VentureBoard cofounder Lewis Kerwin grew up loving the outdoors and spending as much time as possible roaming around the creeks and hills outside his childhood home in rural Oregon. At the same time, he enjoyed the simplicity and elegance of chess, which his father taught him at a young age.

Lewis’ love for games continued into adulthood. He  would often bring folding games on trips or devise makeshift board games at campsites. However, as he got more into chess he became increasingly frustrated with the difficulties in bringing this passtime on the go.

In 2020, on a long road-trip through Oregon, Lewis was playing chess and go with friends in the car but kept losing the game when the board was passed or the car hit a bump. Frustrated, he looked for a better portable game board online. When he found none, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He sketched up a blueprint for a new type of game board he thought could work for chess, go and other board games.

The sketch turned into a schematic, which turned into a makeshift prototype and Ventureboard was born.