• Asteya

  Participated · Equity · Mar 2021

  Asteya is a Miami, FL-based income insurance startup founded by CEO Alex Williamson and Chief Product Officer Hadi Radwan. Williamson previously served as Chief Brand Officer at Bumble. The company has just launched a product that offers monthly plans to help individuals, including gig economy workers, protect their income. Asteya works with A-rated carriers, including Munich Re and certain underwriters at Lloyd’s. The startup raised $10M in funding from a group of institutional and angel investors as it brings its product to market.

• MedMen

  Led · Equity · Apr 2016

  MedMen operates a retail‑oriented cannabis business built around branded dispensaries and prime retail locations. The company says it is refocusing on its core retail business and plans to strengthen its balance sheet, accelerate a path to profitability and expand the MedMen brand. Over the last year MedMen has pursued cash infusions, asset and stock sales, and aggressive cost cuts including layoffs of more than 40% of its staff. For fiscal 2020 (ended June 27) the company reported roughly $247 million net loss attributable to shareholders on $157 million in revenue. At that fiscal year end MedMen had roughly $536 million of debt, including loan facilities and operating and lease liabilities. Despite recent setbacks, some analysts have noted creditor willingness to continue funding as a potential lifeline for the business. MedMen, founded in 2011, is a California startup that sells marijuana through branded retail stores. It owns 11 stores across Los Angeles, New York, and Las Vegas and employs about 700 people. The company emphasizes design and service reportedly comparable to Apple stores and aims to fight stereotypes while introducing modern sales and management practices to the cannabis industry. MedMen offers managerial services to producers and other retailers and has created an investment fund to invest in companies that hold cultivation and retail licenses. The company itself does not hold cultivation and retail licenses across all 18 characteristics noted in the article; its fund-and-partnership model lets it operate in markets with limited licensing (for example, New York). Financially, MedMen had previously raised about $135M from a group of investors and has continued to attract new capital. MedMen is a Los Angeles-based management company serving the legal marijuana industry. Led by CEO Adam Bierman, the firm supports businesses entering the regulated cannabis market by handling licensing, design, and management. It guides clients from completing state applications to managing day-to-day operations of mature businesses. MedMen offers services including business plans, crop security, money management, taxes, hiring, branding, building design, and operations improvement. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its presence in California following passage of AB 243 and 266 (MMRSA) and to build a fully integrated presence. The article does not provide additional operating metrics or broader financial details. MedMen is a Culver City, CA-based cannabis management company that leverages expertise in licensing, design and management to help businesses enter the marijuana marketplace. The company focuses on maximizing brand identity and building legitimate, stable operations for clients. Founded in 2007 by Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin, MedMen has supported clients that have been awarded 13 medical marijuana licenses in Nevada and has 12 applications pending in Illinois. In November 2014 the company secured $3.75M in financing from several backers, the largest being N Squared Management. MedMen plans to use the funds to launch operations in Nevada and Illinois and to build corporate infrastructure and regional offices in those states.

• Credible

  Participated · Seed · Feb 2014

  Credible operates a multi-lender marketplace that connects borrowers with vetted lenders for student loans, refinancing and personal loans. Its flagship product, LenderExpress, is an intelligent pre-qualification engine that shows borrowers the actual rates they’ll qualify for in real time without impacting credit scores. The platform emphasizes consumer control over data sharing and targets millennial borrowers seeking unbiased loan comparisons. Management says the company has seen rapid growth since launching LenderExpress, with more than 85,000 people qualifying for loan offers in 2016. Credible plans to use new funding to accelerate development of data-driven technology and continue rapid product innovation. Stephen Dash is the company’s founder and CEO, and the company is based in San Francisco. Credible is a multi-lender marketplace for student loans that secures firm, legally binding loan offers for borrowers to evaluate and select. The platform works with 12 lending partners and issues fixed credit quotes that are valid for 30 days. Credible also offers a student loan refinancing product for graduates to refinance federal and private student loans. The company earns revenue by taking a transaction fee from the lender once a credit line is accepted. Credible was founded in 2012 and is led by CEO Stephen Dash. According to Dash the addressable refinancing market totals about $200 billion, of which roughly $5 billion is actually being refinanced today. Credible Labs operates an independent marketplace for student loan refinancing, enabling recent graduates and young professionals to shop and compare offers from multiple lenders. The company is not a lender but a matchmaker that provides a single application to surface personalized refinancing options. Credible reports borrowers saved an average of $11,688 by refinancing through its platform in 2014. It has seen significant growth in lender participation and aims to remove friction in the refinancing process while giving lenders access to the types of borrowers they want to underwrite. Credible plans to use new funding to expand its team and build user-friendly features to help millennials make informed decisions about their finances. The company was highlighted as the winner of LAUNCH 2.0 at San Francisco’s LAUNCH Festival. Credible is a San Francisco-based startup operating a Kayak-style marketplace to simplify private student loan refinancing. Users complete a seven-question qualification, create a profile, link existing loans and submit a single offer request that lenders use to produce refinancing offers shown in a secure dashboard. The service is offered for free to borrowers; Credible plans to generate revenue by collecting fees on disbursed loans rather than through lead-generation. During its beta the startup enrolled 30,000 students and the article notes one borrower is projected to save more than $40,000 in interest over the life of a refinanced loan. Credible closed a $500,000 seed financing from a mix of venture funds and angel investors to support its launch and marketing. Founder Stephen Dash says the team intends to expand supported lenders over the coming year and explore applying the platform to other complex application processes in banking and insurance.

No current team members are available.