On a bright June morning in 2026, the venture capital world received a powerful reminder that the best investing isn’t just about massive pools of faceless capital; it is about human relationships, local bonds, and the quiet pursuit of extraordinary ideas. Boris Wertz and Angela Tran Kingyens, the visionary partners steering the Vancouver, B.C.-based firm Version One Ventures, announced they have successfully closed $108 million across two fresh funds. This milestone marks a new chapter for a boutique firm that has spent nearly a decade and a half championing early-stage founders with an empathetic, hands-on approach. The announcement on June 2, 2026, is more than a financial update; it is a testament to the enduring strength of the Pacific Northwest’s entrepreneurial spirit and a validation of Version One’s unique investment philosophy. By choosing to stay relatively lean in an era where massive, impersonal mega-funds often dominate the headlines, Wertz and Kingyens are reaffirming their commitment to the intimate, high-conviction style of investing that has defined their partnership from the beginning. Their focus is not on simply collecting assets under management, but on discovering and nurturing thinkers who see the world differently. This fund closure signals that despite shifting market dynamics, geopolitical uncertainties, and rapid technological transformations, there remains a profound appetite for venture capital that behaves like a true partner rather than a transactional landlord. For the founders who will eventually partner with Version One, this capital represents a bridge between raw, untethered ambition and the structured resources needed to bring world-changing innovations to life.
Delving into the logistics of this latest capital raise reveals a highly disciplined and deliberate strategy designed to support founders at every critical juncture of their early lifecycles. The $108 million is split strategically between two vehicles: Version One Fund V, a $78 million fund dedicated strictly to pre-seed and seed investments, and Opportunities Fund III, a $30 million fund built specifically to provide follow-on capital to the firm’s most promising and high-performing portfolio companies. When compared to their previous combined fundraising effort of $100 million in 2021, this new total represents a modest, measured step forward rather than a frantic scramble for scale. This intentionality is central to the Version One ethos, as Wertz and Kingyens have always believed that over-capitalization can be just as dangerous to a firm’s health and focus as under-capitalization. By keeping the pre-seed and seed fund at a manageable $78 million, the partners ensure they can remain deeply involved in the day-to-day realities of their early-stage investments, offering strategic guidance, emotional support, and operational wisdom without having to rush to deploy capital into less-than-ideal fits. Meanwhile, the $30 million Opportunities Fund acts as a crucial safety net and accelerator, giving Version One the financial muscle to double down on their winners when those companies enter their next high-growth phases. This dual-fund structure reflects a mature understanding of the modern startup journey, balancing the chaotic, experimental nature of early incubation with the calculated, execution-focused demands of scaling.
Beneath the financial mechanics lies a deeply human philosophy about what it takes to build a lasting company in an age of constant disruption. In a candid blog post accompanying the fund announcement, Boris Wertz articulated a vision of entrepreneurship that prioritizes depth over hype, urging a return to genuine curiosity and long-term conviction. Wertz noted that the founders who truly inspire him and Kingyens are not those chasing the latest fleeting tech trends or looking to build a quick exit strategy, but rather mission-driven souls possessed by an almost obsessive desire to solve problems they understand intimately through lived experience. In today’s landscape, those problems are increasingly found at the cutting edge of technological frontiers, such as artificial intelligence infrastructure and applications, advanced robotics, deep tech, and the revolutionary intersection of biology and computer science. Version One’s investment thesis is rooted in the belief that the truly legendary companies of the next decade will initially look strange, unworkable, or simply too early to the mainstream observer. It takes a unique kind of investor to look at an unconventional, misunderstood idea and say “yes” when the rest of the market says “no,” and that is precisely the role Version One aims to play. By funding the outliers and the dreamers at the pre-seed stage, they are helping to lay the baseline infrastructure for a future where technology serves humanity in increasingly complex, profound, and unexpected ways.
To understand why Boris Wertz approaches venture capital with such a grounded, founder-first perspective, one must look back at his own rich history as a pioneering operator in the early days of the digital revolution. Long before he was an influential investor, Wertz was in the trenches himself, co-founding JustBooks in Germany in 1999, which quickly grew to become the largest European online marketplace for used, rare, and out-of-print books. After JustBooks was acquired by AbeBooks, Wertz stepped into the role of Chief Operating Officer, helping to guide the combined company through five years of intense global growth before orchestrating its eventual sale to Amazon in 2008. These years spent navigating the dot-com bubble, managing complex logistics, scaling a team, and negotiating with global tech giants gave Wertz an invaluable education that no textbook could ever replicate. He knows firsthand the sleepless nights, the terrifying cash-flow crunches, and the intense loneliness that often accompanies the founder’s journey. This operational background directly shapes Version One’s empathetic brand of venture capital; when a founder encounters a major roadblock, Wertz doesn’t just look at the spreadsheet—he remembers what it felt like to stand in those exact shoes. Combined with Angela Tran Kingyens’ formidable analytical background and strategic brilliance, the partnership offers a rare blend of hard-won operational experience and cutting-edge forward-looking vision, representing a powerful asset for any young founder looking for guidance in a turbulent market.
A key pillar of Version One’s long-term success is its geographical strategy, which leverages the unique cultural and economic relationship between Vancouver, B.C., and the thriving Seattle tech ecosystem. Since its founding in 2012, Version One has acted as a bridge across the Pacific Northwest, consistently identifying the Seattle-Vancouver corridor as one of the most vibrant, high-signal, and collaborative innovation hubs in the world. Wertz has long championed Seattle as a cornerstone market for his firm, recognizing that the region’s deep pool of engineering talent, driven by giants like Microsoft and Amazon, creates a fertile breeding ground for enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, and deep tech startups. Over the years, Version One has backed some of the region’s most successful stories, including enterprise sales powerhouse Outreach and marketing tech innovator Inflection.io, alongside a long list of local innovators like Cap Hill Brands, Demandstar, Dolly, Pienza, Julep, Front Desk, Yapta, and Dwellable. With this new capital locked down, Wertz expressed a strong desire to double down on the Seattle market, eager to find the next generation of Pacific Northwest builders who are quietly constructing massive businesses far away from the distracting noise of Silicon Valley. This commitment to the regional ecosystem demonstrates a belief that great companies can be built anywhere, provided they have access to a supportive network of local capital, world-class mentorship, and a community that values grit and long-term value over short-term flashiness.
The raising of Version One’s new funds also highlights a broader, highly energizing trend within the Pacific Northwest’s venture capital landscape over the past eighteen months. Despite a challenging global fundraising environment where many limited partners have become more cautious, the regional investment ecosystem has shown remarkable resilience and vitality, with several key players successfully securing new war chests to support local talent. Firms like Founders Co-op, Ascend, Flying Fish, the AI2 Incubator, and Graham & Walker have all raised fresh capital, while the region’s heavyweight champion, Madrona, raised a staggering $770 million for its new funds in early 2025. This collective influx of capital ensures that the Pacific Northwest remains a self-sustaining engine of technological innovation, capable of nurturing startups from their first rough ideas all the way to global scale. By securing their $108 million, Version One secures its essential place in this tapestry, offering a nimble, specialized alternative to larger institutional funds while collaborating closely with them to build a robust local economy. Ultimately, the story of Version One’s new funds reminds us that venture capital, at its absolute best, is not a cold business of algorithms and financial engineering, but a deeply human saga of shared belief, mutual trust, and the courageous journey of turning impossibilities into our everyday realities.
