The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Aug 2026

Grounded was founded in 2022 and develops modular, “Lego-like” interior systems and software (Grounded+) that convert van chassis into configurable workspaces for commercial customers. The company initially focused on electric vans but pivoted to a vehicle-agnostic approach after OEM shifts, embracing both electric and combustion-powered models. Grounded has won customers across commercial, medical, veterinary, food and beverage, and public safety sectors, including Colgate, Nokia, Wayne State University Medical, and the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii. It recently opened a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit where production starts this month and capacity will ramp next year. The $5 million seed financing will support scaling manufacturing and expanding the company’s modular customization platform to service a broader set of fleet needs.

Participated · Series A · Jan 2026

Array Labs is preparing to launch what it describes as the world's first coordinated fleet of radar satellites to provide high-resolution, continuously updated intelligence worldwide, operating day or night and through clouds. The company has validated core formation-flying and multistatic radar technologies and has secured competitive R&D contracts with DARPA, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force. Array is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., and is backed by investors including Y Combinator, Catapult Ventures, Kompas VC, and Washington Harbour Partners. In July 2026 Array raised an additional $21 million in an oversubscribed strategic round anchored by Mitsubishi Electric, which also entered a partnership with Array to develop maritime and aircraft tracking services for defense and security customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The company positions this strategic capital to advance its technology and commercialization efforts, though specific financial metrics and revenue figures were not disclosed in the announcement.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2025

Headquartered in San Francisco and led by CEO Jay Dawani, Lemurian Labs has built a platform that combines compiler technology with runtime orchestration to let developers write AI code once and deploy it on any hardware. Its hardware-agnostic approach promises faster deployment cycles, greater flexibility and lower infrastructure costs at scale. The company is positioning the platform for organizations seeking sustainable compute and open AI innovation. Fresh capital will be directed toward expanding the engineering team, accelerating product development and deepening partnerships across the AI ecosystem. Although specific revenue or user figures were not disclosed, the company previously completed a seed round in 2022. Lemurian Labs believes its technology can reduce the friction of moving AI workloads between edge devices, cloud instances and on-prem servers, potentially widening its addressable market.

Participated · Series A · May 2024

Footprint builds a platform that unifies KYC, authentication and fraud detection into a single rules engine and customizable "components" for account creation and sign-in. Its technology includes document and selfie verification, passkeys to bind biometrics to PII, and secure vaulting infrastructure powered by AWS Nitro Enclaves. The company emphasizes portable, de-duplicated identities and has launched Footprint Connections to let customers leverage shared identities across applications. Planned product expansions funded by the round include a fraud suite and broader support for identification sources such as credit bureau data, pay stubs and vehicle data. Since launching its enterprise platform last fall, Footprint reported customer results including a dynamic onboarding completion increase of over 50% for one customer and an extra 3,000 cases of fraud caught by another in six months. Footprint raised a $13 million Series A to double down on product development and platform expansion. Footprint offers a secure data wallet that stores consumer verifiable credentials (name, email, phone, date of birth, address, Social Security number and optional income or business verifications) in an encrypted secure enclave on mobile devices. The product uses hardware-level cryptographic attestation and leverages Face ID/Touch ID for identity proof, enabling enterprises to request only the minimum data needed. For customers, Footprint aims to replace lengthy application forms; for enterprises it integrates with what the founders describe as “just five lines of code,” offloading storage security and audit logging. The company records access to data in an append-only audit log and performs sensitive computations inside the secure enclave to avoid unnecessary decryption. Footprint is in early access today, plans general availability in the fall, and has seven employees. The startup announced a $6 million seed investment to support growth and product rollout.

Led · Seed · Nov 2023

Trips is a first-of-its-kind platform that enables content creators to establish their copyright's initial digital provenance on-chain and to turn copyrights into financial assets. The product allows creators to authenticate themselves, link content platforms, stamp copyright ownership on the blockchain (what the company calls TCIs), and enable monetization opportunities through a single interface. Trips is launching on the Avalanche Evergreen Subnet to leverage the network’s customizability for permissioning, privacy, and other requirements. The company currently supports YouTube and plans to add more platforms in the near future. Trips has raised $2.5M in pre-seed funding led by Shima Capital with participation from Animal Capital, Blackwood Ventures, Serafund, Calligraphy Digital, Blizzard and the Avalanche Ecosystem Fund. CEO and Founder Michael Finkelstein frames the product as providing creators access to capital, protecting against unauthorized derivative uses, and future-proofing creative ownership.