Participated · Series B · Feb 2021

Foxtrot reimagines the corner convenience store by pairing a digital-first commerce platform with curated retail locations offering coffee, ready-to-eat cafe meals, wine and locally sourced artisan products. The company has added private-label products that now account for about 30% of its retail assortment and nearly half of its retail and e-commerce sales, and it expects to launch roughly 200 new private-label SKUs next year. Foxtrot provides five-minute pickup, rapid on-demand delivery, and a nationwide Foxtrot Anywhere shipping tool, and it operates a Perks loyalty program that grew more than 110% in 2021. The business doubled last year, with five-minute market pickup up 250% and cafe orders up 375% in the same period. Foxtrot plans to expand its physical footprint aggressively—opening 25 new stores in 2022 and targeting 50 new retail locations over the next two years while entering new markets such as New York, Nashville and Miami in 2023. The company is also investing the new capital to scale merchandising and triple its engineering team, plus hire across logistics, store payments, inventory management, personalization and Perks. Foxtrot Market operates tech-enabled neighborhood corner stores and cafés that combine grocery staples, a full-service café, sommelier-curated wine, chef-prepared meals, and curated gift bundles with on-demand app delivery (60-minute). The company also offers a Ship Shop for nationwide gift shipping and has recently launched nationwide shipping. Led by CEO and co-founder Mike LaVitola and a senior team including Sumi Ghosh, Scott Holloway, and Caroline Barry, Foxtrot emphasizes private-label packaged goods and curated retail experiences. The business integrates in-store experience with app-based delivery and curated product offerings to serve modern urban consumers. Foxtrot plans to use new capital to expand its private-label goods and gift offerings, continue investment in nationwide shipping, and open as many as nine additional stores across Chicago and Dallas while entering new markets including Washington, D.C. The company raised growth capital in a Series B to fund these expansion and product initiatives. Foxtrot reimagines the corner convenience store by combining physical retail with app-based on-demand delivery of a broad product mix including craft beer, natural wines, national brands and Foxtrot-label prepared foods. The company works with more than 100 vendors to offer roughly 800 SKUs across its stores and online. Foxtrot’s assortment is roughly one-third proprietary Foxtrot products, one-third emerging brands and one-third staple national brands. It operates stores in Dallas and Chicago and plans to expand further in those markets and launch in D.C. The business reports 2x year-over-year revenue growth and 150% year-over-year growth in its e-commerce customer base, with revenue split about 50/50 between offline and online sales. Store staff are W2 employees while couriers are contractors employed directly by Foxtrot according to the company’s practices. Foxtrot is a Chicago-based next-generation corner store combining e-commerce with a curated in-store experience, offering craft beer, wine, spirits, food, gifts and everyday essentials. Led by co-founder and CEO Michael LaVitola, the company delivers orders to customers' homes in 60 minutes. The team prioritizes local products and integrations, and a significant portion of Foxtrot's inventory comes from local purveyors. Foxtrot secured $6m in Series A funding to support growth. The company plans to use the funds to grow the team, expand its on-demand e-commerce delivery business, open additional retail stores in Chicago later in the year and pursue national expansion in early 2019, and to partner with large owners and operators of real estate to provide a curated amenity to neighborhoods and buildings. Foxtrot is a curated delivery company that launched out of the University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge in 2013 and combines an on-demand mobile ordering app with brick-and-mortar stores. Its product offering is a limited, curated selection — including beer and wine, dinners, bath accessories, and gifts — delivered via an app and supported by physical retail locations. Earlier this year Foxtrot opened its first store in Lincoln Park; it announced a flagship 1,700 square-foot West Loop location at 1019 W. Lake St. that will host local partner events and open on November 16. The company raised $1.1M in funding alongside the West Loop store announcement, with investors including ChicagoNEXT chairman Mark Tebbe, Apex Venture Partner general partner Lon Chow, and TrunkClub CFO and co-founder Kevin Price. Foxtrot positions itself as an omni-channel retail concept that leverages scalable retail stores alongside mobile ordering to own the end-to-end delivery experience and differentiate from broader delivery apps. CEO and co-founder Michael LaVitola said the flagship brings the curated app experience to life and supports plans to grow in Chicago and beyond.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2019

Verb is a SaaS-based learning and development company focused on training employees in sought-after soft skills through a blended learning model. Led by co-founder and CEO Suzi Sosa and based in Austin, Texas, the platform reaches thousands of learners rather than a select few. The company raised $6.4M in seed funding to support growth. Verb intends to use the funds to expand its marketing and sales teams, add personalized learning and other product enhancements, grow its content library, and develop a new mobile app. Backers include angels Brett Hurt, Nav Sooch, Andy Roddick, Leon Chen, and Barshop Ventures. Verb is an Austin-based social enterprise that connects large corporations and foundations to thousands of social entrepreneurs worldwide through competitions and its digital platform. Founded in 2013 by Suzi Sosa and Tom Meredith, the company grew out of their work running the Dell Social Innovation Challenge for seven years. Verb has worked with clients such as IBM and Livestrong and recently partnered with the Everglades Foundation to run a $10 million science prize. The company raised $2.3 million in seed funding and plans to use the proceeds for global expansion, platform development, and hiring key employees. Investors in the round include Tom Meredith, John Thornton, Bobby Epstein, Matthew Dowd, David Hunt, Herbert Simon, the Tingari-Silverton Foundation, the Graham Family Foundation, and other angel investors and philanthropists. The platform and ecosystem aim to help entrepreneurs identify strategic partners, sources of capital, and mentors to replicate and scale innovations beyond local communities.

Participated · Equity · Aug 2015

MediaPlatform provides an enterprise video and webcasting platform used for internal and external communications, training and collaboration. The integrated platform includes third-party integrations for Microsoft SharePoint, Cisco WebEx, Salesforce CRM, learning management systems, video conferencing units, Jive, Yammer and more. Customers listed include Abbott Laboratories, ConocoPhillips, Ericsson, Facebook, General Motors, EY, Mattress Firm and UL. The company is led by CEO Jim McGovern and recently hired president Mike Newman. MediaPlatform closed a $12m growth equity round and intends to use the funds to accelerate growth.

Participated · Series B · Feb 2010

IVT provides enterprise-friendly webcasting software delivered as a SaaS offering that powers live and on-demand webcasts. Its platform also converts multimedia files, such as slideshows, into viewable videos for the web. IVT operates a YouTube-like hosting and social media site to help companies disseminate videos and webcasts. The company counts prominent corporate customers including Oracle, Dow Chemical, IBM and NEC. IVT has been commercializing its webcasting and video-hosting stack across large enterprises and media workflows. Financially, the company has completed multiple institutional financings, including a prior Series A in 2006.