This is your chance to sit down with an investor who brings a scientist's precision and a builder's empathy to every deal he evaluates.
Ben Nahir is a Partner at Elevate Capital, a venture fund backing early-stage founders building at the application layer of AI — with a particular focus on industries where regulation and compliance create real competitive moats, including healthcare, legal, industrial automation, security, and finance. Ben oversees investments across Elevate's expanding funds and works hands-on to help scale early-stage companies into thriving, sustainable businesses.
What Elevate Capital looks for:
- Stage: Primarily Seed, but will evaluate opportunities from Pre-Seed to Series A
- Check size:
- Pre-Seed: $500K
- Seed: $1–1.5M
- Series A: $2–3M
Investment thesis: Application layer AI in verticals with a regulatory and/or compliance component — with a broad commitment to supporting diversity at the founding and leadership levels.
Before Elevate, Ben spent over a decade as a cornerstone of Oregon's startup community through TiE Oregon Angels and TiE Global Angels, providing strategic guidance and capital insights to early-stage entrepreneurs. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for OTRADI and the Oregon Biosciences Incubator. A neuroscientist-turned-investor, Ben brings a rare data-driven lens to identifying and backing breakout companies — and is widely known for his collaborative, mentor-first approach within the ecosystem.
He holds a BS in Mathematical Biology from Harvey Mudd, an MBA from Portland State University, and a Doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Florida.
This is a members-only session. Come with your questions about AI investing, how compliance-heavy industries create defensible moats, or whether your company fits Elevate's thesis.
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