Participated · Seed · Aug 2022

Vestaboard is a San Francisco-based maker of a wall-mounted messaging display that lets users send messages from anywhere. Its device uses 8,448 flaps and 132-fluttering bits to render color, letters, numbers and punctuation, producing a visual and auditory experience. The company offers an optional Vestaboard+ software subscription to curate and automate content from a library of channels. Vestaboard sells the display for $2,995 and intends to use new funding to move from a pre-order to an inventory-based model. It also plans to use proceeds for marketing and sales and to commence R&D on a second, more economical display. The company multiplied revenue sevenfold in 2021 versus 2020 and aims for significant growth in 2022 and 2023.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2022

Fluence is an expertise-driven educational platform that provides professional certification and training in psychedelic therapy and integration. Founded in 2019 and based in NYC, the company works directly with licensed healthcare professionals and graduate students to advance clinical skills and evidence-based psychedelic care. Over the past two years it has trained nearly 1,000 practitioners and has partnerships with drug developers including Beckley Psytech, Tryp Therapeutics, and Clairvoyant Therapeutics to develop therapy manuals and custom training for clinical trial therapists. Fluence plans to expand its course and certificate offerings and bolster development of training software and its e-learning platform. The company is also developing a psilocybin-assisted therapy program to meet Oregon Health Authority requirements ahead of Measure 109 implementation. Leadership includes founders Dr. Ingmar Gorman and Dr. Elizabeth Nielson and COO Michael Kuntz.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2018

Pathmatics operates a marketing intelligence platform that gives users visibility into digital ad performance across display, social, video, mobile and native advertising. The product aggregates creative, spend and impression data and maps the path from publisher to viewer, enabling brands and agencies to optimize media and marketing decisions. Clients use the platform to minimize wasted budget, position marketing and anticipate competitors' moves. Pathmatics' data powers Nielsen’s digital ad intelligence offering and Kantar Media’s Facebook intelligence, and is used by agencies including Mindshare, Mediacom and Possible. The company was founded in 2011 by Gabe Gottlieb and is based in Santa Monica, CA. In October 2018 Pathmatics received a $3M strategic investment from Mintel and SPH Ventures, which joined existing backers. Pathmatics provides PathSource™, a patent-pending technology that analyzes digital advertising activity and delivers real-time, actionable intelligence to advertisers, agencies, publishers and ad tech providers. The company was founded in 2010 by Gabe Gottlieb and is based in Santa Monica, California, with an office in New York. Pathmatics sells intelligence to participants across the online advertising ecosystem and continues to develop its proprietary technology. Management intends to use new funding to pursue continued global expansion and to further invest in its technology. The article does not disclose revenue or user metrics.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2017

unGlue provides a cross-device service that lets parents set time limits on entertainment apps while preserving general internet access for homework and other needs. The product works across smartphones, tablets, computers, smart TVs and other connected devices, functioning on and off the home network via either software on a desktop or a $30 router-connected puck; mobile devices are managed through a VPN. Instead of hard blocks, unGlue gives children a “Time Bank” to save unused minutes and a Kids app to request extra time for chores, emphasizing kid choice over top-down parental control. The company has only been live for about six weeks and faces challenges common to third-party solutions—VPN reliability and platform-imposed limitations differ across iOS and Android. unGlue is currently free and plans to pursue optional premium services in the future, potentially including features to help parents reduce their own phone use. The Venice-based team is led by CEO Alon Shwartz with CTO Alexander Zherdev.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2015

Local ID builds a platform to help large businesses manage marketing across many individual locations by surfacing local data and opportunities for regional marketing managers. Its features include a profile of every store and its activity, profiles of every employee involved in marketing, a list of relevant local marketing opportunities, and a task management system. The product preserves regional managers' knowledge and practices so replacements don't have to start at square one. CEO Alex Nocifera, who previously founded Circle Street and Ripple Networks (both acquired), started the company last year. As Local ID adds more features, the stated goal is to offer "all the local context that these large brands need." The company announced a $1.9 million seed round, which was first disclosed in a regulatory filing.