC sourcing often materially under-indexes against.

The Eastside has deep roots in enterprise technology, cloud infrastructure, AI, gaming, geospatial systems, developer platforms, and operational software - yet many founders here still build quietly outside the spotlight of coastal venture ecosystems.

That creates opportunity.

Eastside Entrepreneurs has decided to partner with leading early-stage venture firms to help founders across the Eastside grow faster, access capital earlier, and expand their networks beyond traditional local channels.

Unlike some local investment groups or angel organizations, Eastside Entrepreneurs does not charge commissions, placement fees, or success fees for introductions. The goal is simple: help connect exceptional founders and operators with the right people as early as possible.

If you are building something interesting, have strong deal flow, or simply want to share ideas, please reach out directly to Jordan.

Interested in Connecting?

For Eastside operators, founders, or business owners interested in chatting privately:

📧 [email protected]