Led · Series C · Apr 2022

Upside Foods, led by CEO Dr. Uma Valeti, is developing a way to grow real meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells without raising or slaughtering animals. The company raised $400M in a Series C to support commercialization and scale-up. Upside plans to use the funds to build a commercial production facility with a planned annual capacity of tens of millions of pounds of cultivated meat products and an initial focus on chicken. The facility is being designed to produce any species in both ground and whole-cut formats. Proceeds will also be used to build a supply chain for critical cell feed components to reduce costs and enable greater scale, and to invest in R&D for next-generation cultivated products. Other priorities include enhancing consumer education and continuing to grow its more than 170-person team; pending regulatory review, Upside expects to be available to U.S. consumers later this year. Memphis Meats develops methods to produce meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells without breeding or slaughtering animals. Led by co-founder and CEO Uma Valeti, M.D., the company demonstrated a cell-based meatball in February 2016 and a cell-based poultry product in March 2017. It plans to build a pilot production facility, continue growing its team, and launch products into the market. The company completed a $161m Series B and has raised more than $180m in total funding to date. The round also extends Memphis Meats’ coalition into Asia, which the company sees as a strategically valuable market. Memphis Meats develops cell-cultured “clean meat,” having already synthesized beef, chicken and duck in small-scale production. The company is focused on scaling production and lowering cost so meat can be grown at commercial scale. It envisions production facilities that resemble craft breweries where meat is grown, harvested and cooked rather than slaughterhouses. Current operations are small-scale and used for testing and development; the team tests many cell varieties and can produce enough meat to feed a family of four-to-eight for a big meal. Future product work includes targeting flavor profiles and consistencies to make the tastiest meat possible. The company presents the offering as actual meat produced directly from cells rather than plant-based substitutes. Memphis Meats positions the technology as a potential large-scale alternative to conventional animal agriculture. Memphis Meats develops biologically identical meat grown from animal cells in a lab, aiming to produce real meat without industrial animal slaughter. The company cultivates cells in dishes to create ground and, eventually, formed meats such as chicken breast, steak and potentially whole turkey. It positions its products as cruelty-free and more planet-friendly than conventional animal agriculture, citing water use and foodborne-illness concerns with traditional meat. Memphis Meats operates from a Bay Area lab and has produced prototype products (including video of a beef-like product). The company aims to get its “clean meat” products on shelves within the next five years and is working to prepare consumer acceptance. Financially, it has raised a $3 million seed round and is running an Indiegogo campaign that has brought in more than $52,000 from nearly 700 backers.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2020

Sway Medical develops mobile software for neurological assessment, offering patented tests that leverage the accuracy of sensors built into any mobile device. Its FDA-cleared testing platform allows users to test balance and cognitive performance in the clinic or remotely on any mobile device. The company is an MDSAP-certified medical device manufacturer with regulatory clearances in the United States, Canada, the European Union and Australia. Founded in 2011 by CEO Chase Curtiss and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sway intends to use the Series A proceeds to expand in Tulsa by adding to its product team and sales organization. It closed a $4.2M Series A financing to fund that expansion. The company's product and international clearances position it for broader clinical and remote-use adoption. Sway Medical develops Sway Balance, a mobile medical diagnostics app that uses motion sensors in smartphones to perform clinical-grade balance testing. Led by founder and CEO Chase Curtiss, the app provides a mobile alternative to standard pen-and-paper diagnostic tests and can show whether a person has probably suffered a concussion. Sway Balance is available for medical professionals and distributors on the Apple iOS App Store and gathers evidence in moments. Its technology is currently used for instantaneous clinical management of concussions in athletes aged 10 through adulthood. Future versions are planned to assist monitoring patient outcomes in physical therapy, orthopedic and primary care practices, senior living facilities, and worksite medical clinics. The company also announced a strategic partnership with ImPACT Applications to create new tools and expand distribution at sporting events. Sway Medical completed a $750k tranche of its Series A and has raised $1.325m in total funding to date. Sway Medical Technologies is a Tulsa, OK-based mobile software company founded in 2011 and led by CEO Chase Curtiss. It develops medical-grade mobile applications to monitor patient outcomes in orthopedics, geriatrics, and pharmacology, and to provide on-field assessment of concussion symptoms in athletes. Its initial product, Sway Balance, is an FDA-cleared balance system that uses existing hardware in mobile devices for stability assessment. The company recently closed $700K in funding, with $300K invested by the OKAngel Sidecar Fund, managed by i2E, Inc., and the remainder from Oklahoma-based angel investors. Sway Medical's software-focused approach centers on leveraging mobile devices for clinical and field assessments. The OKAngel Sidecar Fund is one of three Accelerate Oklahoma! investment vehicles created in 2011 by i2E in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the U.S. Treasury State Small Business Credit Initiative.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2017

ADAY designs season-less, versatile women's ready-to-wear that combine technical fabric properties (sweat-wicking, quick-drying, UV- and chlorine-protected, wrinkle-free) with minimalist styling. Its collections center on a seven-piece capsule wardrobe plus the Technically Tailored and Multiplicity lines that emphasize multiway wear and professional/social versatility. The company invests heavily in R&D and prioritizes sustainability by avoiding complex dyeing processes and using durable materials. ADAY launched in 2015 and sells predominantly online, with roughly 90% of revenue coming from online sales. It supplements e-commerce with pop-up shops and plans to open a permanent retail location in 2018. The brand also uses social activists as models and has attracted both institutional and angel investors to date.