Participated · Series A · Dec 2018

The Riveter operates membership-based co-working spaces and a digital network (currently in beta) designed with women in mind while remaining open to all genders. Its offerings include workspace, member programming such as office hours with venture capitalists and “self-care Saturday,” and a platform for member connections. Founded in 2016 by Amy Nelson, the company runs five U.S. locations in Seattle, Bellevue and Los Angeles and reports roughly 2,000 members (about 25% male). The Riveter has articulated aggressive growth plans to open 100 additional female-focused co-working spaces by 2022, including new sites in Texas, Colorado and Portland. Financially, the company closed its first institutional round in 2019, allowing it to expand operations and fuel its rollout plans. The Riveter operates membership-driven physical workspaces and is developing a digital collaboration and networking platform for members. It currently has two locations in the Seattle area that serve as work and gathering places for female-forward businesses. Programming focuses on practical business topics and networking, with weekly events and monthly member meetings. The company emphasizes access to business resources, professional networks, and wellness amenities tailored to women and their advocates. Founded by Amy Nelson ten months earlier, The Riveter partners with national leaders in business, sports, politics, and journalism. It plans to expand to Los Angeles and additional U.S. cities in 2018. The Riveter is a co-working space and community built to help women founders, freelancers, and professionals access workspace, programming, and peer support. Its Capitol Hill flagship will include nine private offices, capacity for 120 collaborative desks, a fitness studio, meditation room, retail space, and wellness-focused programming such as daily yoga and seminars. Membership pricing starts at $375 per month, with $30 day passes, and 10-hour drop-in packs for $75; community memberships are available for event-only members. Co-founders Amy Nelson and Kim Peltola conceived the concept after finding existing coworking spaces were largely "built by and for men." A soft launch was planned for mid-April with an official opening on May 1, and a second location in Bellevue is slated for this fall. The company plans to raise a $3–4 million follow-on round to open an additional 19 West Coast locations by 2021.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2018

Camera IQ is a Los Angeles-based augmented-reality platform for camera marketing that helps brand marketers design and deploy AR campaigns. Its platform enables marketers to create, manage and measure scalable AR campaigns reaching audiences across social media and streaming platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch and Zoom. Led by co-founder and CEO Allison Ferenci, the company has launched tools aimed at driving business objectives through camera-based experiences. In September 2020 it raised an additional $5m in Series A funding, bringing total capital raised to over $14m. Camera IQ plans to use the funds to make key hires in sales and marketing and to accelerate product development. A stated priority is expanding distribution to new platforms to broaden reach for brand campaigns. Camera IQ is a camera experience manager that helps digital marketers create immersive camera-based marketing experiences. Led by CEO Allison Wood and new Chief Product Officer Per Nielsen, the company develops tools for marketers to build camera experiences. The company is based in Santa Monica, CA. Camera IQ closed a $4.3M seed round that included an additional $2M, providing fresh capital for growth. It will use the funds to build out product offerings and to grow its team of camera marketing experts. Investors in the round included Betaworks, Homebrew, WndrCo, Shasta Ventures, Presence Capital, Brilliant Ventures, Greycroft Tracker Fund, Silicon Valley Bank, Act One and Noname Ventures. Camera IQ positions itself as the first camera experience manager, helping digital marketers create new worlds for customers to explore. Its technology integrates OS platforms, AR toolkits and native apps into a single fabric to enable brands to deliver captivating experiences at scale. The company frames camera marketing at the intersection of experience design and spatial analytics. Camera IQ is based in Santa Monica, CA. The article reports that the company has raised a $2.3 million seed round led by Shasta Ventures, reflecting its current reported financing.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2018

Skylar is a Los Angeles-based perfume startup that markets "natural" beauty and fragrance products. The company is led by CEO Cat Chen, a veteran of the Honest Company. In February 2019 Skylar raised $8M in a Series A funding round. The round was led by FirstMark Capital and also included Upfront Ventures, Amplify LA, and Gingerbread Capital. As part of the financing, FirstMark partner Beth Ferreira will join Skylar's board of directors. Skylar Body is a direct-to-consumer perfume brand that creates organic, layerable fragrances. The company was founded by Cat Chen, a former product manager at Apple and Activision/Blizzard who previously worked at Honest. Skylar sources natural ingredients from Cosmo Fragrances and uses perfumer Sarah Horowitz in formulation; Chen says the oils cost five times more than typical perfume oils and the scents use organic sugarcane-based alcohol. Products are sold initially via a sample starter pack containing four fragrances that customers can mix and match, promoting personalization and layering. Full-size bottles are priced at $78, and the company says it keeps costs down by selling direct-to-consumer for now. Since launch eight months ago, Skylar Body has acquired roughly 10,000 customers and reports that about 15% of sample buyers upgrade to full size.