Participated · Series B · May 2022

RAIN Technology develops productivity-focused voice assistants and provides voice strategy and experience development for leading brands. Its core product is a professional-grade, voice-first assistant aimed at deskless workers, with an initial product targeting automotive service and repair technicians. The company says its voice assistants surface key job-critical data quickly and naturally to simplify complex workflows, improve safety, and boost productivity. RAIN plans to commercialize and scale these voice-first products and continue advancing its product roadmap. The firm highlights a large addressable market—deskless workers represent roughly 80% of the global workforce and the automotive aftermarket is projected at $439 billion in 2022. Financially, RAIN has raised a total of $15M to date, including the recent $11M Series B.

Led · Series A · Mar 2019

Tribe provides a purely self-serve marketplace where brands post requests for either influencer campaigns (promotion to followers) or content campaigns (creation only), and influencers submit paid content that brands can choose to use. The platform emphasizes connecting brands with micro-influencers who already own and use the products being promoted, rather than sending free samples to uncertain matches. Tribe says it works with clients such as Unilever, L'Oréal and Marvel and is generating more than $250,000 worth of branded content every day. The company reports a community of more than 50,000 influencers, with the United Kingdom its largest market and the United States representing about 20% of creators. Founded in Australia in 2015, Tribe plans to expand in the U.S. and invest further in its product following its recent fundraise. Tribe is a platform that connects brands to social media influencers for bespoke marketing campaigns; it was launched late last year by television personality Jules Lund and is led by CEO Anthony Svirskis. The startup reports around 4,500 influencers on the platform servicing roughly 500 brands, including Adidas, Disney, and American Express. Tribe says it is growing 20% month-on-month and surpassed a $1 million annualised run rate five months into trading, having generated revenue from day one. The company’s product is image-platform focused—Instagram accounts for about 80% of campaigns—and targets 20- to 30-year-old consumers across FMCG, fitness, health, lifestyle, and travel verticals. Tribe plans to use the new funding to expand into overseas markets and further develop its technology platform, having hired an analyst to assess potential markets using ten key metrics. Management expects to be active in two or three international markets within the next 12 months and is building strategic variables to approach a Series B within 18 months.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2018

Swet Tailor is a premium menswear brand led by Adam Bolden and David Kranz. The company sells apparel through its website, www.swettailor.com, and select retailers including Ron Robinson (Los Angeles), Rolo (San Francisco), Lester’s (New York), and Caruso, Caruso (Michigan). Swet Tailor closed a $1.5M seed funding round to support growth. Backers in the round included Burch Creative Capital, Mark Sanchez, Dr. Katie Rodan and Amnon Rodan. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand distribution, drive customer acquisition through strategic marketing, and increase team personnel. It also intends to grow its dressing categories into specialty sizing.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2017

UPSTACK is a profitable, fast-growing platform that transforms how businesses source and architect cloud and internet infrastructure solutions. It combines leading cloud and internet infrastructure advisors with proprietary software and support resources to architect customized solutions across services including colocation and data center, network connectivity, SD‑WAN, unified communications, cloud contact center, public and private cloud, security, mobile, business continuity and IoT. Since its founding in 2017 in New York, UPSTACK has completed more than 1,000 data center, connectivity and cloud-based projects and has acquired 13 independent agencies to become the largest and fastest-growing agency in the technology industry. The company intends to continue investing in category-leading telecom, cloud and connectivity firms. UPSTACK says it will use new financing to scale and expand its platform and to strengthen its balance sheet. Berkshire Partners remains UPSTACK’s lead investor and active partner, providing sector expertise and capital markets support. Upstack provides a platform used by system integrators, advisors and end users to design and compare pricing for private, public and hybrid cloud, data center, network connectivity, business continuity and mobile services. The company pairs that technology with about 15 advisors who offer consulting and procurement guidance; customers can pay consulting fees or Upstack can receive commissions from suppliers. Upstack serves large enterprises, government organizations and smaller businesses and names customers including Cisco, Accenture, Backblaze, Riverbed and Lumen. It reports being profitable and says it has helped complete over 3,700 IT projects across 1,000 engagements to date. The company plans to add more categories such as unified communications and security and to continue expanding its services business and advisor team. UpStack is a New York City-based colocation procurement platform provider founded in 2016 by CEO Christopher Trapp. The company has launched a global colocation procurement platform that enables IT professionals, systems integrators and consultants to discover, price and procure colocation solutions worldwide. UpStack counted more than 60 customers prior to launch and had been beta testing with hyperscale companies as well as technology startups. The company secured $1.8M in seed funding from Burch Creative Capital and Montage Ventures. It is using the funds to continue to develop and launch the platform. The announcement was reported on October 18, 2017.

Led · Series C · Jan 2016

BaubleBar is an e-commerce retailer selling fast-fashion women's jewelry and accessories with a focus on rapid trend response. The company operates a compressed supply chain that can move product from design to sale in as little as four weeks and is highly tech-enabled, using a mobile app, logistics systems and data to inform product decisions. BaubleBar sells primarily direct-to-consumer online while maintaining wholesale relationships with retailers including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Anthropologie, and recently launched a tech-accessories line at Target. Wholesale now accounts for less than 10% of overall business (down from 20% in 2014); the company declined to disclose revenue, user or other financial metrics. Co-founded by Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky, BaubleBar fulfills and ships orders from its owned Brooklyn distribution center and employs about 150 people. With the new funding the company plans to scale by investing in marketing and software/systems rather than significant hiring, and aims to expand retail relationships and grow its direct-to-consumer channels. BaubleBar designs and sells fast‑fashion jewelry with an in‑house design team and a compressed supply chain that can move products from design to sale in as little as four weeks. The company works with manufacturing partners across Asia, Italy, South America and the U.S., and handles its own fulfillment and internal software. BaubleBar averages over 1,000 orders per day, 1.3 million monthly visitors (up from 340,000 the prior year), and reports 85% organic traffic; 2014 sales were triple the prior year with over half of repeat buyers making three or more purchases. It has expanded offline through partnerships with Nordstrom and Anthropologie, which now account for about 20% of revenue. The company is based in the Flatiron district, has over 150 employees, and is hiring on the technical side while building its first iOS app and other online features. Planned uses of the new capital include a new office in Asia, a new warehouse, and additional investments in infrastructure. BaubleBar is an online jewelry retailer that offers high-quality pieces at affordable prices by sourcing products directly from designers. It focuses on the web and avoids building up a large inventory, which allows it to price many items below $40. The company refreshes its assortment frequently — new collections chosen by its fashion team are unveiled Mondays and Wednesdays, and new products are introduced Tuesdays and Thursdays. BaubleBar aims to tackle selection and price pain points in jewelry shopping. Co-founder Daniella Yacobovsky confirmed the company's Series A funding and said the round actually closed in April. Financially, the company has completed a $4.5M Series A and previously raised a $1.1M seed round. BaubleBar operates a flash-sale e-commerce site focused solely on fashion jewelry, offering deep discounts for limited periods. The company was previously known as Eight1six and was founded by Daniella Yacobovsky and Amy Jain, recent Harvard Business School graduates. BaubleBar does not sell diamonds or precious jewelry, concentrating on items generally below $1,000 and typically priced around $50–$80. The model emphasizes rapid inventory turnover and frequent deals to drive repeat purchases. The founders reported strong early engagement during testing, with 40% of women who purchased once returning to buy again. High typical retail mark-ups on this category (around 300%+) give the company room to discount while maintaining healthy margins.