Led · Series C · May 2024

StrongDM offers Zero Trust Privileged Access Management (PAM) products that apply continuous, policy-based controls by leveraging user actions and context to enhance enterprise security. Its platform scrutinizes each user action and context in real time, enabling immediate blocking or additional verification for risky activities. The company plans to roll out advanced policy-based control features in the coming months, including micro-authorizations and contextual enforcement designed for CISOs and security teams. Led by CEO Tim Prendergast, StrongDM emphasizes contextual enforcement for critical infrastructure security. The company is based in Palo Alto, California. Following the latest round, its total funding has reached $96M. strongDM is an enterprise-grade platform that combines authentication, authorization, networking, and observability into a single infrastructure access solution. It works with every infrastructure environment, including legacy and multi-cloud, and uses a protocol-aware proxy that produces a net new audit log for audit readiness out-of-the-box. The product enables least-privilege and role-based access controls at scale, automates workflows for technical staff, allows DevOps to treat access as code, and ensures access is locked down from instance spin up to tear down. The platform is used by Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing businesses such as Peloton, SoFi, Chime, Yext, and Better. Led by co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Zalman, the company plans to use new funding to expand operations and broaden its business reach. The recent $54M Series B strengthens its financial position to execute those growth initiatives. StrongDM offers a single sign-on client that mediates and audits developer access to databases, servers and cloud infrastructure. Users authenticate via existing SSO providers (e.g., Okta, OneLogin) and a local client grants and logs access, including a video replay of activity. The company charges a single plan at $50 per user per month. StrongDM says it has grown 3x over the last year and serves about 100 customers, including Hearst, SoFi, and Peloton. The team counts 35 employees and the company was cofounded in 2015 by Elizabeth Zalman, Justin McCarthy, and Schuyler Brown. Its product targets administering and auditing access across heterogeneous infrastructure without handing out usernames and passwords. strongDM is a Burlingame, CA-based control plane that reduces the work to manage permissions and audit activity for overburdened infrastructure teams. The platform recently expanded protocol support for Linux servers, Windows servers, and every database type. The company launched an open-source project called Comply to help customers prepare for SOC 2 compliance. strongDM serves clients including SoFi, Better Mortgage and Makespace. The company closed a $1M expansion financing round and will use the proceeds to expand its sales and marketing teams. strongDM is led by co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Zalman. strongDM provides a centralized tool for managing permissions, provisioning, and monitoring access to databases so companies can limit who can query or change sensitive data. The product enforces fine‑grained access controls, helps revoke access when employees leave, and records who is making queries or changes to detect misuse. strongDM says it originally offered broader analytics but shifted focus to preventing database leaks after customer demand. The company positions itself as an alternative for organizations without large security budgets or dedicated staff to cobble together open‑source tooling and database‑specific monitoring. strongDM aims to make it easy for engineers to manage access centrally while reducing the risk of internal leaks and outside hacks. CEO Elizabeth Zalman is quoted describing the product’s role in protecting the “crown jewels” of a business.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2022

Prizeout is a New York-based adtech company founded in 2019 and led by CEO David Metz. The company works across gaming, neobanks, crypto, the gig economy, payroll and finance to convert withdrawals into growth solutions for e-commerce and retail businesses. Through exclusive partnerships Prizeout offers users bonus offers on brand favorites while providing a fast, secure and curated experience. On the merchant side it has secured partnerships with thousands of national and local brands via gift card partnerships, point-of-sale integrations and proprietary gift-card technology. Prizeout sells a B2B2C offering that embeds these incentives into partner flows and plans to expand that reach, advance product innovation and grow headcount following its latest funding.

Participated · Series D · Nov 2021

Jackpocket’s core product is a mobile-first lottery ticket ordering service that purchases physical tickets on users’ behalf, provides watermarked scanned images, and enforces age and location compliance via GPS and ID checks. The app has 2.5 million active users and currently operates in 10 U.S. states, with active-user growth up 300% in the past eight months. Its business model charges a 9% fee on customer deposits (no fee on winnings used to play and no withdrawal fee). The company emphasizes responsible gaming with spending monitoring and an initial $100-per-day cap. Jackpocket plans to use new funding to expand beyond lottery ticket sales into broader mobile gaming (raffles, sweepstakes, bingo, social casino games), invest in technology and best practices from e-commerce, subscriptions, and mobile wallets, and expand into additional states and partnerships. It operates out of New York with an operation in Santa Barbara, CA, where CEO Peter Sullivan is based. Jackpocket is a NYC-based licensed third-party app that provides a secure way to order official state lottery tickets. Led by CEO and founder Peter Sullivan, the app enables users to automatically order official state lottery tickets through the company's licensed service. It is currently available in Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington, D.C. The company closed a $50M Series C round to support growth. Jackpocket intends to use the funds to grow its user base as it launches in new jurisdictions and to expand the team. The company is expanding to many new markets. Jackpocket is a mobile-first third-party app that enables players to order official state lottery tickets such as Powerball and Mega Millions and to manage plays through features like lottery pools, autoplay, and result checking. The company emphasizes security, including automatically locking a player’s identity to a ticket serial number. Jackpocket is available in Minnesota, New Hampshire and Texas and said it is expanding to many new markets in 2019. Since its Series B announcement the company reports it has tripled ticket sales and grown its player base by over 150% in six months, and it has awarded $1 million in player prizes in 2019 to date. The platform is positioned as a no-cost, no-integration turnkey solution for lotteries to drive incremental revenue and attract new customers such as millennials. Leadership includes founder and CEO Peter Sullivan, with recent senior advisors Gavin Isaacs and Paul Palmieri. Jackpocket is the first third-party mobile app in the U.S. that enables users to order official state lottery tickets (Powerball, Mega Millions and state games) and check results. Its core product includes a proprietary ticket-scanning and processing technology that uses machine learning, a Pools feature for group plays, and autoplay functionality. The app enforces responsible-play measures such as a $100 daily limit per user and in-app access to the National Council on Problem Gambling. Jackpocket is available in New Hampshire and Minnesota and was recently inducted as an Associate Member of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. The company says its platform is a no-cost, no-integration turnkey solution that helps lotteries drive incremental revenue and attract new players. Management plans to use new capital to expand the service into additional jurisdictions.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2021

Cleancult is a NYC-based sustainable cleaning brand founded in 2019 by Ryan Lupberger and Zachary Bedrosian. It offers a full lineup of home cleaning essentials—liquid hand soap, laundry detergent, stain stick, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap, bar soap—made with biodegradable plant-based formulas, many featuring its patented CocoClean Technology. The company emphasizes zero-waste packaging, using recyclable milk cartons and offering reusable glass dispensers instead of plastic bottles. Cleancult closed a $25M Series B with investors including Reynolds Channel, Anchor Capital, Box Group, Vanterra Capital, Blue Scorpion Investments, Hartbeat Ventures (Kevin Hart), and Rachel Zoe Ventures. As part of the financing, Seth Cohen (Managing Partner, Reynolds Channel) and Mark Zurcher (former CEO of Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP) will join the board. With the new funding the company plans to add retailer partners and expand into an additional 2,500 stores, growing its retail presence to over 5,500 stores across the U.S. and Canada, including CVS, Bed Bath & Beyond and Meijer.