Participated · Equity · Nov 2021

Ampler Bikes is an Estonian direct-to-consumer company that designs and sells light e-bikes, including flagship models Curt, Stout and Stellar. Founded in 2016, it launched those models and opened a Berlin showroom in 2018. The company has sold thousands of e-bikes across Europe and employs around 130 people across offices in Tallinn, Berlin and Cologne. Ampler recently closed a €7.4M equity funding round at a €47M valuation. It will use the capital to expand operations and business reach, targeting the Netherlands and Switzerland as next core markets alongside Germany. Planned moves include opening new showrooms and service centers, with the next showroom planned for Amsterdam's Haarlemmerbuurt neighborhood.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2021

Ampler is an Estonian direct-to-consumer brand that designs and manufactures light e-bikes, including flagship models Curt, Stout and Stellar launched in 2018. The company hand-assembles all e-bikes in its own factory and has sold thousands of bikes across Europe. Ampler operates offices in Tallinn, Berlin and Cologne and employs about 130 people. The company plans to expand into the Netherlands and Switzerland alongside Germany by opening new showrooms and service centers, with the next showroom slated for Amsterdam's Haarlemmerbuurt neighborhood. Ampler intends to double headcount and showrooms in 2022 and build a carbon-neutral factory by 2023 with assembly capacity of at least 100,000 bikes per year. Most recently it closed a €7.4M equity round that values the company at €47M to support these expansion plans.

Participated · Series C · Sep 2019

Founded in 2013, Pomelo operates as both an online and physical fashion retailer offering women’s apparel, shoes, bags, and accessories that blend local, global, and South Korean (Soko) trends. The company employs artificial intelligence to optimize pricing, assist in design decisions, and personalize its e-commerce experience. Currently, Pomelo runs nine stores across Bangkok, Phuket, and Singapore while selling region-wide through its website. Management plans to expand aggressively, targeting 150 branches throughout Southeast Asia by 2023 and establishing new outlets in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Manila, and Ho Chi Minh City. Beyond storefront growth, the firm intends to further develop its supply-chain automation platform to support scaling. To date, Pomelo has secured more than US$83 million in total funding, providing capital for geographic expansion and technology investment. The company is led by CEO David Jou.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2014

Senseg develops solid‑state haptic technology that delivers precise tactile sensations to users’ fingertips, based on Ph.D. research at Helsinki University of Technology. Its solution adds tactile effects to touch interfaces, enabling users to feel locations, edges and textures on smooth glass screens—creating so‑called “feelscreens.” The company plans to integrate the technology into a new generation of touch interface devices. To bring its initial product to market, Senseg intends to hire a software lead and Android application developers, especially those with mobile game development experience. Senseg is led by CEO Paul Costigan and was founded in 2006 by CTO Ville Makinen. The company is based in Espoo, Finland, and also maintains offices in the U.S., Japan and China. It recently raised funding to support these go‑to‑market hires and product integration efforts. Senseg is a Finnish startup that developed E‑Sense, a virtual tactile‑interface technology that generates the feel of virtual buttons on smooth surfaces. E‑Sense produces localized tactile sensations without mechanical motors by embedding a thin, flexible film into surfaces, enabling precise “tixels” and avoiding wear from moving parts. The company plans to sell the technology as a combined hardware and software platform with several software elements providing content. Senseg says the film can be added to many surfaces—including phone and computer screens, game controllers, car GPS screens, and textiles—and gives examples such as guiding fingers on a GPS or providing feedback in games and Microsoft Surface tables. The technology has several patents pending, and Senseg was recently funded by Ambient Sound Investments and Seed Fund Vera; the amount of the investment was not revealed. Senseg said the technology would be available to a select group of manufacturers in the second half of 2008, with first products expected to launch early the following year.

Participated · Series A · May 2010

GuardTime offers a service architecture that provides independently verifiable proof of data integrity, a capability often required by companies and financial organizations. The company’s solution produces proof that depends solely on the data itself and is independent of storage device, third-party validation, or secret keys, according to CEO Mike Gault. GuardTime positions its offering as an alternative to expensive hardware/software and rigid internal processes from vendors such as EMC, IBM, or Hitachi Data Systems. The company said it will use the $8M Series A to help roll out its global infrastructure for delivering its provable data integrity service. GuardTime was founded by cryptography experts Dr. Märt Saarepera and Dr. Ahto Buldas along with Joi Ito and Ambient Sound Investments. The company was founded in Estonia and is headquartered in Japan.