Refinery Ventures

Refinery Ventures is an early-scale venture capital firm founded in 2017 and headquartered in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio. The firm was founded by Managing Partner Tim Schigel — a veteran Midwestern entrepreneur and founder of ShareThis — to bridge the post-seed to Series A 'early scale' gap, investing in founders building from emerging venture markets outside coastal hubs. Refinery has raised three funds in seven years: Fund I in 2017, Fund II closed at $38 million in 2022, and Fund III with a $50 million target filed with the SEC in November 2024, bringing total committed capital across the platform to roughly $90 million. The team includes Tim Schigel alongside partners Patrick Gilligan and Peter Schmidt. The firm leads rounds with check sizes from $100,000 to $5 million and a sweet spot around $1.5 million, investing across B2B SaaS, digital health, and human capital technology — HR tech, leadership development, and talent platforms. Across approximately 30 investments to date, notable portfolio companies include Kernel Technologies (Series A, Refinery's most recent investment in October 2025), Fooji, ENGAGE Talent, Torch Leadership Labs, and RedCircle. Rather than chasing hype, Refinery emphasizes what it calls 'removing constraints': pairing capital with hands-on mentorship, operational guidance, and network access for founders at the inflection point between product-market fit and scale. The firm selects teams that exhibit energy, perseverance, commitment, and a clear market-changing vision — attributes that matter more at the early-scale stage than at pure seed, where the execution challenge shifts from proving a concept to building a repeatable, growing business.