Participated · Seed · Mar 2024

Firestorm develops xCell, a shipping-container mobile manufacturing platform that uses an industrial-grade HP 3D printer to produce drone bodies and shells and assemble configurable drone systems in under 24 hours. The company sells hardware and secures government contracts across U.S. military branches, and currently has two xCell units deployed domestically (with the Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Force Special Operations Command) and additional operational use in the Indo-Pacific. Firestorm holds a five-year global exclusive with HP for use of its industrial 3D printing technology in mobile units, and noted an Air Force contract with a $100 million ceiling and $27 million obligated to date. The startup’s founders bring defense and additive-manufacturing expertise: CEO Dan Magy is a serial defense tech entrepreneur, Chad McCoy is a career special operations veteran, and CTO Ian Muceus holds multiple 3D-printing patents. Firestorm has stated plans to scale deployment and reach full operational deployment in the Indo-Pacific within roughly two years. The company has raised $153 million to date following the Series B.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2024

Lapaire operates a one-stop eyecare model delivering fashionable, high-quality eyewear and accessible eye testing. Founded in 2018 and based in the Ivory Coast, the company runs 58 branches across six African countries (Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Uganda). To date it has tested over 300,000 people and reports 180,000 lives improved through its services. Lapaire plans to expand aggressively, aiming to establish 300 new eye care facilities across Africa and to positively impact one million people by 2026. The startup raised US$3 million in equity to support expansion and operational optimization. Proceeds are earmarked to optimize operations and grow the company’s presence in existing and emerging African markets.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2023

Floworks.ai builds Flowy, a conversational AI interface designed to automate day-to-day workflows for sales and other teams. The platform integrates with CRMs, email, and calendars to streamline tasks and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. Floworks.ai emphasizes automating routine sales workflows and enabling seamless cross-tool coordination. The company is Y Combinator-funded. In its latest financing, Floworks.ai raised approximately ₹6.5 crores (about $800,000). The raise is intended to support continued product development and deployment of its conversational automation features. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article.

Led · Equity · Dec 2022

ArenaCX is a tech-powered marketplace platform for business process outsourcing (BPO) led by CEO Alan Pendleton and based in Raleigh, NC. It curates and vets more than 100 BPO partners to supply outsourced talent across customer service, sales & marketing, accounting & bookkeeping, HR & recruiting, and administrative/back-office services. The platform uses data and industry expertise to provide an enterprise-level outsourcing RFP experience for companies of all sizes. In December 2022 the company raised $4.2M in funding. The round was led by Eagle Ventures, Sovereign's Capital, Beyond Capital and Triangle Tweener Fund. ArenaCX intends to use the funds to accelerate growth. ArenaCX, based in Raleigh, N.C., operates a customer service marketplace delivering on-demand support to businesses. Led by CEO Doc Shufelt, the company provides a network of integrated contact centers that enable businesses to access the amount of support they need on demand. Its management software dynamically matches support volume with trained agents, giving companies flexibility to scale customer service teams up or down and reducing time and money spent on hiring, training, and scheduling. The platform plugs into a business' existing customer service software suite and uses machine learning to categorize, prioritize, and assign customer support tickets. ArenaCX's software includes native forecasting capabilities and dashboarding that give support leaders control over their operations. The company plans to use new capital to further enhance its software platform, including integrations with more customer support software providers.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2021

Redwing Labs builds an on-demand drone network and end-to-end technology stack to create a virtual cold chain for healthcare logistics, delivering blood, vaccines, anti-venoms, cardiac medicines and diagnostics. The company uses a proprietary Hybrid VTOL drone design that combines vertical takeoff/landing with long-range flight and can deliver packages up to 50 kilometers, perform multiple stops, and enable reverse logistics. Redwing operates a hub-and-spoke distribution model where hubs serve as distribution centers and spokes are primary and community healthcare centers, enabling deliveries that the company says are four times faster than conventional transport and independent of poor road infrastructure. The startup focuses on reducing cold-chain reliance at point-of-care, lowering wastage, and improving timely diagnosis and treatment in remote and crisis settings. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic it aims to partner with state health departments, private hospitals, and vaccine distributors to scale rural delivery. The team has received 12 awards, been felicitated by NASA, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Airbus, and is backed by Techstars; the company recently closed a seed financing to further develop its technology stack and partnerships.