Led · Equity · Jun 2021

Life360 offers a family-focused communication and location-tracking app with services that include location sharing, driving-safety tools, emergency assistance, and identity-protection features. The company has worked to add privacy-respecting features such as “Bubbles,” which shows a general location rather than an exact dot, to better balance teen privacy and parental peace of mind. Life360 says its app is used by over 28 million monthly users across 195+ countries and is on track to top $110 million in revenue this year; as of March 2021, 916,000 families were paying for the service. To broaden its product reach beyond phone-based tracking, Life360 announced a $37 million acquisition of wearable maker Jiobit that it expects to close in about 30 days. The company faces competition from built-in device services like Find My and operator offerings and has been positioning itself as a broader family-safety platform rather than solely a tracker. Life360 also appointed celebrity and industry advisors (and new board and C-suite hires) to help refine product and go-to-market strategy. Life360 provides a location and communication app for families, enabling members to share locations, know when someone needs help and communicate via in‑app messaging. The app is available for Android and iPhone. Founded in 2008 and led by CEO Chris Hulls, the company is based in San Francisco. In May 2014 Life360 raised a $50M Series C, strengthening its financial position. Life360 and ADT plan to develop a new mobile application that will provide direct access to ADT’s 24/7 monitoring centers to connect users to police, fire and emergency medical responders. The planned app is scheduled to be available in late 2014, free with optional upgraded ADT security features offered via a monthly subscription. Life360 offers a free iOS and Android app that uses proprietary location-based technology to keep families connected through private location sharing, a messaging stream, regular check-ins and panic alerts. The app includes features such as Circles for separate group privacy controls and Places for automatic arrival alerts. It is used by more than 20 million families. The company was founded in 2008 and is led by CEO Chris Hulls. Life360 recently secured follow-on funding as part of its Series B and is pursuing integrations of its family graph technology into smart-home products and services. The partnership with The Duchossois Group’s portfolio aims to embed Life360 capabilities into companies such as Chamberlain and BrivoLabs. Life360 is a mobile family-locator app that lets family members share locations, create private groups, and receive location-based alerts. The service launched in 2008 on Android and has grown to more than 40 million users, with over half of its user base overseas. Life360 recently introduced a Premium tier at $4.99/month that includes a 24/7 Live Advisor, roadside assistance, unlimited Places, expanded location history, $100 stolen-phone protection, and non-smartphone lookups. The company is pursuing integrations with automotive and home-security partners and plans to introduce a “Circles” feature to invite babysitters and extended family into designated groups. Life360 processes over 250 million API requests per day, incurs infrastructure costs in the hundreds of thousands per month, and has 32 employees in San Francisco. The additional funding will be used for product enhancements, internationalization (starting in Asia and then Europe), hiring, and infrastructure. Life360 launched in 2008 and provides a suite of family-oriented services across iOS, Android and BlackBerry, including real-time location tracking, check-ins, geo-fenced alerts, group and one-to-one messaging, and an emergency/panic button. The company is positioning itself to move beyond an app into a broader platform that can integrate with cars and smart-home systems to automate navigation to people and arm home security when no family members are present. Life360 has hired former Twitpic CTO Steve Corona to build infrastructure and APIs; the company says it is a massive PHP user (among the largest worldwide) and handles more request volume than WordPress and Wikipedia. Two months ago Life360 began monetizing with a premium suite, initially $5/month (intro) rising to $7/month, offering OnStar-like live operator support, stolen-phone insurance, additional geofences and location history; the company reports thousands of free-to-paid conversions. The product roadmap includes Circles for caregivers, messaging improvements and a premium concierge service. Financially, Life360 is backed by $10 million in outside funding and plans to raise a B round.

Participated · Series C · Jul 2019

Tile builds Bluetooth-powered lost-item finder beacons and a platformed finding network that uses its app and other access points to anonymously report item locations back to owners. Its devices can play sounds and, when out of Bluetooth range, rely on a broader network of app users and partner integrations across more than 40 third-party device brands. Tile says it has sold more than 40 million devices and disclosed over 425,000 paying customers for the first time; revenues increased by over 50% in the first half of 2021 (no hard numbers provided). The company plans a product refresh that is expected to include an ultra-wideband-powered Tile and additional products and features to better compete with Apple’s AirTag. Tile also reports 200% year-over-year growth in activations of devices with its service embedded and continues international expansion despite some pandemic-related slowdowns. It offers subscription plans (a $29.99/year base plan and a $99.99/year plan that adds up to $1,000 annual reimbursement) and intends to compete using its own app and proprietary services rather than routing customers to Apple’s Find My. Tile produces square-shaped Bluetooth tags and a tracking platform that helps users locate physical items such as keys, bags and other consumer electronics. The company has been expanding beyond standalone tags by integrating Tile functionality with semiconductor partners to embed its technology into wireless headsets and other connected devices as part of a broader smart‑home strategy. Tile reports partnerships with five semiconductor companies, including Qualcomm and Nordic, and announced a Google partnership and a prior strategic investment from Comcast tied to product development. Management aims to have Tile technology embedded in millions of devices by the end of the year and is pursuing aggressive growth under CEO CJ Prober, who joined last year to develop these initiatives. Tile declined to disclose a current valuation but said the latest round was an up round; PitchBook listed a valuation of about $166 million more than two years ago. Operating signals from the article include European business growth of 160% in the last quarter, a doubling of unit sales during Prime Day, and Premium‑tier sign‑ups exceeding projections, though the company did not disclose raw user or revenue figures. Tile builds small Bluetooth tracking devices and a location-finding platform powered by a global community of users. The company has sold over 15 million of its square devices and reports roughly 4 million active Tiles each month across 230 territories, with an estimated 95% share of the U.S. market per NPD. Tile currently has about 100 employees. Future plans include creating a stronger network of nodes that do not rely solely on active Tile users, embedding Tile technology into other Bluetooth-enabled products, and developing tracking services beyond the Tile fob. Tile has pursued partner integrations before (for example, with Bose) and is expanding that approach through a new product and marketing partnership with Comcast. Financially, Tile had disclosed $61 million in funding prior to the Comcast deal and previously raised $25 million in 2017 at an estimated $167 million post-money valuation. Tile provides smart location tags, a device network and a mobile app that together enable people to locate items; it also offers the Tile Platform for other companies to add smart location into their products. Its global community spans 230 countries and territories and helps users locate more than two million items every day. Tile expanded internationally in 2016, adding retail presence in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe, and released Tile Slim and Tile Mate that year. The company reached $100M in revenue in 2016 and has sold 10 million units to date. Leadership includes CEO and co-founder Mike Farley and recent hires such as CMO Simon Fleming-Wood and VPs Ravi Adusumilli and Vijay Shankar. Tile intends to use the new capital to accelerate growth by establishing its brand, expanding its strategy and growing its community. Tile makes square, waterproof Bluetooth Low Energy tags (with GPS coordinates) and a mobile app that lets users find attached items like keys, wallets and bags by making tags beep or showing their location. The app runs in the background and leverages other users' devices to detect lost items; Tiles have unique IDs and do not store or transmit personal data. The company reports users are tracking items in at least 200 countries, sold $43 million in inventory last year, and was on target to at least double revenue in 2016. Tile is based in San Mateo, Calif., and plans to use its Series B funds to hire, ramp up manufacturing, and create a software-based version of its location-awareness technology. Tile has begun partnerships such as integrating its app into newer Jaguar Land Rover vehicles' InControl systems. Investors and company leaders highlight battery life and privacy as product differentiators.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2018

RingDNA provides a sales engagement platform that combines enterprise-grade telephony with conversation intelligence to help sales, support, and customer success teams engage prospects and customers with better context. The platform delivers predictive insights, call coaching, and tools to increase rep productivity. Over the past five years the company has processed more than 60 million conversations, creating an exclusive conversation data network. Customers include Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Amazon Web Services, Autodesk, SAP Concur, Cvent, Lyft, and Twilio. The company says it will use the new financing to accelerate growth. RingDNA is led by founder and CEO Howard Brown and is based in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA.