Ridge Ventures

Say hello to our fifth fund, Ridge V! The $180M in total funding is the largest in our firm's history. Ridge V will support the next generation of Seed/early Series A #EnterpriseSoftware companies. Post-product. Pre-product-market fit. Experienced founders. Let the fun(d) begin!

ICYMI: Ridge Partner and five-time CIO Yousuf Khan sat down with Charles Uniman of the #Legal Tech StartUp Focus Podcast. Yousuf shared how he evaluates #legaltech #startups and what #founders should know about fundraising in this burgeoning space. Highlights include: ? #AI is transforming legal tech by providing productivity gains that excite legal professionals ? Market expectations are shifting as lawyers see competitors gaining advantages through technology ? Time-to-value is becoming a critical factor in legal tech adoption ? Successful founders must identify specific market segments, not just target "all law firms" ? Building for long-term customer success is more important than debating founder vs. manager modes ? And a lot more!

In this latest episode of the Legal Tech StartUp Focus Podcast, podcast host Charlie Uniman interviews Yousuf Khan of Ridge Ventures. Venture capitalist Yousuf Khan shares how Ridge Ventures evaluates legal tech startups and what founders need to know about raising capital in this rapidly evolving space. We explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, legal practice, and investment strategy. ? Ridge Ventures differentiates itself by including customer introduction targets in term sheets ? Yousuf's background as a former CIO gives him unique insight into enterprise legal departments' needs ? Legal tech founders have a competitive advantage when they leverage their domain expertise ? In-house legal departments represent a growing and underserved market for legal tech solutions ? AI is transforming legal tech by providing productivity gains that excite legal professionals ? Market expectations are shifting as lawyers see competitors gaining advantages through technology ? Time-to-value is becoming a critical factor in legal tech adoption ? Successful founders must identify specific market segments, not just target "all law firms" ? Building for long-term customer success is more important than debating founder vs. manager modes Join our free LegalTech Startup Focus community at https://lnkd.in/eT7ZjKbU to connect with founders, investors, and industry experts. Access this episode here: https://lnkd.in/ezSpwfvF #legaltechnology #legaltech Ridge Ventures

The go-to-market strategy for AI solutions demands a unique approach and a reevaluation of the sales process. Adapting to the specialized nature of these products will drive success. Here are some insights that shed light on the evolving landscape of AI sales strategies. #AI #GTM

Yousuf Khan is a Partner at Ridge Ventures. Having held many operational roles in his previous positions, he’s uniquely qualified to not only grow Ridge’s portfolio, but more importantly to support founders through the vantage point of deep start-up experience. He currently serves as board director for Ridge-backed Archera, Cerby, Chisel Labs, Lightyear, Rafay, and Rewind. Prior to joining Ridge, Yousuf was the first CIO of Automation Anywhere, the CIO and Vice President of Customer Success at cloud-based AI platform Moveworks, as well as CIO of Pure Storage and Qualys. He has been an advisor to early-stage companies such as Zoom, Productiv and Material Security as well as an active member of the CIO community. He holds a BSc in Business Management from King’s College London. Topics: - The evolving role of CIOs in modern enterprises - Key trends in enterprise software and AI - The future of cloud-based AI platforms #VC #RidgeVentures #StartupInvesting #EnterpriseSoftware #CloudTechnology

?? Tomorrow (Tue.) @ 9am PT ?? Tune into the Smart Venture Podcast with Ridge Partner Yousuf Khan and Grace Gong, a LinkedIn Top Voice, as they talk live about all things #VC!

Had a great lunch session at Ridge Ventures yesterday where we heard from a diverse group of GTM leaders about the current challenges they are facing and got great feedback about how to grow Scoop Analytics. This is one of the most interesting parts of being a founder - getting in a room with a dozen folks to listen to what they are saying about their current challenges and trying to understand how what we're working on might be able to help. Fascinating conversation and special thanks to Yousuf Khan for hosting and Carlos V. for photos!

Congrats to Rewind, the quicker data backer-upper, on its new partnership with monday.com! We’re proud to help Rewind bring enterprise-grade data protection to companies around the world. ??

= Speaker spotlight! = On Tuesday, 2/25, Akriti Dokania joins us on the panel, where we will be discussing building AI-first companies in 2025. Akriti is a Partner at Ridge Ventures, investing in Seed and Series A revenue-first enterprise software companies. Previously, Akriti was an investor at Octopus Ventures and was part of the?Deep Tech pod focusing on everything from AI/ML automation to Quantum Computing.?Prior to this, she built a B2B business focused on accounting in the retail space in India. Looking forward to this conversation. If you are an early stage investor, or a founder that raised at least $1M, join us in NYC on Tuesday - RSVP at https://lu.ma/xspvyhqj!

Excited to be in Boston this weekend alongside some fantastic people! Come say Hi. India Conference at Harvard Ridge Ventures