Participated · Series B · Aug 2022

Boatsetter operates a marketplace that connects renters with private boat owners and licensed captains to book a wide array of on-water experiences. The platform lists more than 50,000 boats across 700 locations worldwide and has served over one million boaters and boat owners since launching commercially in 2014. Boatsetter maintains the largest database of USCG-certified captains and pioneered the first peer-to-peer boat rental insurance policy with exclusive coverage from GEICO & BoatUS. Renters can book via the Boatsetter app or website in under five minutes, and the company doubled year-over-year bookings in 2021. Future plans include enriching product features, expanding boat inventory and experiential offerings, and entering new markets globally, supported by the recent Series B funding. Boatsetter operates a peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace connecting boat owners with renters and offering qualified captains for larger vessels. The platform covers rentals for groups from two to more than a dozen passengers and lists boats in vacation hotspots worldwide. Boatsetter recently announced a strategic partnership with Geico to provide insurance for renters, owners and captains. The company raised a $10M Series A extension led by WestCap Group and Valor Equity and has now raised $31M to date, including earlier portions of its Series A. Boatsetter estimates the peer-to-peer boat rental market could be as large as $50 billion annually. It plans to use the funding to expand its product, hire design and engineering talent, build its brand and grow into key global markets. As part of its growth, it added Laurence Tosi (former CFO of Blackstone and Airbnb) to its board. Boatsetter operates a three-party marketplace connecting private boat owners, professional charter companies, captains and renters, allowing users to rent boats with a captain or hire a separate captain. The company is based out of Florida and provides insurance (reported $1M liability and $2M boat damage coverage plus umbrella coverage) via a prior merger with Cruzin. Boatsetter says it has boats in more than 300 U.S. locations and 5,000 vetted boats available, and it is projecting 5x growth to more than 10,000 rentals. The platform takes roughly 28% of the owner’s rental fee, 10% of the captain’s fee and adds a 7.5% booking fee to renters. Boatsetter has partnered with Airbnb Experiences to offer lessons and paid activities, and it emphasizes insurance and safety as differentiators. Management is pursuing a roll-up M&A strategy to consolidate regional competitors and expand internationally; the company is explicitly using new funds for M&A, growth and international expansion. Boatsetter is a Miami, Florida–based peer-to-peer boating marketplace led by co-founder and CEO Jaclyn Baumgarten. The platform connects boat owners and licensed captains to renters and offers access to a worldwide fleet. Boatsetter provides 24/7 customer service support and offers insurance coverage in the U.S. and internationally for renters, boat owners, and captains. The company expected in 2017 to host 10,000 rental boats, activate 200 marinas and connect 2,000 captains nearly anywhere in the world. Boatsetter plans to use new funding to expand its sales and marketing efforts and to broaden and accelerate its operations in the United States.

Participated · Series A · May 2022

Sensible Weather combines weather, financial, and risk-management technologies to deliver embedded climate finance products for travel, events, and outdoor experiences. Its first product, the Weather Guarantee (launched in 2021), proactively reimburses consumers when pre-set forecast thresholds for disruptive weather are met. The Weather Guarantee is sold through thousands of partner websites to Americans and Europeans traveling globally and allows consumers to still take part in planned activities while receiving reimbursement. Sensible reports over 50,000 Weather Guarantees sold and attach rates up to 5x higher than traditional travel insurance offerings. The product is intended to help businesses mitigate weather-related cancellations and lost revenue while increasing customer satisfaction and incremental revenue. The company says the new investment will help it better deliver seamless products and services to mitigate the impacts of disruptive weather. Sensible Weather builds Weather Guarantee products that quantify and manage weather risk for consumers and outdoor-experience partners, reimbursing tee times and travel costs for rain, extreme temperatures, or other undesirable weather. Its Weather Guarantee is built on satellite imagery and climate analytics developed from over a decade of research. The company says the service streamlines operations for partners, increases customer satisfaction, reduces cancellations and rain checks, and generates incremental revenue for facilities. Sensible Weather plans to expand its Weather Guarantee protection to golf and other outdoor-sports booking channels. The additional capital will support continued development of its proprietary climate data and risk analytics platform. Sensible Weather was founded in 2019 and is backed by a National Science Foundation grant and $22M in total financing to date. Sensible Weather operates a climate data and risk analytics platform powering its Weather Guarantee product, which automatically reimburses consumers when forecasted weather negatively impacts a booked experience. Since launching earlier in the year, the company has sold thousands of Weather Guarantees via hospitality and outdoor recreation partners. The Weather Guarantee processes payments immediately and prorates reimbursements based on the number of hours an experience is impacted by weather. Sensible is building a high-performance climate engine with data, analytics and risk-assessment components designed to SaaS standards and to be use-case agnostic. The company plans to use new funding to grow its engineering and scientific talent, accelerate development of its proprietary platform, and expand the Weather Guarantee offering into international markets. Nick Cavanaugh leads the company as CEO. Sensible Weather’s core product is a partner-branded Weather Guarantee built on its proprietary Climate Risk Platform, a high-performance data, analytics, and risk-assessment engine. The service calculates pricing in real time, identifies covered events programmatically on an hourly basis, and fulfills same-day reimbursements for weather impacts such as rain. Payouts are processed immediately and are based on the number of hours an experience is negatively impacted (for example, three hours of rain on a covered hotel stay triggers a 100% payout of the average daily rate). The platform will soon support additional weather events including snow, wind, and air quality, and Sensible plans to roll out consumer-focused climate finance products into other industries. Sensible is live with travel-oriented Weather Guarantees and sells protection through experiential brand partners, who benefit from new revenue and improved conversion and guest experience. The company was launched in 2019 by Nick Cavanaugh, Ph.D., and is expanding its engineering and science team while investing further in its climate data and risk analytics capabilities.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2022

Wheelhouse spun out of Lyric to commercialize a pricing and revenue-management product originally built for Lyric’s hospitality operations. The company offers Wheelhouse Pro, a professional-grade pricing engine and suite of tools aimed at large portfolios, hosts and enterprise operators in the flex-rental market. Wheelhouse positions itself as a fintech platform for the $500 billion-plus flexible rental space and provides pricing, financing and underwriting capabilities. The team says its technology has been deployed for years and will be expanded via a planned rollout called “Wheelhouse Everywhere,” scaling from 42 countries to worldwide. Wheelhouse reported 100% overall growth over the prior nine months, 45% growth in the first quarter, and 500–600% growth in its B2B business over the same nine-month period; B2B is now the majority of its business. The company plans to use new capital to finalize inherited core technology, price mid-length stays, build underwriting, and invest in data-science to improve its ML pricing engine. PriceMethod develops predictive analytics and pricing software for vacation and short-term rentals on Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway. Its software collects over 500 million data points and uses proprietary algorithms to recommend the best nightly price for each property. Hosts can connect their Airbnb, VRBO or HomeAway accounts to see ideal prices and push updates to their listings. The company offers optimized, automated and guaranteed pricing to help accommodations marketplaces and property owners operate more efficiently. Led by CEO Andrew Kitchell and COO Joe Fraiman, PriceMethod plans to use new funding to expand nationwide coverage. The article states the funding amount was not disclosed.

Led · Series A · Feb 2022

UFODrive is an all-digital, all-electric car rental company operating an end-to-end e-mobility SaaS platform. Founded in 2018 by Aidan McClean and Renaud Marquet and based in Luxembourg, it offers an app-controlled two-minute 'arrive and drive' digital experience with no keys, paperwork, or queues. The platform provides fleet management and AI-driven tools for charging, optimal fleet utilisation, and telematics; UFODrive also added home delivery and subscription services to its rental offering. Its services are available in 18 locations across nine countries, and the company reports sustained growth through the pandemic. UFODrive says it positions itself as a premier operating system for electric fleets and serves a growing list of high-profile mobility companies. The company plans to use new capital to accelerate product development and expand globally, with a particular focus on the US market. UFODrive develops an app that enables fast, keyless and paperless electric car rentals with no queues, paperwork, fuel or emissions. Founded in 2018 by Aidan McClean and Renaud Marquet and based in Luxembourg, the company operates 17 rental hubs and an all-electric fleet across eight European countries. Its customers benefit from access to a network of 140,000 chargers across Europe. UFODrive has integrated what3words for precise charger locations, announced cooperation with Sono Motors to add the solar Sion to its fleet, and partnered with Ark2030 to plant trees via ArkPoints earned by customers. Despite the COVID-19 crisis the company increased its business by 108% and has continued to expand its fleet and rental locations. UFODrive plans further geographic expansion, aims to increase its fleet, and intends to start operations in the US.

Led · Series C · Feb 2021

Getaway builds and operates "Outposts"—collections of tiny cabins sited in rustic locations within a two-hour drive of major cities. Each cabin is self-check-in, spaced about 50 to 150 feet apart, equipped with its own fire pit, and intentionally lacks Wi‑Fi; the company even provides lockboxes for guests to stow phones. Getaway emphasizes unplugging and time away from modern distractions rather than traditional tourist activities. Bookings increased 150% year-over-year and Outposts were operating at nearly 100% occupancy in 2020. The startup plans to use new funding to expand to at least 17 Outposts this year (up from 12 in 2020 and nine in 2019). CEO Jon Staff said the brand could eventually add other products and services focused on disconnecting, while remaining focused on the core guest experience. Getaway offers short-stay wellness hospitality experiences designed for guests to disconnect from work, wifi and routines for a night or two and enjoy nature, silence and campfires. The company is led by Founder and CEO Jon Staff. It currently operates six Outposts with a total of 140 cabins located outside New York, Boston, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Portland and one between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Getaway has announced two new locations opening later this summer, outside Los Angeles and Dallas. The company raised $22.5m in a Series B and intends to use the funds to continue its nationwide expansion. The financing supports Getaway’s plan to grow its Outpost footprint across additional U.S. markets. Founded in 2015 at Harvard University’s Innovation Lab by Jon Staff and Pete Davis, Getaway designs and operates "tiny house" rentals in rural areas just outside major cities. The company places custom-built homes, each between 160 and 200 square feet, on secluded land in wooded, natural landscapes and rents them by the night. Consumers reserve their getaways online and the company handles the guest experience end-to-end. Getaway's rentals are currently located outside Boston and New York City. The company received a strategic growth investment to support expansion and will use the funds to add markets later in the year.