Erik Benson

Investing in AI that acts

📍 Seattle, Washington, United States🔄 Updated September 2026💼 22 investments📅 28 years investing🗓 Last invested Jul 2025𝕏 @upgrade_to_unlock
VC🌍 United States20+ investments
22
Total investments
7
Early stage
2
Mid stage
3
Late stage
28y
Years active

Portfolio

16 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
VC Investor
Jul 2025
We build robots that pick, trim and pack mushrooms. Were live on 3 continents.
Investor
Dec 2024
Contentstack is the creator of the headless CMS and is the Composable Digital Experience Platform (DXP) category leader. Iconic brands around the world, such as Alaska Airlines, ASICS, Burberry, Mattel, Mitsubishi and Walmart, invest in Contentstack to rise above the noise in todays crowded and competitive digital markets and to gain their unique Experience Edge. Contentstack and its employees are dedicated to the customers and communities they serve. The company is recognized for its unmatched customer care and tradition of giving back globally through the Contentstack Cares program, including proud support of Pledge 1% and Girls Who Code. Learn more at www.contentstack.com.
Investor
Mar 2023
Ground combat is defined by unforgiving terrain, harsh conditions, and split-second decisions. At Overland AI, we enhance ground power while protecting lives. Our OverDrive autonomy stack enables ground vehicles to navigate off-road without GPS or direct operator control, while our OverWatch C2 interface provides commanders with precisely coordinated capabilities that are vital for complex missions on the modern battlefield. Overland AI is developing these capabilities and putting them into the hands of tactical operators today. Partnering with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, SOCOM, DARPA, and DIU, we are delivering advanced solutions that reduce risk and empower soldiers to succeed in contested environments. Join us in shaping the future of ground operations and national security.
Investor
Nov 2021
We’re a growing agricultural technology company helping farmers simplify their irrigation. Our FarmHQ system for mobile irrigation protects crops, reduces waste, and cuts down on stress for farmers. FarmHQ was designed, built, and tested by farmers in Skagit Valley, Washington, U.S.A.
early stageFarming
Board Member
2021
Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based agricultural robotics startup founded in 2018, builds innovative agricultural tools that empower farmers to operate more efficiently. Carbon Robotics’ revolutionary, high-precision laserweeding leverages sophisticated AI technology to improve crop quality, provide safer working conditions for farmers, reduce overall costs associated with modern farming, and create sustainable paths to regenerative and organic farming. The company launched its first product, the Autonomous LaserWeeder, in April 2021, raised a $27M Series B round in September 2021, and revealed its new LaserWeeder implement in February 2022. What’s it like working at Carbon Robotics? We are a no-nonsense team of passionate people with a bias for action. We know that our ability to execute on our ideas is what sets us apart. We do what we say we are going to do, externally and internally. We trust our people to act independently and make practical, real-world decisions.
Advisor, Seed Investor
May 2020
The way candidates and hiring managers find each other hasn’t changed in a while. On one hand, you have a mountain of anonymous candidates that managers have to sort through. On the other hand, you have recruiting firms that charge an enormous fee and work from a limited Rolodex. There’s not much in between, and for hiring managers and candidates alike, the process often feels overwhelming and frustrating. Worse still, you can end up with a less-than-diverse pool of candidates. Candidate.co has reinvented the process. We’ve created a unique platform that unlocks the power of personal referral networks to connect companies that are ready to scale with the best talent available. We do this by creating a diverse network of connectors that are incentivized and armed with the right information to refer the best person for the opportunity. We offer a significant cash incentive so they take the time to understand the role, the ideal candidate, and connect the right person. Hiring managers get qualified, diverse leads quickly, and for far less than they would pay a recruiting firm. And candidates have a better chance to find the perfect role to meet their potential. At Candidate, we believe there’s magic in the perfect match. It’s what motivates us every day and it’s going to change the way humans and companies connect forever.
Advisor, Seed Investor
Jun 2019
Rebellion Defense builds the modern mission stack to detect and deter adversaries at scale. Today, national security is defined by technological superiority. Rebellion delivers the software advantage to deter threats and drive mission success. Our freedoms depend on outthinking our adversaries, and software will shape who leads. We bring together groundbreaking talent who have built the world’s most successful consumer technologies and national security leaders who deeply understand the mission. Together, we are creating the products that equip our service members to see ahead, understand, and act first. Our people are passionate about creating a company where technologists empower the military and our civil servants to solve some of the hardest problems in government. We are hiring incredible technologists to work on products that defend democracy, humanitarian values, and the rule of law.
VC Investor
2015
Zipwhip is the leading business-texting platform in North America, helping more than 30,000 organizations engage their customers and drive growth through texting. Zipwhip has text-enabled more than 5 million landline and toll-free phone numbers so that businesses can reach their customers immediately, on the channel they prefer. Organizations can text-enable their business lines in minutes and seamlessly fit texting into their existing workflows using Zipwhip’s out-of-the-box software or customizable APIs. And with the most direct carrier connections of any texting provider, Zipwhip offers the fastest and most reliable message delivery in the industry so you know your customers get the message every time. Your customers are only a text away: https://www.zipwhip.com. www.twitter.com/zipwhip www.facebook.com/zipwhip www.instagram.com/zipwhip
VC Investor
Sep 2014
Please visit pressganey.com to learn more about our online reputation tools.
Board Member
Sep 2014
Rio SEO is the leader in local marketing for enterprise brands, powering the Local Experience (LX) Platform – a comprehensive, seamlessly integrated suite of turnkey local marketing and customer experience (CX) solutions that deliver impactful hyperlocal experiences at scale, across the entire brand presence. The world’s leading multi-location brands – retailers, restaurants, hospitality, financial services, healthcare, and more – rely on Rio SEO’s proven technology and local marketing expertise to drive visibility and motivated, measurable traffic online and to physical locations. Rio SEO is a PG Forsta company.
Board Member
Jun 2014
Closed and inactive. Skyward was a Portland startup acquired by Verizon in 2017 and merged into Verizon Robotics in 2022.
Board Member
Feb 2010
Anova Data is the only end-to-end 360 degree analytics framework to radically shift an operator’s position from reactive to proactive. The framework delivers out-of-the-box analytics applications allowing the operator to realize the untapped potential of network assets across a number of functions such as marketing, monetization, customer care, network assurance, and end-to-end service orchestration.
VC Investor
2010
Electric mobility is the smart choice. We make it the easy one, too. So easy that someone plugs into our network every 1 second. Since 2007, we’ve focused solely on building the best electric vehicle (EV) charging experience for everyone involved in the shift to electric.
Former Board Member
2010
Act-On Software provides the innovative marketing automation platform for marketers who think big and act boldly. As the last independent MAP provider, we focus 100% on serving marketers. Our innovation focuses on marketing efficiency, powerful AI features built into the software, the promise of data freedom and integration, and personal dedication to your success through human support and professional services. We push the possibilities of marketing automation forward, with AI and machine learning solutions to advanced marketing problems. Act-On is marketing automation for the future. From our headquarters in Portland, Oregon, Act-On Software serves enterprise customers such as Hitachi, Sharp, Best Buy, Flextronics, Red Lions Hotels, and SKF Group. Features include: Marketing automation Lead scoring Advanced analytics Dynamic forms SMS marketing Account-based marketing Email deliverability Email marketing automation Marketing segmentation Lead management Lead nurturing Social media marketing CRM integration Sales intelligence ROI reporting Our values: *Put People First *Be Yourself *Do Your Best (Together) *Make it Better Committed to Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging: At Act-On Software, we strive to uphold an inclusive environment where all people feel respected, valued and a true sense of belonging. We welcome applicants irrespective of race or ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, educational background, socioeconomic status, disability, or veteran status, and we’d love to explore what you can add to our team.
Board Member
Apr 2008
AWS Elemental simplifies how content creators, rights holders, producers, broadcasters, and distributors use the cloud to build, deploy, and reinvent media workloads, making it easier to select the right tools and achieve faster time to value.
Show all 16 investments ↓
Experience · 32 entries
All (32)
Investments (22)
Founder (1)
Board (10)
2025
VC Investor
Jul 2025
We build robots that pick, trim and pack mushrooms. Were live on 3 continents.
2024
Investor
Dec 2024
Contentstack is the creator of the headless CMS and is the Composable Digital Experience Platform (DXP) category leader. Iconic brands around the world, such as Alaska Airlines, ASICS, Burberry, Mattel, Mitsubishi and Walmart, invest in Contentstack to rise above the noise in todays crowded and competitive digital markets and to gain their unique Experience Edge. Contentstack and its employees are dedicated to the customers and communities they serve. The company is recognized for its unmatched customer care and tradition of giving back globally through the Contentstack Cares program, including proud support of Pledge 1% and Girls Who Code. Learn more at www.contentstack.com.
2023
Investor
Mar 2023
Ground combat is defined by unforgiving terrain, harsh conditions, and split-second decisions. At Overland AI, we enhance ground power while protecting lives. Our OverDrive autonomy stack enables ground vehicles to navigate off-road without GPS or direct operator control, while our OverWatch C2 interface provides commanders with precisely coordinated capabilities that are vital for complex missions on the modern battlefield. Overland AI is developing these capabilities and putting them into the hands of tactical operators today. Partnering with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, SOCOM, DARPA, and DIU, we are delivering advanced solutions that reduce risk and empower soldiers to succeed in contested environments. Join us in shaping the future of ground operations and national security.
2021
Investor
Nov 2021
We’re a growing agricultural technology company helping farmers simplify their irrigation. Our FarmHQ system for mobile irrigation protects crops, reduces waste, and cuts down on stress for farmers. FarmHQ was designed, built, and tested by farmers in Skagit Valley, Washington, U.S.A.
early stageFarming
Board Member
2021
Videon is dedicated to making live video work at scale. Videon replaces encoder real estate and laptops with a first-of-its-kind edge compute environment housed in an array of compact devices and portable form factors — the cornerstone of the LiveEdge® Ecosystem. The LiveEdge® Ecosystem is continuously growing, adding native features, functionality, and new edge computing containers from a growing network of industry-leading partners. Additionally, the LiveEdge® Ecosystem enables customers to quickly develop, test, and deploy custom containers, tailoring solutions to their unique needs. The LiveEdge® Ecosystem, Developer Program, and Developer Toolkit support a community of world-class video engineers, enabling workflows never thought possible, pushing the boundaries with normalization, data-driven automation, sub-second latency, and providing a foundation for AI/ML-driven use cases, all resulting in a decreased TCO. Deployed in 400+ sports venues, OB vans and production packs, LiveEdge® is processing tens of thousands of hours of real-time data and video, enabling live advertising, syndication, multiviewers, and betting environments. Join the community that is making live video easier, smarter, and more efficient. For more information, visit www.videonlabs.com.
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Investment activity
1998–2025 · 22 investments
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