Participated · Seed · Oct 2020

ShearShare is a B2B mobile marketplace that lets licensed beauty and barbering professionals rent flexible, affordable workspace with no-term leases or commission fees. The platform supports 900 cities and has grown into a nationwide marketplace serving tens of thousands of industry professionals, owners, and operators. ShearShare recently completed a rebrand, launched an improved mobile UX, and expanded educational and business resources for its user community. It offers daily liability insurance through an exclusive partnership with Lloyd’s of London. The company plans to hire a CTO and a Head of Revenue Operations, amplify self-service features, expand its on-demand rental database, and introduce proprietary analytics for small business owners. ShearShare has established headquarters at 43North in Buffalo, NY. ShearShare operates an online marketplace that lets stylists book open chairs or stations at salons and barbershops, matching supply and demand across locations. The founders launched the Dallas-based company in 2017 and have expanded listings to more than 600 cities, with chair prices ranging from about $15 to $569 depending on market. The platform processes payments for stylists via a partnership with First American Payments. ShearShare serves both stylists and salon owners rather than focusing solely on consumer booking or salon management. The company plans to roll out ancillary services for stylists, including pioneering an insurance policy to cover on-the-job lawsuits. With new funding and a Google for Startups grant, the team says it is ready to accelerate expansion and add more services for independent beauty professionals.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2020

Lex is a text-first social app inspired by vintage lesbian personals that operates as a community hub for LGBTQIA+ people. The product emphasizes text-only posts and local, community-oriented uses such as dating, finding roommates, selling tickets, venting, and other neighborhood exchanges. A February redesign codified a broader community focus and prompted debate as some users lamented a deemphasis on dating and hookups. The company has about 11 employees, is three years old, and ranks around No. 350 on Apple’s U.S. social networking charts, with concentrated usage in cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Leadership recently shifted: co-founder Jennifer Lewis moved from COO to CEO, founding CEO Kel Rakowski became chief creative officer, and former Hinge product boss Michelle Parsons joined as chief product officer. Lex plans to use new funding to expand while prioritizing community-sensitive monetization rather than an ad-based growth model. It is already testing paid features, including charging users who want to post more frequently than the app typically allows. Lex is an MVP social app that lets users create profiles and post text-based personal ads (personals) and browse or like others’ personals without requiring mutual matches. The app launched on the App Store in November 2019 and intentionally omits in-feed photos, though users can link to Instagram and messaging is available without a match. Founder Kell Rakowski built the product from an audience that responded to curated historic personal ads, and the current team is five people with 80% cis women, 20% cis men, 80% identifying as LGBTQ and three team members of color. With the new funding, Lex plans to hire underrepresented talent in product and engineering as a hiring priority. Product roadmap items include adding clickable profile photos (not in the feed), group chat for community building, and eventually a freemium subscription model to unlock extended functionality. For now the focus is on growth and building out the app.