Participated · Equity · Apr 2025

Elm AI offers an AI-driven system of record for supplier sustainability, performance, and risk data, automating complex workflows for supply-chain teams. The platform is designed to help companies achieve greater efficiency and sustainability in their supply chain operations. Elm AI is a Cornell University spinout and was founded in 2023 by Advait Raykar, Aparajita Thakker, Ken He, and Eesha Khanna. The company intends to use recent funding to expand operations and accelerate development efforts. The article does not disclose revenue or user metrics.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2023

DetraPel develops and manufactures PFAS-free, fluorine-free and bio-based protective coatings using patented chemistries and a platform for blending immiscible particles into water-based systems. Its technology produces barrier coatings at scale that preserve recyclability, repulpability and compostability. The company serves industries including paper & paperboard packaging, textiles and healthcare, and counts large paper suppliers and consumer packaged goods companies among its industrial customers. DetraPel recently rebranded its industrial arm as Impermea Materials and its consumer operations as ProofPlus and plans to use new funding to build market traction for those brands. Led by Founder and CEO David Zamarin, the company emphasizes sustainable, scalable alternatives to PFAS-containing coatings. DetraPel is based in Boston, MA.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2023

Gradient Health operates a secure, unified platform that gives researchers and developers access to raw and labeled medical images needed to train and validate AI technologies. The company offers machine-learning-ready formatting, searchable access by disease and imaging modality, and tools to facilitate compliant research and seamless collaborations. It emphasizes state-of-the-art security measures to protect patient privacy and ensure regulatory compliance. Gradient Health collaborates with academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and technology partners to advance medical knowledge and improve patient care. Led by CEO Josh Miller, the company recently raised $2.75M and intends to use the proceeds to continue assembling its comprehensive annotated medical imaging library.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2023

Eze operates a B2B marketplace that matches buy and sell requests from distributors, retail stores and wholesalers of used smartphones, laptops and tablets, providing access to inventory from over a hundred wholesalers and manufacturers. The platform executes trades, applies a standardized grading process, offers a 30-day warranty with options to exchange, extend warranty to 180 days, or provide additional credit; it reports a return rate under 2% since inception. Eze provides real-time market prices, centralized payments, net payment financing and automated logistics, partnering with FedEx in the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia and using third-party logistics in Latin America and Africa. The Los Angeles-based company was founded in 2020 and launched its marketplace in early 2021. Operational metrics in the article include over 1,000 business customers across more than 15 countries, facilitation of over 500,000 device sales since launch, and Mexico identified as its largest market (Nigeria was its first). Eze has also launched a fintech arm, Eze Capital, which has disbursed $750,000 since last year in the U.S. as an additional revenue stream alongside transaction margins.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2023

Michroma uses precision fermentation and filamentous fungi as “biofactories” to produce natural food colorants and, later, plant-based flavorings. Its first product, Red+, is a red colorant engineered to be temperature-resistant and stable across the food pH spectrum, surviving pasteurization, cooking and extrusion. Red+ has been prototyped with large food companies and can also be used to color cultivated meat. The company plans to expand its palette from warm colors (orange, yellow) toward blue and white while selling flavorings in combination with its colors. Michroma is negotiating with suppliers and intends to submit petitions to the U.S. FDA and the European Food Safety Authority; the regulatory process is expected to take at least two years. The startup currently has about 15 employees and plans to grow to 35, funded in part by recent seed financing that brought its total venture capital to $7.4M. Michroma develops sustainable, vegan, fungus-based natural colorants intended to replace synthetic petroleum-derived dyes and insect-derived cochineal (red 80). Founded in early 2019 in Argentina, the startup moved to San Francisco in September and is participating in IndieBio's accelerator. Its platform uses a GRAS fungal strain grown in bioreactors to produce intense, stable red, orange, and yellow pigments while reducing water use and carbon footprint compared with crop-derived colorants. The company argues vegetable-based alternatives like beetroot extract underperform on pH and temperature stability and impart flavor, making them difficult for industry use. Michroma says it already can effectively produce red, orange and yellow and is working to optimize and scale production while developing green and blue variants. Financially, Michroma has received early backing and plans further fundraising to accelerate scale-up.