I remember when Oregon Venture Fund first published this framework. Because it provided transparent guidance on what they used to assess startups.
Well, with the changing world of AI enablement, they’re taken another cut at the framework. To wit:
In an AI-first world, investor expectations around speed of execution, technical depth, and demonstrated traction have risen meaningfully. Product cycles are faster, distribution channels are more powerful, and early signals arrive sooner. The fundamentals still matter but the evidence required to believe them has increased.
With that in mind, we revisited our internal framework for evaluating early-stage companies at Oregon Venture Fund. Startup stages are often defined by round labels and valuations. A more useful lens is what a company is proving at each stage — across product, traction, team, and scale.
For more on the reasoning behind this change, visit Oregon Venture Fund’s “AI Software Funding Stages.”
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