🔒Portland VC firm sets up shop with ‘healthy’ investment pipeline

Chris Wolfel, former head of entrepreneurship and venture creation at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute, is launching a Portland-based venture capital firm to invest in early-stage startups in the Northeast. Corsair Venture Partners raised an initial $3.5 million for its inaugural fund to deploy right away, with plans to raise another $25 million.

Wolfel, honored on the Mainebiz 40 Under 40 list in 2022, said the name is a nod to the privateers known as corsairs who were given a charter to seize new markets and lands. “That felt right for the founders we want to back: bold people who defect from traditional geographies, established companies and conventional playbooks to build something legendary,” said Wolfel, the firm's founder and general partner. “Being based in Portland and as someone that loves being on the water, I wanted to subtle nautical reference, but the deeper meaning is about backing builders with conviction who operate outside expected norms,” he added. With Corsair, Wolfel aims to fill a gap for entrepreneurs building businesses outside of hubs like Boston or New York who "get a shrug" from investors just because of where they were based. "There's a massive opportunity to be the firm of record for founders in these frontier markets, and no one was doing it with the focus and conviction it deserved," he said.

Investment focus

Wolfel said the investment focus will be on companies involved in modernizing legacy industries, such as advanced manufacturing and construction technology. Corsair will also invest in startups “enabling the everyday economy” via tools and technology for industries including hospitality and tourism, health and wellness and workforce and education. “Many of them are multi-trillion-dollar markets that are still dramatically under-digitized,” Wolfel said. “AI and automation are finally unlocking efficiency in labor-heavy, service-based sectors that were previously resistant to it, and demand for these services is non-discretionary and cycle-resilient.”

'Healthy pipeline'

Corsair expects to close its first investment in the next few weeks. “We have a healthy pipeline right now and have already sent out our first term sheet,” with plans to make around 25 investments from the first fund in the next few years, he noted. Corsair’s initial backers include prominent venture capital investors, including Rich D'Amore of North Bridge Venture Partners in Boston and Brad Field of Foundry in Boulder, Colo., with “deep experience to building firms” as well as longtime champions of the region including Fritz Onion, co-founder of the Onion Foundation, and Richard McGoldrick of Commercial Properties Inc. in Portland, according to Wolfel. “I expect our second close will primarily include individuals, but also a handful of institutions, endowments and foundation,” he added.