About 412 Venture Fund · Pittsburgh
412 Venture Fund is a team of entrepreneurs turned investors — people who started, funded, grew and exited companies before they ever wrote a check. The industrial roots aren't branding. They're résumés.
01 The mission
Launched in August 2019, 412 Venture Fund backs companies that already have product in the market and are ready to grow their customer base. We write $250K–$1M first checks — up to $2M total — then plug founders into a deep Pittsburgh network of customers, experts, and future hires.
Our aim is bigger than returns: bring economic success, employment, and rapid growth to Pittsburgh and beyond. Diversity, inclusion, mentoring, and community development aren't just core values — they're part of our investment strategy.
02 The crew
Before writing checks, this team ran factories, shipped hardware, and scaled companies. Tap a face to open their LinkedIn.
Ex Managing Director of Innovation Works' Riverfront Ventures and founding MD of AlphaLab Gear. Grew tech companies from startup to exit — building teams, raising VC, running M&A. Board roles at the Pittsburgh Technology Council, Consumer Technology Association, and TiE. 2022 Pittsburgh "Fire Award" ecosystem advocate.
President and owner of Dormont Manufacturing — inventor and the world's largest maker of flexible stainless-steel gas connectors — sold to Watts Water Technologies for $94.5M in 2006. Former CFO of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Carnegie Mellon Tepper (BS + MBA). Author of From Local to Global.
Immigrated from Bulgaria at ten. First hire — and only non-engineer — at a local hardware-tech startup, then five years across startup operating roles (COO / CFO / CMO) before moving into product. Works hands-on with portfolio teams from first check through every station on the span.
Former CTO of Premier, Inc. (public); built CECity, a cloud quality-reporting platform, as CTO from 1998–2015 (acquired by Premier). BS in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon, plus a Pitt/Katz MBA. EIR at CMU's Swartz Center.
Cofounder and CEO of CECity (1996–2015). University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Chairman of the Myers Family Foundation — a founder-operator who opens doors across Pittsburgh business.
Carnegie Mellon graduate with a JD/MBA (Pitt Law + CMU Tepper). First female PE investment professional at PNC Riverarch Capital. Leads diligence and investment screening.
The steel is literal. One cofounder ran the world's largest flexible stainless-steel connector plant; another holds a CMU mechanical-engineering degree. When 412 says "Forging the Future," it isn't a metaphor they borrowed — it's one they earned.
03 The network
Our moat is who we can call. 412 connects portfolio companies to a broad regional network of universities, angels, accelerators, VC firms, corporates, and service providers.
Collaborate with us: collaborators@412venturefund.com
04 Contact
We write $250K–$1M first checks into companies with product already in market. Send us what you've shipped and who's paying for it.
info@412venturefund.com →