• SKUx

  Led · Series A · Mar 2023

  SKUx develops SKUPay, a globally patented platform that delivers, redeems, settles and reports item-specific incentives and product-based payments. SKUPay enables serialized, product item-level payments down to the UPC so eligible items are authorized and ineligible items declined. The platform combines first-party data, mobile branding, offer serialization, secure digital payments and settlement to deliver incremental revenues and real-time transparency for merchants, brands and payment partners. SKUx highlights merchant benefits including lowering filtered-spend setup costs by 100x (implementation <25 hrs vs ~2,500 hrs), shortening time to market by 90%, eliminating UPC program management friction, and a mobile-first modern tech stack that keeps UPC data within the merchant domain. The company says the solution can unlock trillions of dollars in global incremental retail value for merchants, healthcare issuers, card networks, consumer packaged goods companies and mobile wallet providers. SKUx plans to use new capital to scale current product offerings and continue implementations with industry-leading global organizations across retail, CPG, payments and healthcare. The company announced an $11M Series A to support that scaling.

• Olatec Therapeutics

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2023

  Olatec Therapeutics is a Phase 2/3 clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a platform of oral NLRP3 inhibitors to treat and prevent a broad spectrum of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. Its lead compound, dapansutrile (OLT1177), is an investigational small molecule that specifically blocks NLRP3 and has been reported as well tolerated with observed clinical improvements in acute gout flare and heart failure. The company’s proprietary program includes approximately 60 OLT analogues being screened as potential drug candidates and a portfolio of more than 130 granted patents covering dapansutrile and the analogues. Olatec describes a drug development team with extensive translational medicine and inflammation expertise and involvement in discovery and development of first-line inflammation treatments. The company says it will use financing proceeds principally to advance dapansutrile into later-stage clinical development. The press release announcing the financing was issued from New York.

• Skydweller

  Led · Series A · Sep 2021

  Skydweller Aero is an aerospace company developing solar-powered, long-endurance aircraft and autonomous systems for defense and commercial industries. Led by CEO Dr. Robert Miller and based in Oklahoma City, the company builds air vehicles with a flexible payload system including communications relay, 4G/5G cellular, day/night full-motion video, satellite communications, and imaging radar. Its platforms are intended to enable persistent telecommunication, geospatial, meteorological, and emergency-operation capabilities in challenging areas for longer durations while reducing environmental impact. Skydweller plans to accelerate development and maturation of its autonomous systems for flight testing, begin designing and manufacturing air vehicles, and complete its information and intelligence-collection service offerings. The company announced a public contract award with the U.S. Navy's NAVAIR for over $5M to demonstrate its zero-carbon long-endurance solution. Skydweller also entered a partnership with Palantir Technologies to use the Foundry platform for processing large-scale and edge data.

• Stringr

  Participated · Equity · May 2020

  Stringr began as a marketplace connecting news organizations with videographers and has expanded into a broader cloud-based video production platform. The company reports a network of more than 100,000 videographers and has added tools for live streaming, transcription, and editing to streamline production. Some customers use Stringr just for footage, while others rely on it as a purely cloud-based solution for producing news programming when staff cannot come into the office. Stringr also launched Embed Studios, a division that uses its videographer network to create branded content for clients including Corcoran, Zillow, HBO Max, Amazon, TikTok, Mastercard, United Way and MGM. The company says demand has increased amid COVID-19 as media companies seek more cost-effective production workflows. Financially, Stringr has raised new funding and says its total capital raised is $7.25 million. Stringr operates a comprehensive video marketplace that enables media organizations to source custom footage, edit and publish under tight deadlines. The company leverages a nationwide network of more than 60,000 responsive videographers who provide broadcast-quality video in every major U.S. market. Stringr collaborates with The Associated Press by providing a selection of daily video stories for syndication through AP’s VideoHub marketplace. The company was founded in 2014 by Lindsay Stewart and Brian McNeill, who met at The Wharton School, and is based in New York City. Stringr raised more than $1M in the latest funding and has raised $4.6M to date. It intends to use the new funds to accelerate growth, including integration of its service into partners’ products. Stringr operates a marketplace that lets media customers post requests for footage and receive submissions, often in under an hour. The platform is open to professional videographers and casual contributors, but emphasizes quality through a curation team that works with both newsrooms and shooters. CEO and co-founder Lindsay Stewart previously worked as a TV news producer for ABC, Bloomberg and Fox News, and says the service was born from newsroom needs. Stringr currently hosts 10,000 videographers on its platform. The company's present focus is editorial footage for breaking news and evergreen stories, with potential to expand to other businesses that need video. Stringr plans to apply learnings from pilot markets toward a nationwide push.

No current team members are available.