Keystone Investing is proud to announce that we have served as Lead Investor in Builders + Backers’ recent capital raise. Members of the Keystone community from all three chapters—Washington, DC; Austin; and St. Louis—participated in the round, marking one of the largest investments Keystone has made to date.
Builders + Backers, founded by Donna Harris, is redefining how entrepreneurs launch and scale new ventures. Through its AI-powered venture studio, the platform enables everyday innovators to validate ideas, run rapid experiments, and build businesses with a level of rigor and sophistication once limited to elite startup ecosystems.
Built on a proprietary dataset informed by thousands of founder conversations and a proven venture-building methodology, Builders + Backers is unlocking entrepreneurial potential for founders across diverse backgrounds and geographies—particularly those historically underserved by traditional startup infrastructure.
“What stood out most about Keystone was their values alignment and how genuinely the community cares about supporting founders,” said Harris. “Their commitment to supporting my vision and journey—not just the business—made them the right financial partners for us.”
This investment reflects Keystone Investing’s conviction in both the Builders + Backers team and their mission to expand access to entrepreneurship nationwide and beyond. We are honored to support Donna and the Builders + Backers team as they continue to scale their impact and empower the next generation of builders.