Connie Biel · VP, Montage Ventures
I'm an early stage investor focused on vertical AI applications across critical sectors of the economy, including financial services, commerce, and industrials.
I'm excited about teams building moats through either: technology, proprietary data, or expertise. I love technical, ambitious founders with high execution velocity in large markets. I pride myself in being a thoughtful partner to founders, supporting via intros, GTM strategy, and having a prepared mind through a perspective on their space.
A foundation in finance and deep operating experience from Series A startups to enterprise shapes how I invest.
Hired as the firm's first Senior Associate in Fund III and promoted to VP mid-fund. Brought in over a third of the firm's deal pipeline, sourced and supported 8 investments, built the vertical AI thesis, rebranded the firm, and hired an Associate to build an AI-powered internal sourcing engine. Currently in market for Fund IV.
Joined a startup building financial services (banking, cards, accounting) for creators and led growth for the card product. Learned quickly over 6 months around finding PMF, unit economics, the creator market, and scaling challenges without AI.
Autodesk acquired PlanGrid for $875M, their largest acquisition ever. Stayed on for two more years through three additional M&A integrations, reorganizing the sales team and GTM functions. Developed a rare understanding of how enterprise software companies absorb and acquired products and what it takes to build an institutional sales team.
Joined to help build a new Sales Operations and Business Operations function from scratch. Gained firsthand experience navigating the operational complexity of scaling a venture-backed startup from revenue systems to full go-to-market strategy.
Spent three years leading equity and convertible debt transactions including IPOs and follow-ons for public technology companies. Built rigorous quantitative foundations and deep pattern recognition for how capital markets value high-growth tech businesses.
| Company | Category | Stage | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Augmenta3D spatial intelligence for building design on construction projects, starting with MEP systems | Vertical AI | Seed | Sourced |
| SparkAI-powered permitting and underwriting for renewable and critical energy projects including solar, BESS, and data centers | Vertical AI | Pre-Seed | Sourced |
| Fermat CommerceAI-powered shopping experiences and advertisements for enterprise merchants | Commerce | Seed to Series B | Investment Team |
| Airial TravelAgentic trip planning for consumers and travel agencies | Prosumer AI | Pre-Seed | Investment Team |
| AnythingNatural-language app and software development for solopreneurs, prosumers, and internal teams | Prosumer AI | Pre-Seed to Series A | Investment Team |
| AffinitiIntelligent CFO stack with cards, banking, and expense management for SMBs, distributed through trade associations | Fintech | Seed to Series A | Investment Team |
| Pylon LendingEmbedded mortgage infrastructure via API, bridging capital markets and software-powered underwriting for fintechs, banks, and proptechs | Fintech | Seed to Series A | Portfolio |
| Axyon AIAI-generated alpha and market strategies for institutional asset managers | Fintech | Seed | Investment Team |
| EoliannAssessing climate risk for critical enterprises in Europe, driven by the EU critical entities resilience directive | Climate | Pre-Seed | Investment Team (Board) |
Deals AI apps I sourced and brought into the investment process, a reflection of talent recognition and early emerging categories, even when the fund did not lead.
| Company | Thesis | Stage Sourced | Current Stage | Lead Investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcaciaAI coworkers to help CPA firms automate complex personal K1 and business taxes | Tax | Seed | Seed | TBA |
| AccordanceBuilding the OpenEvidence for tax advisory, focused on highest-leverage highest-complexity work for CPA firms and enterprise | Tax & Accounting | Seed | Series A | Altimeter |
| Assort HealthVoice agents automating patient call-handling, scheduling, and follow-ups for medical practices, cutting hold times by ~89% | Voice to Workflow | Pre-Seed | Series B | Lightspeed |
| BluefishEnterprise-grade AI marketing platform helping F500s monitor brand sentiment and performance on AI-native platforms | Commerce / GEO | Seed | Series B | NEA |
| JuiceboxAI recruiting platform indexing hundreds of millions of professional profiles from 30+ data sources to surface high-signal candidates | RPA / Agentic | Pre-Seed | Series A | Sequoia |
| OuttakeBuilding the trust layer of the internet with threat classification and automated response against deepfakes and social engineering | Fraud / Deepfake | Seed | Series B | Iconiq, CRV |
| PillarAutomated hedging and trades for commodity and currency risk, helping SME businesses offset volatile exposure and improve bottom line | CFO Stack | Pre-Seed | Seed | a16z |
| SapiomProgrammable spend controls on top of wallets, enabling a pay-per-use economy via developer microtransactions | Agentic Payments | Seed | Series A | Accel |
| Sola SolutionsWorkflow automation leveraging computer vision, browser agents, and LLMs to convert repetitive tasks into automated bots | RPA / Agentic | Seed | Series A | a16z |
| TallyAutomating billing and receivables to accelerate cashflow for complex logistics | CFO Stack | Seed | Seed | TBA |