Investor Spotlight: Backing the Founder

WorkOS, the developer platform Grinich founded in 2019, provides APIs that allow software companies to quickly become "enterprise-ready" by adding features like single sign-on (SSO) and directory sync. This saves developers months of work, enabling startups to sell to large enterprise customers much faster. The company's trajectory has been steep, recently raising $100 million in a Series C funding round in March 2026, which brought its valuation to $2 billion. Prior to this, WorkOS had raised a total of $99 million over three rounds, with an $80 million Series B in June 2022 led by Greenoaks. This wasn't Grinich's first venture; he previously co-founded Nylas, an API platform for email, calendars, and contacts, and is a computer science graduate from MIT. This experience in building developer-focused tools likely gave Stebbings confidence in his ability to execute, aligning with the "people over product" philosophy. Harry Stebbings' firm, 20VC, recently raised a $400 million fund to be split between seed and Series A investments in both Europe and the US. The firm's seed fund writes checks from $500,000 to $5 million, fitting the profile of an early backer for a company like WorkOS. Stebbings is known for his founder-centric approach, stating that the founder is 90% of the investment decision. His firm has backed other notable companies like BeReal and Linktree, often getting involved at the earliest stages based on the strength of the founding team. The investment in WorkOS underscores a major trend in venture capital: backing experienced, technical founders who are building infrastructure for other startups. This "picks and shovels" play on the growing software economy is a popular strategy for investors looking for scalable, high-margin businesses.