Primary Venture Partners

In our ongoing ten-year anniversary series about the history of NYC tech, prolific angel investor and media leader Esther Dyson reflects on how the city's diverse social fabric has always put founders in touch with how tech can improve the lives of the many types of people who live in close contact here. Watch: https://lnkd.in/eDJNQhc8

Excited to announce Plural's $6M Seed round led by Primary Venture Partners alongside Capital One Ventures and Company Ventures! 🚀 We started Plural at a crucial inflection point in enterprise infrastructure. As Kubernetes became the standard for running modern applications, the complexity of managing it at scale was becoming untenable. We set out to change that. Why? The data tells the story - over 60% of enterprises now manage 10+ Kubernetes clusters, and with AI/ML workloads driving unprecedented infrastructure demands, existing solutions aren't scaling. Teams are drowning in operational complexity while trying to maintain security and compliance. Our AI-powered platform is transforming how enterprises manage their Kubernetes fleets, automating complex operations from a unified control plane. Put simply, Plural delivers AI automation for DevOps at scale. Since launching our fleet management platform last year, we've onboarded some of the biggest and most sophisticated technology organizations, particularly in financial services and cybersecurity as customers. Deeply grateful to our investors who share our vision: • Brian Schechter, Tobias Citron and the Primary Venture Partners team • Oana O., Ryan Wexler and the SignalFire team • Chad Byers, Hammad Aslam at Susa Ventures • Andreas Klinger at Prototype Capital 🦾 And a warm welcome to our newest investors joining the round: • Sean Leach, Robert Mervine and Fred Kauber at Capital One Ventures - bringing invaluable enterprise security and fintech expertise • Nelson Boone Schubart and Company Ventures and Jean Sini with Irregular Expressions- supporting NYC's most ambitious tech companies • And other fantastic firms who've backed our mission Special thanks to our early customers who trusted us with their infrastructure, and our incredible team who's built something truly revolutionary. This is just the beginning - we're hiring across engineering and go-to-market to accelerate our vision of making enterprise Kubernetes management accessible to all engineers. Read more about our journey: (Links to blog post, techcrunch coverage and investor posts in comments)

Kat Cole's rise to the C-suite was anything but conventional. She started out working double shifts to pay for engineering school—until a chance opportunity sent her overseas to help expand a growing brand before she even had a passport. Now, as President and COO of AG1, she’s steering its expansion into 60+ countries and spearheading a global health movement set to reshape the $6.3 trillion industry. In this conversation with Jason Shuman, she breaks down: • why 90% of pitches are dead on arrival • the subtle cues that expose a weak founder within minutes • the fine line between inspiring and convincing (and why crossing it is a red flag) Watch the full conversation with the link in the comments below.

🚨 Last call! 🚨 We’re closing RSVPs this Friday for the Impact Forum—an invite-only event for top women in closing sales roles in NYC. If you're an AE thinking beyond just hitting quota—about impact, growth, and leadership—this was designed for you. Co-hosted by Cassie Young General Partner at Primary Venture Partners, the afternoon will feature tactical, career-elevating sessions with: Elizabeth Duffield– Landing 7-figure enterprise deals Rebecca Schwartz– Crafting a career narrative that opens doors Brianna Elefant – Getting promoted and standing out beyond quota .....and yours truly – Building a high-leverage network We’ll wrap with cocktails and curated connections with other high-performing women in sales. 👉 Applications close Friday 3/28: https://lnkd.in/ejxfQTC5

Congrats Plural for today's announcement of its $6 million seed round, which we led with participation from Capital One Ventures and Company Ventures. (Thanks Rebecca Szkutak for sharing the story!) As Brian Schechter and Tobias Citron share in our Why We Invested post, "CEO Samuel Weaver and CTO Michael Guarino have been working on removing the headache from Kubernetes upgrades and dependency management for years. They have the intense product understanding, Kubernetes expertise, and now, AI to supercharge the product and 10x the experience." https://lnkd.in/g3MQbEHA https://lnkd.in/e7JTzsy4

🚨 Last call: Apply by Friday 3/21 🚨 Each year, Primary gathers NYC’s top startup operators to discuss the state of the market and how to succeed within it. This year, we’re diving deep into the Age of AI—the force reshaping industries, business models, and leadership itself. Join us for State of Startups 2025, a forward-looking discussion in which Primary Partners (Cassie Young, Brian Schechter, Jason Shuman, Emily Man, Jason Gelman) and top industry leaders (Varun Anand, Tori Moss, Scott Freifeld) will unpack topics such as: ✅ AI as the Growth Engine of 2025 – How startups are using AI to drive top-line expansion while optimizing efficiency ✅ Market Outlook: Where AI is Headed – A macro POV on the AI revolution and the biggest opportunities ahead ✅ AI + Knowledge Work – Recent innovations and outlooks for the future of knowledge work with Varun Anand, Co-Founder of Clay ✅ AI-Powered GTM – AI breakthroughs that are reshaping workflows and scaling constructs for modern GTM teams ✅ Vertical AI’s Breakout Moment – Emerging themes, breakout companies, and new pricing models ✅ The Core Four Traits of 1% Leaders – Traits that separate top 1% executives from their peers, and why AI market fluency matters This invite-only event is for startup leaders (Director to C-suite) looking to keep a pulse on innovation, harness AI for opportunities, and connect with top peers. 📍 In-person in NYC | 🗓 Apply by Friday 3/21 | 🎟 Free to attend if accepted, thanks to our generous partners (CIBC, Gunderson Dettmer, and Samsung Next). Apply here: https://lnkd.in/ejDXi5qi

Our milestone moment — the launch of the industry’s first senior living ecosystem — has been featured in Fierce Healthcare 🎉 Advanced technology in senior living has not kept pace with the industry’s growth. Inspiren is leading the way. By combining care planning, staff optimization, emergency response and resident safety into one platform, alongside dedicated clinical support, we’re setting a new standard for care and peace of mind for everyone involved in senior living. Thank you Heather Landi for helping us tell our story and to our Series A investors, Avenir, Primary Venture Partners, Story Ventures, Third Prime and Studio VC. Read more about this exciting news in Fierce Healthcare here. https://hubs.ly/Q03cL8CN0 #SeniorLiving #AI #SeniorCommunities #Inspiren

Today Inspiren officially launches the first and only complete senior living ecosystem, and already has leading care communities benefiting from the new standard in care it sets. Congrats Michael Wang, Alexander H., and the whole team. As Sam Toole shared with Heather Landi at Fierce Healthcare: "Senior living communities are in desperate need of data and insights on when, why, and how care is delivered — or not.  It’s a blind spot that exacerbates adverse events and staffing challenges in an environment where health costs keep rising. We are bullish on Inspiren for a number of reasons — large TAM, underserved market with a lack of competition, significant tailwinds with senior demographic growth, a great business model, and a fantastic team. Most importantly, it's a company that actually helps ensure that residents are healthier on a day-to-day basis."

A lot of employers are hitting a wall with healthcare. Even with well-structured benefits, rising costs, compliance hurdles, and opaque pricing models make it an uphill battle. That’s where Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRA) overhaul the status quo. No more wrestling with PBM spread pricing or carrier markups. By shifting from defined-benefit to defined-contribution, companies replace unpredictable healthcare costs with a fixed, tax-advantaged allocation per employee. On Healthcare Confidential, our anonymous guest explains how ICHRA lets employers focus on growth while giving employees choice and portability—cutting out inefficiencies and often eliminating brokers.

Laura Spiekerman of Alloy and Stephany Kirkpatrick, CFP® of Orum 🥇 are featured on Inc’s 2025 Female Founders 500! Honorees were based on three rounds of judging criteria focused on funding, revenue, social media momentum, and impact stories, among others. See the full list of innovators here: