Help us Support Food Gatherers!
In the spirit of giving during the Thanksgiving season, Augment Ventures proudly supports Ann Arbor-based Food Gatherers and its efforts to fight hunger and food insecurity in our community.
Food Gatherers is the food bank and food rescue program serving Washtenaw County. The lead agency for hunger relief in the County, Food Gatherers supports a network of more than 140 community partners with free and low-cost food, deliveries, and trainings. They operate several large direct service programs — the Food Gatherers Community Kitchen, the Summer Food Service Program, and the Healthy School Pantry Program — and work closely with community schools, universities, and healthcare providers to address gaps in services. Because hunger will not be solved with food alone, the organization advocates for policies and system changes to create an equitable food system.
In the last year, Food Gatherers distributed 9.9 million pounds of food — the equivalent of 8.2 million meals — through their network of partner programs.
Please join us in supporting Food Gatherers or your local food bank to help those families in need this holiday season.
Augment Events
Over the past month, Augment has been everywhere our founders and friends are. We hosted our annual meeting, ran AMA sessions in Ann Arbor and San Francisco, and brought the community together for a co-working day at Newlab in Detroit. These touchpoints reflect a consistent practice of staying close to the ecosystems we invest in, sharing insights openly, and building relationships that compound over time.
Augment Annual Meeting – Ann Arbor
Our meeting delivered a focused room and direct engagement from our LPs across the US. Sonali and the team broke down the venture industry, macro conditions, current trends, and a disciplined year-in-review. Six founders from Institutional Fund II introduced their companies and the innovative ideas they are building, giving LPs an unfiltered view. Thank you to our partners, Independent Bank for supporting the event!
Founders & Funders AMA – San Francisco Our first Bay Area AMA was standing room only, bringing together an energized group of founders and funders.
Tim Buchner and
Philipp Wehn, moderated by Sonali Vijayavargiya, led an insightful discussion that set a high bar for future SF events. We appreciate the support from
Cooley,
Weaver, and
Western Alliance Bank.
Founders & Funders AMA – Ann Arbor Ann Arbor delivered a packed room and strong founder engagement for our Michigan AMA.
Kurt Skifstad and
Rajesh Iyengar joined Sonali Vijayavargiya for a candid discussion that sparked thoughtful questions and great conversations. Thank you to our partners,
Western Alliance Bank,
Bamboo, and
Yeo & Yeo for helping make the event a success.
Co-Working Day in Michigan We wrapped the month with an engaging co-working day at Newlab Detroit, bringing the team together for strategy sessions, collaboration, and time on the ground with founders. The environment made it easy to dive into planning, share ideas, and align on upcoming initiatives. A big thank you to
Newlab Detroit and
Ann Arbor SPARK for hosting us in such inspiring and productive spaces.
Augment Portfolio Highlights
Trustwise Named Gartner 2025 “Cool Vendor” in Agentic AI Trustwise has been recognized in the 2025 Gartner “Cool Vendors for Agentic AI in Banking and Investment Services” report, highlighting its work in helping enterprises deploy autonomous AI agents safely and efficiently. The recognition underscores Trustwise’s leadership in the runtime trust space—its Harmony AI platform serves as a control-tower for fleets of AI agents, enabling enterprise-grade governance, compliance, and operational alignment. To read more on the announcement click
here.
Optilogic Featured in Inc.’s 2025 Power Partners Optilogic was recently featured in Inc. Magazine as part of the 2025 Inc. Power Partner list, highlighting companies that are helping businesses streamline and strengthen operations from warehouse to doorstep. The piece spotlights Optilogic’s impact through customers like Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, underscoring how the platform enables more resilient, efficient, and future-ready supply chain design. For more on the announcement click
here.
ConverSight Launches AI Analytics for QuickBooks Online ConverSight has introduced a new AI-driven analytics solution for QuickBooks Online, giving finance teams instant, conversational access to insights across accounting, cash flow, budgeting, and performance metrics. The integration helps SMBs streamline financial visibility and decision-making without manual reporting. This release further strengthens ConverSight’s position as a leading intelligence layer for business operations. Read more here.