Anthony Bontrager
Anthony Bontrager is an investor and board member, currently involved with Energy Innovation Capital, Madrona Venture Labs, Pioneer Square Labs, PTO Exchange, and QorusDocs. He co-founded Broadstream Communications, Inc., and has expertise in executive leadership, board governance, corporate development, and investment management.
Seattle Early-Stage Startups AlsonAI, InnoMat, LoftxAI, and Orbital Robotics Spotlighted for AI Innovations in Storytelling and Supply Chains
GeekWire's startup radar highlights early-stage Seattle companies focusing on AI innovations in space robotics, storytelling, and supply chain, featuring leaders like Nafisa Muzaffar of AlsonAI and Charlie Sun of InnoMat. Venture capitalist Anthony Bontrager offers insights on their potential and challenges in market adoption.
GeekWire Elevator Pitch Season 3 Finale Features Four CEOs Competing Live at GeekWire Summit
The season three finale of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch featured four startup CEOs pitching their businesses live at the GeekWire Summit, competing for top honors in categories like fintech, sustainability, and consumer products. The finalists included Devin Miller of SecureSave, Amina Moreau of Radious, Erin Quick of PairTree, and Katherine Sizov of Strella Biotechnology.
WestRiver Group
This week on Finding PROOF, our hosts Jennifer Schretter and Thanasis Delistathis sit down with Anthony Bontrager, Managing Director at WestRiver Group, a firm that invests in seed and early-stage companies in the US Pacific Northwest.
GeekWire's Elevator Pitch: Analyzing the four winning pitches in advance of the upcoming live finale
This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we hear the pitches made by four startup CEOs in the 32 seconds it takes to get to the top of Seattle's historic Smith Tower, on their way to winning their respective episodes on this season of GeekWire's Elevator Pitch series. It's a preview of the upcoming season finale, in which each of the four will make a final pitch at the GeekWire Summit next week, live on stage. Episode 1 winner: Amina Moreau, CEO of Radious, an online marketplace that turns houses, apartments and other residential properties into workspaces, rentable by the day…
GeekWire Elevator Pitch Final Episode Features Seattle Sustainability Startups Competing for 2022 Summit Finale Spot
The final episode of GeekWire's Elevator Pitch features three Seattle-area sustainability startup CEOs pitching their innovations in a timed elevator ride, with the winner advancing to the live finale at the 2022 GeekWire Summit on October 6. The startups include Strella Biotechnology, BattGenie, and Aquagga, focusing on produce ripeness sensing, battery longevity, and PFAS destruction respectively.
GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch S3 Features PairTree, Spot Tot, and Welcome Home CEOs Pitching Consumer Startups
GeekWire's Elevator Pitch season three features three consumer startup CEOs—Erin Quick of PairTree, Robin Waterman of Spot Tot, and Ashley Michael of Welcome Home—pitching their companies to a panel of judges in Seattle's Smith Tower. The season's finale will occur on October 6, 2022, at the GeekWire Summit.
GeekWire's Elevator Pitch Season 3 Features Startup CEOs Pitching in Smith Tower Elevator to Win Finals at October 2022 Summit
GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch returns with a competition where entrepreneurs pitch startups like Radious, Tribute, and Humanly.io in 32 seconds during an elevator ride to Seattle's Smith Tower. The season includes a series of episodes leading to a live finale at the 2022 GeekWire Summit on October 6.
Former Microsoft VP Gavriella Schuster Joins Nerdio Board; Ex-Mailchimp CPO Natalia Williams Hired by Hootsuite; Ex-Amazon Product Leader Sophi Kim Joins Shelf Engine
Gavriella Schuster, former Microsoft VP, joined Nerdio's board, Natalia Williams became Hootsuite's CPO, and Sophi Kim, ex-Amazon product leader, joined Shelf Engine as head of product management. These strategic hires bolster leadership at companies focused on cloud services, social media management, and grocery tech.
Tagboard Raises $2.3M Secondary for Series A to Reach $10.3M; West River Group, Spivy Private Capital and Sports Loft Join Investors; Anthony Bontrager Named to Board
Tagboard announced a $2.3 million secondary closing for its Series A, bringing the round to $10.3 million and adding West River Group, Spivy Private Capital and Sports Loft as investors while Anthony Bontrager joins the board. The cloud production platform says it serves over 600 media brands, powered 20 million stories last year, and highlights recent use in major 2022 broadcasts like the Super Bowl and Olympics.
GeekWire surveys Seattle-area VCs to name Pacific Northwest startups they predict will become unicorns in 2022
GeekWire surveyed more than a dozen Seattle-area venture capitalists for their picks of Pacific Northwest startups likely to reach unicorn status this year, compiling a list of candidate companies with reasons for each selection. The piece notes rising valuations nationwide and excludes VCs' own portfolio companies to reduce bias.
Anthony Bontrager of WestRiver Group says he makes 3–5 PNW SaaS/AI investments yearly with $500k–$5M initial checks and $10M follow-on capacity
Anthony Bontrager, a former adtech founder and current investor at WestRiver Group, favors hands-on board involvement and invests in PNW SaaS/AI/ML companies with initial checks of $500k–$5M, targeting 3–5 new deals yearly and about 15–20 monthly pitches. He highlights Qorus Software as a standout portfolio company and emphasizes governance, go-to-market support, and follow-on reserves of ~$10M per company.
Coinbase IPO Soars to $85 Billion, Nets Windfalls for Early Backers Including Version One Ventures
Coinbase’s IPO pushed its valuation to $85 billion and delivered major returns to early investors like Version One Ventures, which made a highly profitable bet years ago. The article examines how Seattle and Pacific Northwest investors view crypto and blockchain as the region seeks to grow its fintech presence amid emerging local startups and initiatives.
Seattle Reaches 10 Unicorns Worth $1B+, Mostly Enterprise Software Firms with Microsoft Links
Seattle now has 10 unicorn startups valued at $1 billion or more, many concentrated in enterprise software/cloud computing and driven by rapid digital transformation and strong revenue run rates. Most have immigrant founders and Microsoft ties, but none have female co-founders or CEOs.
WestRiver Group mandates one-woman, one-man co-leadership for each VC fund as it eyes $150M Pacific Northwest raise
Seattle-based WestRiver Group will require each of its venture capital funds to be co-led by one man and one woman, a strategy it says drives bigger returns; the firm manages about $2 billion and is considering raising its Pacific Northwest fund to $150 million. Notable leaders include founder Erik Anderson, Lisa Stone, Richelle Parham, Scott Maw, Anthony Bontrager, Laurel Buckner, George Montgomery and Deepa Prasad.
Organizations
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Pioneer Square Labs Investor (PSL Studio III) 2023–present · current
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Tagboard Investor / Director 2022–present · current
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QorusDocs Investor / Director 2019–present · current
Education
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Seattle University BA, Finance · 1988–1990
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Boston University 1987–1988
