Participated · Seed · Nov 2025

Upward provides turnkey embedded financial infrastructure that bundles card issuance, banking, payments, and compliance into one platform, sparing customers the hassle of integrating multiple vendors or navigating complex regulations. Its API-driven system lets companies—particularly those serving gig workers, creators, and small businesses—stand up branded credit card, payment, and banking solutions in weeks. The firm positions its technology as a way to lower cost, cut complexity, and speed time-to-market for new financial products. Upward recently struck a strategic partnership with Mastercard, allowing clients to launch Mastercard-branded card programs that tap features such as Easy Savings and the Business Builder Program. Proceeds from its latest financing will be used to expand core infrastructure, grow engineering and partnership teams, and reach more customers in fintech and adjacent sectors. While the company has not disclosed revenue or user numbers, management highlights accelerating demand for embedded finance among creator and gig-economy platforms.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2025

Tiga.ai builds an AI agent that autonomously discovers custom buying signals and activates personalized, personalized outreach for buyers. Its technology uses fine-tuned models optimized to detect buying signals and enable personalized outreach at scale via email and LinkedIn. The company serves a rapidly expanding customer base that includes large global enterprises and venture-backed startups. Tiga.ai raised $2M in funding and plans to use the proceeds to build out sales and marketing teams and continue product innovation. The firm emphasizes product innovation to support personalized outreach workflows across channels. The company is based in Reston, Virginia.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2024

Platformr provides an AI-enabled CloudOps platform purpose-built for AWS environments, combining a Foundation layer that automates delivery of Well-Architected AWS environments in minutes with an Optics AI suite that gives plain-English visibility into security posture, cost trends, compliance status, reliability, and resource health. The platform is aimed at helping MSPs and systems integrators scale services without scaling headcount by compressing discovery and accelerating time-to-value. Platformr reports partner-driven customer growth of 6X year over year. The company is investing the new funding to accelerate its AI roadmap and expand its presence across the AWS partner ecosystem. Customers and partners say the platform speeds onboarding and helps align goals and priorities before technical engagements. Platformr is headquartered in Bend, Ore.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2024

EVA operates a marketplace that lets organizers post event details and connect with local entertainers—musicians, speakers, magicians, impersonators and more—who can apply to perform. Planners input location, date, guest count, budget, duration, equipment and attire needs; EVA’s matching algorithm suggests suitable performers and a "Teams" hub lets staff collaborate and manage invoices. Performers must submit a professional video to join; EVA supplies performance contracts and carries blanket general and professional liability insurance for entertainers and corporate clients. The service currently operates in seven markets (Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte, Nashville, and New Orleans) and plans expansion to New York City and Los Angeles. EVA lists over 2,500 entertainers, says it has helped artists earn $6 million over the past four years, charges a 20% platform service fee on bookings, and reports average transactions from $600 to $7,500 with a $400 minimum booking fee; the company declined to disclose its current revenue run rate. The founders developed the concept while at Belmont College and have secured corporate customers including Amazon, BMW, Dell, ESPN, and LinkedIn.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2021

Rock Paper Coin (RPC) is a Portland, OR–based software-as-a-service company offering a suite of digital contracts, invoicing, and document-sharing tools for the wedding industry. The platform brings event planners, couples, and vendors into one system to manage contracts, pay invoices, and share documents, enabling event professionals to manage the backend of their businesses. Led by CEO Elizabeth Sheils and COO Nora Sheils, RPC positions itself as a financial solution to help businesses book more clients. The company reported revenue growth of 250% from 2021 to 2022 and plans to continue growing and scaling in 2023. To support expansion, RPC expects to hire additional employees and build on the team’s expertise in the wedding industry. The company aims to gain increased market share in the wedding services market, which is expected to reach $414.2 billion by 2030. Rock Paper Coin builds software to digitize contracts, invoices, payments and communications for wedding planners, couples and vendors, functioning as a “wedding binder” with budgeting tools. The platform supports three-way communication between the event planner, the couple and vendors and aims to automate the full wedding process. The company processed more than $1.8 million in transactions, serves nearly 1,000 businesses, employs 10 people, and is a two-year-old Portland, Ore.-based startup. During the pandemic thousands of weddings were postponed, causing transactions to lag even as new user sign-ups surged. Management says the company is freshly out of beta and expects the events industry to rebound by 2022. Rock Paper Coin plans to capture market share as weddings return to normal levels and to expand the product into non-wedding events and vendor services. Rock Paper Coin is a Portland, Ore.-based startup founded in 2018 that provides a digital project binder for weddings, combining contract management, payments, budgeting and collaboration. The platform supports three-way communication among event planners, couples and vendors, allowing planners (with permission) to review, approve contracts and make payments on behalf of clients. The product is currently offered as a free beta and the company employs an account manager who conducts in-person onboarding to help small and medium-sized vendors adopt the system. Founders Elizabeth and Nora Sheils bring 29 years of combined wedding and event experience and built the product after working at Bridal Bliss. The company has six employees and initially bootstrapped before taking external capital. Rock Paper Coin plans to begin offering subscriptions to event planners and vendors next year and to expand features into workflow management for planners.