Lisa Benson

Lisa Benson is listed among the team/investor roster of H/L Ventures, the New York-based venture firm founded in 2009 by Eric Hatzimemos and Oliver Libby, and she uses an `@h-l.vc` firm email. She is identified as a Venture Partner / angel-style investor associated with the firm and its CityRock Venture Partners funds. Beyond her affiliation with H/L Ventures, detailed public biographical information (education, prior roles, years) specific to this individual was not verifiable from primary sources at the time of research; the material below therefore describes the platform through which she invests rather than inventing personal details.

H/L Ventures describes itself as "one of the first modern venture studios" and a "holistic company-building ecosystem." It blends a venture studio (H/L Studio, for pre–Series A companies) with an investment arm (CityRock Venture Partners) under what it calls a "Daily Active Engagement" model — pairing capital with hands-on operating support from inception to exit. Venture Partners at firms structured like this typically source deals, advise portfolio companies, and co-invest alongside the core funds.

The firm's investing is explicitly impact- and diversity-oriented: it reports that underrepresented founders make up roughly 84.6% of CityRock's founders, which it cites as about 3.1x higher than industry norms. CityRock closed Fund I (fully deployed across ~15 companies) and, in July 2024, Fund II at $24M, focused on Seed and Series A startups in climate/energy, healthcare, fintech, protective industries, and future of work.

• Invests in early-stage, mission-driven founders — the firm's stated belief is that "mission-driven founders can build inspiring and valuable companies, from inception to exit."
• Explicit thesis of investing "at the nexus of growth, impact and diversity," with a strong preference for diverse and underrepresented founding teams.
• Stage: Seed and Series A (studio-built and pre–Series A companies flow through H/L Studio; CityRock leads/participates at Series A).
• Check size (firm): roughly $100K–$5M, with a ~$1.5M sweet spot.
• Sectors: climate/energy, healthcare, fintech, future of work, protective/safety industries, and mobility.
• What makes them say yes: founders who fit the growth-plus-impact model and who can benefit from active, hands-on company-building support rather than passive capital.