• Planetarians

  Participated · Seed · Feb 2023

  Planetarians develops whole-cut plant-based proteins using upcycled ingredients such as sunflower oil cake and brewer’s yeast. Founded in 2013 by Aleh Manchuliantsau and chef Max Barnthouse, the company pivoted from nutritional drinks to plant-based "vegan meat" and is launching ribs as its first product using only two FDA GRAS ingredients. Its approach captures benefits of solid-state fermentation without building fermentation infrastructure by sourcing brewer’s yeast as a byproduct from AB InBev. Planetarians has verified its technology at industrial scale, tested products with hotels, restaurants and schools, and secured its first commercial contract. The company says its product is priced on par with chicken and claims a carbon footprint 50x better than animal meat and 9x better than other plant-based meats. Planetarians plans to use the new funding to build a pilot facility (as small as 3,000 sq ft), ramp up sales, bring a second production line online in October, and work with AB InBev to place lines across breweries; it estimates $3 million would launch a full line producing up to 15 million pounds per year. The recent financing is a Seed II that raised about $6.7 million in total, including a $6M tranche. PLANETARIANS, based in San Mateo, CA, has developed a one-step technology that sterilizes, destroys anti-nutrients, and functionalizes fiber to upcycle spent sunflower into a high-protein, high-fiber flour. The company says the resulting flour delivers three-times the protein and two-times the fiber of wheat flour at the same cost. Its ingredient can replace about 30% of existing flour in recipes without changing texture or flavor, and PLANETARIANS has been conducting product trials with Barilla’s R&D pilot plant in Italy. It has also worked with Italian CPG Amadori to create flexitarian meatballs and ragù, and has expanded tested applications to snacks, pasta, baked goods, meat products, breakfast items, dips, and purees. The company reported that chips made from its upcycled ingredients posted 69% month-to-month growth on Amazon. PLANETARIANS plans to use the recent funding to continue customer trials and broaden its range of product applications.

• Octi

  Participated · Equity · Jan 2020

  Octi offers an AR-first social network that uses a smartphone camera to recognize people and display an "AR belt" of virtual posts, media and effects around them. The app’s face-recognition is powered by a neural network and runs on-device for privacy, with optimizations (prioritizing friends-of-friends) that the company says can identify a friend in as little as 20 milliseconds. AR belts and related content are visible only to approved friends, and the product is designed for in-person interactions while still allowing profile browsing remotely. Octi began as an effort to improve body and movement recognition and has repurposed that tech into its social platform, which is now live. Financially, Octi has raised a total of €10.8 million to date, including a €6.76 million seed round and a more recent €4 million financing. Octi develops machine learning and computer-vision technology that detects human key points and constructs a skeletal model to enable AR effects tied to body position and motion. Unlike plane-based AR, Octi’s system recognizes people in-camera and can apply overlays, erase bodies, or trigger effects from gestures. The company demonstrates gesture-driven features (for example, a “make it rain” motion) and visual overlays such as animated lines that track dancers. Octi positions the technology for use in fashion, fitness, entertainment and gaming. It maintains a public iOS app that functions as a technology showcase for partners. Octi recently raised $7.5 million in seed funding from a group of strategic and venture investors.

• PartyWith

  Participated · Equity · Oct 2017

  PartyWith (formerly Party with a Local) is a revamped mobile app that helps users discover and join nightlife events and meet new people in person. The app emphasizes events — clubbing, live music, festivals, bars and genre-specific nights — with listings added primarily by users. PartyWith has tested brand partnerships and sponsored events with Budweiser, TimeOut and Thrillist, though it does not yet have formal relationships with event organizers. The founder, Dan Fennessy, says the app is not for dating and the team removed gender filters to discourage hookup use. The company reports more than 170,000 users and a team of five from five continents, and the new version is available as a free download on the App Store. Longer-term plans include expanding into other verticals such as meals, sports and broader social meetups.

No current team members are available.