Silver

Designer Fund

Designer Fund invests in early-stage tech companies using design to improve health, sustainability, and prosperity for all. We focus on companies at Pre-seed through Series A stages where exceptional design can create meaningful competitive advantages.

We approach our relationship with founders and companies as long-term partnerships, not deals. When we invest in you, we become an extension of your design team and apply the best practices we’ve learned over the past decade investing in multi-billion dollar companies like Stripe, Gusto, Notion, Framer, Commure and Netlify.

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Launched just a few weeks ago, AI in Design 2026 is one of the largest studies to date examining how AI is reshaping design teams, craft, and tools. Published by Designer Fund and Foundation Capital, the report explores questions many design leaders and practitioners are asking right now: Which AI tools are seeing the most adoption? How are design workflows evolving? Are hiring expectations and team structures changing in meaningful ways?

In this session, Ben Blumenrose will unpack the report’s key findings and discuss what they may mean for the future of design. The research draws on survey responses from more than 900 designers across 60+ countries, alongside in-depth interviews with the design teams at Anthropic, Framer, Linear, Notion, Shopify, Sierra, and Stripe.