Contexits
Blue hour over calm water, harbour lights blurred along the horizon

Capital for founders

AI needs context. Founders have it.

Capital and expertise for founders building on AI. From context to exit.

Get in touch

Context

Technology moves fast. Knowing the work still matters.

Contexits is a founder-led investment company in Knoxville, Tennessee. We invest our own capital in founders focused on AI.

Our starting point

We believe the strongest ideas come from knowing a field well. What customers need. Where time gets wasted. Which problems are worth solving. That knowledge gives AI a purpose.

Our principles

What we believe.

  • Know the work.

    Start with a field you understand. Stay close to the people who will use what you build.

  • Make AI useful.

    Give the technology a clear job. Judge it by how well it solves the problem.

  • Build for the long term.

    Make choices that strengthen the company over time. Keep earning the trust of customers.

Over the shoulder of a young woman in a sleeveless blouse, hair in a bun, working in a coding-agent terminal on a laptop, in a dock office at dawn with covered boat slips through the window

The work

Context matters more than code.

Before talking about what AI can do, we want to understand what needs to work better.

What do you see?

Which problem keeps coming up in your field? What have you learned that someone outside it might miss?

What would change?

How would solving that problem improve a customer’s day? Why is AI the right tool for the job?

Approach

Understand first. Build from there.

Our guiding approach to working with founders.

  1. 01

    Understand

    Start with the founder’s knowledge, the customer’s problem and the role AI can play.

  2. 02

    Set priorities

    Get clear on what matters next. Focus on the work that can make the business stronger.

  3. 03

    Put capital to work

    Tie capital to a clear purpose. Know what it should help the company do.

  4. 04

    Keep learning

    Listen to customers. Look at what works. Change course when the facts call for it.

Partners

For founders who know their field.

We want to hear from founders who share these priorities.

  • Founder-led

    You started the company and remain close to the work and the decisions.

  • Focused on AI

    AI has a clear role in what you are building and why it matters.

  • Firsthand knowledge

    You know the field, the customers and the problems they face.

  • A useful business

    You want to build something customers value and a company that can last.

From the founder

A founder’s point of view.

I built, grew and sold Sharper MMS, a marina management software company. I believe AI is most useful in the hands of founders who know their field. That belief guides Contexits.

Steve ChampionFounder, Contexits

The long view

Build a company worth owning.

We believe lasting value comes from doing useful work, serving customers well and making sound decisions over time.

Let the business lead.

A sale is one possible outcome. We believe the choice should follow what is right for the company and its founder.

Dawn over a wooded Norris Lake arm with mist in the hollows, Shanghai Resort Marina with its floating store, rows of covered slips and a buoy line in a cove, a bowrider under way and a small drone in the sky

Contact

Tell us what you know. And what you’re building.

A short email is a good place to start. Tell us about your company, the problem you see and where AI fits.

Email
info@contexits.com
Where we are
Knoxville, Tennessee