Participated · Series C · Jul 2022

Kitchen United operates a platform combining commercial kitchen space, restaurant-hub technology and streamlined logistics to help foodservice operators enter new markets, grow off-premises revenue and expand delivery areas. Its technology enables customers to order from multiple prepared food and consumer goods brands on the same ticket and with the same delivery driver, synchronized to maximize quality and payload while minimizing time and expense. The company also develops Kitchen United OS, a multi-concept ordering technology platform used by national restaurant brands. Led by CEO Michael Montagano, Kitchen United currently powers approximately 200 operational kitchens across 20 regions. The company plans to increase both its technological and physical presence, with continued focus on Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Texas and other U.S. trade areas. Management intends to use the recent funding to accelerate growth and expand operations. Kitchen United operates commercial kitchen centers that house 10–15 restaurant brands each, providing operators a value-driven, low-risk way to enter new markets and expand delivery areas by removing capital and technology barriers. Launched in 2017 and headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., the company positions itself as a strategic real estate partner for restaurant chains as consumer preference shifts to off-premise dining. Kitchen United handles operations so restaurant brands can focus on food while scaling via shared kitchen infrastructure. The company cites a large addressable market—William Blair estimated U.S. off-premise restaurant sales at $279B in 2018, growing to an expected $402B in 2022. Current locations include Pasadena and Chicago, with upcoming openings in Scottsdale and Austin and additional sites under construction in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other major markets. As part of its growth strategy, Kitchen United plans to enter New York City through a relationship with RXR Realty to open kitchen centers in RXR and other Tri-State properties. The company recently closed a financing round to support expansion into its primary growth markets, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. Kitchen United is a virtual-restaurant concept that operates "Kitchen Centers" — converted warehouse, big-box or light-industrial facilities that can house 10–20 restaurants and centralize delivery production. The company aggregates demographic and cuisine-specific demand data to select locations and provide restaurant partners opt-in consumer and operational intelligence to tailor menus, staffing and operations. Kitchen United positions its offering as a lower-cost, lower-risk way for national, regional and local chains and food entrepreneurs to enter new markets and expand off-premise dining. Launched in 2017 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the company says its centers create operational efficiencies and reduce delivery costs while expanding partners' addressable delivery markets. Kitchen United plans to use recent funding to accelerate national growth and to build its real estate, marketing, engineering and operations teams. Leadership brings experience from chains and hospitality companies including Taco Bell, McDonald’s, SBE Entertainment and Wolfgang Puck.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2021

PopID provides a consumer-initiated biometric verification platform that uses face and palm scans to enable check-in, loyalty, ordering, and payments at point of sale. The company says it has processed millions of biometric loyalty and payment authentications over the past several years, demonstrating advantages versus phone and card authentication. New equity capital will be used to build infrastructure for an open-loop, global biometric network to connect POS solutions to loyalty programs, card payment methods, fintech wallets, buy now/pay later platforms, stablecoin products, and pay-by-bank schemes. PopID announced a partnership with Verifone to retrofit existing Verifone terminals to accept face and palm authentication and to embed biometrics in future devices, leveraging Verifone’s installed base and integrations. The financing brings together strategic payments and commerce partners alongside venture investors to accelerate merchant adoption. The press release does not disclose financial terms or valuation. PopID provides facial-recognition consumer identity authentication through its PopEntry access system and PopPay payment product. The platform is live with over 100 restaurant and retail brands around college campuses in Southern California, and PopID reports approximately 70,000 registered users and over four million accurate face authentications. Students typically enroll for PopEntry to access housing and then adopt PopPay for purchases, with repeat users receiving larger floats to help manage cash flow. PopPay lowers payment processing fees when integrated with kiosks or POS terminals, speeds transactions to increase throughput, and has been shown to boost loyalty usage while enabling interactive, branded payment experiences. The company closed a $10M Series B earlier this summer. PopID plans to roll out to college campuses across the U.S. over the next 18 months, seeding dense PopPay acceptance after PopEntry deployments in student housing.

Participated · Series C · Jun 2017

Super League Gaming is a global community platform that offers accessible esports competitions, content and social interactions for amateur gamers. Its platform hosts both online and in-person gaming arenas and enables local gaming experiences, recreational and competitive play, content creation and social networking for players of all ages and skill levels. Founded in 2014, the company began with Minecraft events in movie theaters for kids and has since hosted more than 30,000 kids across six seasons of play. In November 2016 the company expanded its competitive events to include League of Legends in partnership with Riot Games. The company is led by CEO Ann Hand. Financially, Super League completed a $15M Series C and has raised more than $28M to date. Super League Gaming operates an interactive video-game league that stages competitive events in movie theaters across the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Ann Hand, the company began in the summer of 2015 and is now in its fifth season of Minecraft competition. Its current series, Metropolis Madness, is played in more than 50 theaters across 30 markets in the U.S. and Canada. The company has raised $20M in total funding to date. It intends to use the new funds to launch additional programs for Metropolis Madness. Super League Gaming operates recreational leagues that gather gamers in movie theaters to compete collaboratively using their laptops and mobile devices, with gameplay merged into a single aerial view projected onto the big screen. The company runs six-week league sessions where teams climb a national leaderboard and compete for prizes, and it partners with major chains including Cinemark, Regal, AMC and luxury iPic Theaters. Following a summer preseason tour across 25 major cities and engagement with over 10,000 gamers, Super League planned a Fall League session on Oct. 6 featuring Minecraft and expansion into over 70 U.S. theater gaming arenas. The company intends to add multiple mainstream PC and mobile game titles in the coming months and to expand theater gaming globally in 2016. Founded in 2014 and led by John Miller and Ann Hand, Super League is based in Santa Monica, Calif.