Participated · Series A · Oct 2023

Reality Defender offers a platform that detects deepfakes and AI-generated content across audio, video, images, and text for enterprises, platforms, and governments. Founded in 2021 and led by CEO Ben Colman, the company has partnered with financial entities, government agencies, and media conglomerates. Since launch it has detected millions of deepfakes, prevented advanced voice fraud in real time, and deflected state-sponsored attackers. The company announced an expansion of its Series A to $33M and intends to use the funds to expand operations and accelerate development efforts. Alexander Ross of Illuminate Financial will join the Reality Defender board following the financing. Investors in the round include Illuminate Financial, Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, the Jeffries Family Office, Accenture Ventures, DCVC, The Partnership Fund for New York City, and Y Combinator. Reality Defender offers an API and web app that analyze videos, audio, text and images for signs of AI-driven modifications, using proprietary models trained on in-house datasets. The company trains an ensemble of deep-learning detection models and emphasizes real-world performance over lab-only accuracy. It began as a nonprofit and was founded in 2021 by Ben Colman, Ali Shahriyari and Gaurav Bharaj; Colman is a former Goldman Sachs VP. Reality Defender's 23-person team will be doubled with the new funding as the company improves its detection models. Customers include governments across several continents, top-tier financial institutions, media corporations and multinationals. The company competes with startups like DeepMedia, Truepic, Sentinel and Effectiv as well as incumbent tools from Microsoft. Reality Defender plans an explainable-AI tool to highlight AI-generated text and will roll out real-time voice detection for call centers followed by a real-time video detection tool.

Participated · Series A · May 2023

Covatic builds an ID-less, privacy-first audience targeting solution that keeps individual consumer data on the user’s device rather than sending it to the cloud. Its technology maps content consumption, device characteristics, inputs, and sensor data to audience segments to inform profiles and predict consumer behavior. The platform enables private-by-design addressable advertising across major platforms, aiming to maximise addressable reach and return without exposing personal data. Covatic works with global media companies and has positioned sustainability and regional innovation (as a certified B Corp based in Birmingham) at the core of its strategy. The company participated in Comcast NBCUniversal’s LIFT Labs Accelerator in 2020 and has continued deploying solutions to global brands. Recently it announced a $5 million Series A to further develop its technology and scale into the global advertising and media market. Covatic is a developer of a software platform for broadcasters that delivers personalized content and tailored adverts to users' mobile devices without exposing personal data. The platform detects where and when users consume media on mobile devices to recommend appropriate formats (for example audio when walking and downloadable material for train journeys). Founded in 2016 as a University of Oxford spin-out and led by CEO Nick Pinks, the company is based in Birmingham with offices in Oxford and London. Covatic has delivered a successful prototype for the BBC and is in commercial discussions with several global broadcasters interested in rolling out the software by the end of 2018. The company secured an additional £850k in funding, bringing total funding to over £1.6m. It intends to use the proceeds to bring the software to market and create six new technical and management jobs.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

Sequel.io provides a no-code and low-code platform that lets brands create and embed live event and webinar experiences directly on their websites. The product includes a proprietary technology stack plus an open low-code API for teams that want deeper customization. Marketers can use the platform to drive high-value actions and increase website traffic, while developers can build more sophisticated virtual platforms in days. Sequel has powered over 20,000 embedded live events for customers including Comcast NBCUniversal, Ritual Motion, We&Goliath, and HP. The company offers both no-code tools for marketers and low-code options for developers, enabling a range of use cases from simple branded webinars to custom video solutions. Sequel plans to scale its go-to-market efforts and expand its product and team following the recent fundraise. Introvoke is a Techstars Accelerator graduate that provides embeddable virtual-event components such as virtual stages, chat rooms and networking hubs. Its components are customizable and can be embedded on websites built with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Splash and other platforms, as well as on internal intranets. Introvoke charges customers based on live event minutes, a pricing model it says is accessible to companies large and small. The product is designed for a hybrid future that includes virtual-only, in-person-only and mixed events and supports prolonged attendee engagement (chat over weeks or months). Customers have used the platform in private preview for conferences, career fairs and employee engagements, with Comcast, Wharton and Ritual Motion among early users. The company is based in San Francisco.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2019

Zeus Living manages, curates and furnishes homes and rents them for flexible 30+‑day stays, handling design, inspections, utilities and property management rather than operating as a marketplace. It began by serving relocated corporate workers and has broadened to consumers seeking flexible living for extended family visits, healthcare stays and home renovations. The company operates nearly 5,000 homes across 96 U.S. cities, with 87% occupancy and a 21% year‑over‑year increase in revpar; residents have spent over 1.4 million nights with Zeus and the platform is approaching $250M in lifetime booking revenue. Demand trends include a 6x increase in open‑ended leases (average stay 129 nights) and roughly $40M of unmet demand over the past 12 months. Zeus has 122 employees and has rebuilt after pandemic layoffs while growing revenue multiple‑fold since its 2015 start. The new capital will be used to expand supply in constrained markets and to invest in its online experience for homeowners and residents. Zeus Living operates a corporate-housing marketplace that furnishes landlords’ homes and leases them for month-or-longer stays to individuals and employees of large companies. The San Francisco-based company is led by CEO Kulveer Taggar and manages more than 2,000 homes. With corporate travel depressed by the pandemic, Zeus has rented units to health‑care workers and people leaving dense cities; its occupancy rate is tracking above 70% so far this month. The company lists corporate partners including GitHub, Samsara Networks, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and ServiceTitan. Zeus has cut staff amid the downturn, laying off about 80 workers (roughly 30% of its headcount). Zeus Living takes over landlords’ apartments, furnishes them with branded amenities, handles maintenance and operations, and rents them to relocated workers for 30‑day stays or longer. The company charges landlords one free month of usage and marks up the customer rent to generate revenue. In four years it scaled to a $100 million revenue run rate, growing revenue 300% in 2019, and now operates with roughly 250 employees and more than 2,000 homes under management. To date it has hosted about 27,000 residents for a total of 650,000 nights. Zeus emphasizes high margins and capital efficiency by focusing on corporate rentals, and reports high 70s NPS scores. Planned product and operational investments include expanding to more neighborhoods and cities, revamping booking and invoicing tools for enterprise partners, improving real estate sourcing, and investing in customer care. Zeus operates a managed corporate-housing business that signs multi-year leases with homeowners, furnishes and maintains properties, and places multi-month tenants from employers. The company has grown to a $45 million revenue run rate from 900 homes across 23 cities, up 5X year-over-year, supported by a 150-person team and a 90% occupancy rate. Zeus sources tenants via Airbnb listings and direct employer relationships (examples include Darktrace and ZS Associates) and provides tenants with digital locks and 24/7 support. It partners with consumer brands like Helix, Parachute and Simple Human to bulk-procure furnishings and recently took on debt to fund fixed furniture investments. Zeus typically signs minimum two-year leases with landlords (seeking five-year extensions when possible) and captures standard property-manager economics such as the first free month; the article gives an example where Zeus leases a home for $4,000/month, pays the landlord $44,000 after a year and rents it for $5,000/month to earn $60,000. Future plans described include rolling up more homes, building a landlord portal and expanding partnerships or in-house divisions for cleaning and furnishing to scale operations.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2019

Nerd Street Gamers operates a digital platform that offers competitive experiences including tournaments, camps, coaching, a Twitch channel for live-broadcasting tournaments, and Localhosts—esports and gaming centers. The company is led by founder and CEO John Fazio. It raised $11.5m in additional funding in a round led by Founders Fund, bringing total funding to approximately $25m. Localhosts were closed for the majority of the past year due to the pandemic, though Nerd Street continued opening new Localhosts in Austin, Philadelphia and St. Louis in 2020. Over the next year the company plans to open 20,000+ square-foot regional Localhost facilities in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. It is also rolling out several Localhosts in collaboration with teen- and tween-focused retailer Five Below. Nerd Street Gamers builds and operates Localhost venues that host leagues, training camps, tournaments and showcases on professional-grade equipment. Its Localhost spaces provide in-person esports experiences that connect the gaming community through live events and pro-level hardware. The company completed a $12M Series A led by Five Below with participation from Comcast, SeventySix Capital, Elevate Capital and angel investor George Miller and is using the funding to expand its physical footprint. As part of the Five Below partnership, 3,000-square-foot Localhost spaces will be piloted inside select Five Below stores beginning in 2020, with potential expansion to 70 or more locations based on pilot learnings. Nerd Street Gamers also plans to build 50 larger regional and university-based facilities and has recently opened Localhost Huntington Beach (32,000 sq ft), Localhost Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and announced Localhost Rowan University. Led by founder and CEO John Fazio, the company positions itself as a national network to promote esports talent development and broaden access to the esports industry. N3rd Street Gamers operates Localhost, a dedicated esports arena in Philadelphia and provides arena facilities, production studios, gaming equipment, administration and broadcast services. The company produces both small- and large-scale esports events for titles such as CS:GO, StarCraft II, Hearthstone and the official Madden Challenger. It also hosts an annual summer championship that brings in more than 2,500 casual and professional gamers from around the world. Founded in 2009 and led by entrepreneurs John Fazio and Rob Hilsky, NSG positions itself as an operator and community hub for esports. The company raised an undisclosed funding round led by SeventySix Capital, with participation from George Miller. NSG intends to use the proceeds to expand its Localhost arena in Philadelphia, open additional locations across the United States, and partner with major brands and athletes.