Led · Equity · Aug 2025

SpinLaunch builds space-access and satellite communications technologies and in 2025 introduced Meridian Space, a platform aimed at lowering the cost and complexity of deploying satellite infrastructure. The company says Meridian Space is a highly differentiated low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband constellation designed for ultra-low capex. SpinLaunch has completed full-scale testing of a proprietary multi-band reflectarray antenna that enables the constellation’s ultra-low capex design. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Massimiliano Ladovaz, the company is pursuing commercialization of Meridian Space. It raised $30M in new funding to accelerate development and commercialization of the platform. SpinLaunch positions its technology as a new approach to launch and satellite connectivity. SpinLaunch is developing a kinetic launch system that spins payloads inside a vacuum chamber to very high Gs and flings them toward orbit as a lower-cost, high-cadence alternative to rockets. The company claims its system can place up to 200 kg into orbit for about $250,000 and eventually support 5–10 launches per day. SpinLaunch has conducted ten suborbital tests with a smaller accelerator at New Mexico’s Spaceport America, where it holds a long-term lease. It has also pursued satellite-constellation ambitions via a subsidiary, SN Space Systems, filing with the FCC for a 1,190-satellite constellation and meeting with FCC personnel. Leadership has shifted recently: two new board members were added last October, Dómhnal Slattery was named chairman, and David Wrenn was appointed CEO in March, replacing founder Jonathan Yaney. CEO David Wrenn said the company has met its investment and revenue objectives this year and that new financing will help accelerate commercialization of its space technologies. SpinLaunch builds a ground-based, electric-powered mass accelerator launch system designed to place small satellites into low Earth orbit with low cost and high cadence. The technology reportedly eliminates up to 70% of the fuel and structures typical of conventional rockets, substantially reducing the carbon footprint of deploying LEO constellations. SpinLaunch has also developed a line of small satellite buses to complement its launch approach and address upcoming constellation needs. The company has conducted a series of flight tests on its Suborbital Accelerator at Spaceport America. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, SpinLaunch aims to scale commercial and national-security access to space through partnerships and commercialization initiatives. The company is supported by investors and partners including Kleiner Perkins, GV, Airbus Ventures, and ATW Partners. SpinLaunch develops a kinetic launch system that uses a rotating arm inside a vacuum chamber to accelerate an aerodynamic launch vehicle to roughly 5,000 MPH and fling it toward space. The company has conducted nine successful flight tests with a 33-meter “suborbital mass accelerator,” sending payloads north of 1,000 MPH to nearly 30,000 feet. It has an agreement with NASA for further testing and has conducted tests at Spaceport America in New Mexico while finalizing selection of its first orbital launch site. SpinLaunch plans a full-size orbital launch system three times the size of the suborbital accelerator and aims to place satellites into orbit by 2026. The company is also developing a mass-manufactured line of G‑hardened satellite products designed to survive the high G‑forces of its launch method. Financially, the company announced a $71M round (equity and debt) that brings total funding to $150M. SpinLaunch is developing a kinetic launch system that uses a rotational acceleration method to propel payloads to escape velocity without rockets. The company has not yet demonstrated the technology publicly and remains secretive about technical details. Funds will be used to build a new headquarters and R&D facility in Long Beach and to complete a flight test mass accelerator at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Leadership says the first flight tests at Spaceport America are planned for later this year, and the company targets its first commercial launch in 2022. SpinLaunch aims to offer orbital access for under $500,000 per launch if tests succeed. To date the company has raised prior rounds of $35M (reported in 2018) and $10M, and the latest financing brings total funding to $80M.

Led · Convertible Note · Dec 2024

Fold is a bitcoin financial services company that builds premium financial products to expand access to bitcoin investment opportunities. The company’s mission is to integrate bitcoin into everyday financial services and to empower individuals to achieve financial goals. Fold plans to accelerate product development and growth initiatives and is pursuing a business combination to enter the public markets. Fold closed a $20 million convertible note financing from ATW Partners, with an additional $10 million available at mutual discretion upon closing its proposed business combination with FTAC Emerald. The initial note is secured by company assets, including a portion of Fold’s proprietary bitcoin, converts at $11.50 per share and includes warrants issued to ATW exercisable at $12.50 per share. The proposed business combination is subject to SEC and FTAC Emerald stockholder approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Fold offers bitcoin cashback through a Visa debit card and mobile app, allowing users to earn bitcoin when they spend, save and invest. Rewards are delivered via a gamified wheel that can return up to 100% of a purchase in bitcoin or even a whole bitcoin; ten users have won a whole bitcoin to date. Since launching in 2019 Fold accrued a waitlist of over 250,000 and ran an early access program with over 20,000 cardholders that transacted nearly $100 million since November 2020. The company has given bitcoin rewards to over 100,000 unique users and says many users have recently earned more in Fold rewards than in their savings accounts. Fold plans to open access to all U.S. residents, build a rewards platform to enable all U.S. credit and debit cards to offer bitcoin rewards, and launch a bitcoin rewards credit card in the second half of the year. Fold offers a retail-focused bitcoin shopping app that connects to a debit card for bitcoin-back on regular purchases or accepts bitcoin sent from users' independent wallets. The product emphasizes Lightning Network payments and is already integrated with lightning-friendly wallets BlueWallet and Breez. Fold spun out of Thesis and secured $2.5 million in new capital to expand partnerships in both the cryptocurrency and retail spaces. The company plans to roll out subscription options for merchants and consumers that will provide premium services and higher rewards. A mobile Fold App with the full desktop feature set is slated to launch in October, with early access available to users who sign up via Fold’s website. On the merchant side, Fold processes payments so merchants see Fold as the payer and typically opt to settle in fiat to avoid volatility and accounting overhead.

Led · Equity · Jun 2023

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric is a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company. The firm is advancing its FX brand and continuing production of the FF 91 2.0 while targeting rollout of the first FX vehicle by the end of 2025. It plans to use new funding to accelerate growth, advance the FX brand, and execute strategic projects. The company is investing in AI development, including R&D and testing of end-to-end autonomous driving capabilities, along three key AI directions previously announced. Funding will also be used for AI talent acquisition, infrastructure building and forming capital partnerships. Management says the financing will strengthen financial stability and support improvements in resource allocation, cost control, supply chain efficiency and overall operational effectiveness. Faraday Future develops intelligent electric vehicles and related mobility software and services, with a focus on AI and software-enabled user experiences. The company is executing FF 91 2.0 production while pursuing a Global Automotive Industry Bridge Strategy and a second-brand approach to accelerate mass-market entry. FF says it will integrate strengths of U.S. automotive industry players with Chinese OEMs and parts suppliers to target the $20,000–$80,000 price segment while maintaining an ultra-luxury offering. The company recently established a Middle Eastern sales entity in Dubai as part of a third-pole geographic strategy beyond the U.S. and China. Faraday Future expects its software and AI capabilities to serve multiple market segments and support global expansion and product updates. The company is pursuing growth and new business opportunities supported by recent financing commitments. Faraday Future is working to bring the FF 91 luxury electric SUV to production and delivery. The company has repeatedly delayed production and has not delivered vehicles to customers. In May it announced that its luxury EVs would include ChatGPT capabilities. Faraday has been investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice and has experienced internal turmoil while burning through cash. As of April the company reported having $30 million on hand, and its stock closed at $0.24 after the funding news. Faraday says it will continue to seek additional funding, including plans to raise debt to support initial deliveries. Faraday Future is an electric vehicle maker focused on bringing its long-delayed FF 91 flagship to market. The company says it plans to open a factory in China mid-decade to build two additional models: an FF 81 sedan and an FF 71 last-mile delivery vehicle. Faraday has faced severe cash constraints and recently warned it was running out of money. To address near-term needs it secured up to $100 million in funding, but has said it is seeking more capital to fund operations through the end of 2022 and beyond. The company has warned of future cost reductions and potential layoffs despite the infusion. Faraday went public in July 2021 via a $3.4 billion SPAC merger and later removed founder Yueting Jia amid an SEC investigation into whether the company misled investors. Faraday Future builds luxury electric sedans centered on the FF 91 and has unveiled a finished vehicle after years of development. The company says its Hanford, Calif. manufacturing facility—rebranded as the FF ieFactory California—is nearly ready and has produced about a dozen vehicles intended for mass production. Management says testing and validation of the FF 91 is well underway and expects customer deliveries as soon as the third or fourth quarter of 2022. Financially, Faraday announced it raised $52 million in convertible notes and is pursuing up to $600 million in total funding, engaging investors in the U.S. and overseas. The company has recently restructured leadership, including demoting founder Yueting 'YT' Jia and promoting Mathias Hofmann to head of manufacturing operations. Critics and some investors have alleged in a class-action lawsuit that 78% of Faraday’s roughly 14,000 reservation deposits came from an “undisclosed company.”

Participated · Equity · Nov 2021

PierianDx builds assay-agnostic interpretation technology and services to help providers, laboratories, and medical centers run next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing on site. The company pairs advanced interpretation software with a comprehensive genomic knowledgebase to empower clinicians to understand genetic variation and inform treatment decisions. PierianDx partners with industry leaders and medical facilities worldwide as they build or expand precision medicine programs. The firm was founded in 2014 as a technology-transfer spinout from Washington University in St. Louis and is headquartered in St. Louis. Management says the business is expanding commercially as more healthcare organizations seek to internalize NGS testing capabilities. The recent financing is intended to fund commercial expansion and continued product and team development to bring genomics into more clinical settings. PierianDx offers a SaaS clinical genomics informatics platform that enables the practice of clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) as a standard of care and supports advanced molecular diagnostic laboratories. The company also operates a CAP- and CLIA-accredited laboratory and provides integrated reporting and decision-support across the clinical care spectrum. PierianDx is focused on advancing cancer diagnostics and making targeted therapeutics more accessible to healthcare systems, laboratories, and patients worldwide. Leadership emphasizes adding clinical expertise and resources to drive adoption of clinical NGS globally. Management plans to accelerate commercial expansion across the U.S. and international markets including Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America. PierianDx was founded in 2014 out of Washington University in St. Louis. PierianDx provides genomic software and services to enable data-driven personalized medicine. Its flagship platform, Clinical Genomicist Workstation (CGW), delivers data-driven workflows for health systems, academic medical centers, and commercial labs to support genomic analysis, interpretation and reporting. Led by CEO Ted Briscoe, the company focuses on improving patient outcomes through precise genomic analysis. PierianDx said it will use the new funding to accelerate product development and expand sales, marketing and operations. The company raised $9.25M in a Series A to support these initiatives.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2021

Credit Sesame is a San Francisco–based financial wellness platform that leverages technology, AI and analytics to help consumers achieve financial health and stability. Led by CEO Adrian Nazari, the company offers tools to monitor and improve credit profiles and personal finances. In summer 2021 the company acquired Zingo, a fintech software services startup, to integrate rent reporting into its offerings. Using Zingo’s intelligent data platform, Credit Sesame will collect, verify, and report rental payments to the credit bureaus to help consumers establish or improve credit based on consistent rental payments. Later in 2021 the company plans to launch a feature that allows consumers to use cash to build and enhance their credit profile with no credit check. Credit Sesame completed a $51M growth funding round to support these product expansions. Credit Sesame provides a Personal Credit Management (PCM) platform that surfaces actionable insights to help consumers improve credit scores and overall financial health. Its RoboCredit algorithm builds on a TransUnion score and additional factors to recommend debt-rebalancing and other actions. Initial score checks are free; the company earns fees when users take referred products (refinances, new credit, balance transfers) and from premium services such as advanced identity-theft protection. Credit Sesame says it is already profitable and has grown revenues roughly 90% each year for the last five years. The company plans to use new funding to further develop its AI algorithms and expand the business, delaying major M&A until after an expected IPO. CEO and founder Adrian Nazari positions the product as differentiated from competitors by focusing specifically on credit management rather than broader personal financial management. Credit Sesame provides a mobile and web robo-advisor platform that leverages consumer data, analytics and thousands of rules to simplify and automate management of consumer credit and loans. The product gives users free access to their credit profile, including credit score, credit report grades, credit monitoring, and interactive step-by-step tools with recommendations for better lending options. Launched in 2011 and led by founder and CEO Adrian Nazari, the company reports over 12 million members. The recent financing will be used to accelerate growth, drive member acquisition, hire over 100 new employees, and advance its analytics, robo-advisor and machine-learning technologies. Credit Sesame positions its core offering around financial wellness and automated credit-management insights. Credit Sesame provides online and mobile tools for consumers to monitor credit, protect against identity theft, and reduce debt through credit and loan management. It focuses on the liability side of personal finance—helping users consolidate or refinance debt and find lower-rate credit options—and competes with services like Credit Karma and ReadyForZero. The company reports $50 billion in active user loans under management (up from $20 billion in 2012) and over $2 billion in consumer loan originations by partner platforms. CEO Adrian Nazari says last year the company saw threefold revenue growth and sevenfold growth in its alternative lending vertical. Credit Sesame offers free products plus premium paid services, and plans to expand customer acquisition and its credit and loan management offerings. It is expanding its team (now over 50, expected to roughly double in 12 months) and its offices in San Francisco, and is preparing new products including an Apple Watch app, Siri integration, and a millennial-focused product. Credit Sesame provides a proprietary analytics engine that analyzes a consumer’s credit profile against thousands of available financial products to identify opportunities to save money and meet individual financial goals. The company offers a free service and a mobile app that centralizes credit and loan monitoring in one place. Its solutions were developed by Stanford University scientists and the analytics tools are patent-pending. Founded in 2010 by CEO Adrian Nazari, the company has been expanding product capabilities and reach. In November 2012 Credit Sesame raised $12M in new funding to support those efforts. The company intends to use the proceeds to expand the reach of its services, continue developing its analytics, and hire marketing and engineering staff.