• Convey

  Participated · Series A · Jun 2016

  Convey's cloud-based platform aggregates and normalizes disparate carrier, retailer, and customer data to give retailers real-time visibility and tools to resolve shipping issues before they impact customers. The product spans parcel to freight and aims to help retailers reduce costs, improve visibility, and turn delivery into a competitive advantage. Customers include four of the world’s top ten retailers, and the platform manages 22,000 exceptions daily while delivering 4X faster issue resolution. Bodybuilding.com reported addressing more than 20,000 shipment issues after implementing Convey and saw a 10% reduction in inbound delivery-related inquiries. Founded in 2013 and based in Austin, Texas, the company plans to expand capabilities beyond retail into B2B sectors such as construction materials, industrial equipment, and medical deliveries. Convey recently raised additional capital to expand its product portfolio and add staffing in sales, engineering, and client success. Convey offers a cloud platform that connects disparate shipping and delivery data to give shippers insight and tools to manage from parcel to freight and first to final mile. Its product suite (including Convey Engage and Convey Initiate) focuses on visibility, exception management and improving delivery outcomes for retailers and 3PLs. The company reports strong operating momentum in 2017, with bookings exceeding total 2016 levels and a 340% year-over-year increase in new bookings through August 2017, alongside 157% growth in new customers. Convey has captured more than 448,000 exceptions and escalated over 127,000 shipments for resolution; customers using Convey realize a 5X increase in visibility into exceptions and an average 11% savings on freight costs. The company is expanding its target markets beyond retail into verticals such as construction and building materials, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Founded in 2013 and based in Austin, Texas, Convey plans to use new funding to expand product development, engineering and customer success while pursuing new market opportunities. Convey builds fulfillment software that handles the logistics of moving large items from stores to homes and businesses, aimed at helping retailers manage delivery and freight. Its customers include Jet.com, Build.com and Living Direct. Convey says its software saves retailers approximately 11 to 22 percent on freight costs and improves on-time delivery. The company cites research that 70 percent of consumers will abandon a retailer after a single bad delivery experience and positions its platform to reduce that churn. Founded in 2013 as Pivot Freight, Convey moved from Arizona to Austin to join Techstars Austin and subsequently relocated permanently. The team includes CEO Rob Taylor, founder and VP of customer experience Dan Bebout, VP of revenue Chris Richter and VP of engineering Oliver Modica; Taylor and Richter previously founded BlackLocus, acquired by Home Depot in 2012.

• eyeQ

  Participated · Equity · Apr 2015

  eyeQ, founded in 2012 and based in Austin, TX, offers a SaaS shopper-responsive technology that personalizes the in-store shopping experience. Its devices make digital displays respond to age, gender, location, frequency of visit and emotion, and the platform recognizes and responds to emotion. The system delivers real-time intelligence to stores and manufacturers so they can learn and iterate on customer experiences. eyeQ is a showcase company for IBM, building its solution with BlueMix and utilizing Watson cognitive computing. The company closed a $3.5M Series A led by Align Capital and intends to use proceeds for continued technology development, product enhancement and revenue pursuit. Lisa Harris of Align Capital joined eyeQ’s board as part of the financing, and existing investors also participated in the round. eyeQ develops a suite that enables brick-and-mortar retailers to leverage e-commerce intelligence to create a hybrid in-person/online shopping experience. Its platform provides shoppers with ratings, reviews and suggested offerings to help them decide and buy on the spot. The company plans to use recent funding to expand its business by adding new customers and increasing engagements with existing brands. eyeQ was founded in 2012 by CEO Michael Garel and is based in Austin, Texas. It is a member of the Austin Technology Incubator and a 2014 graduate of DreamIt Ventures.

• Bold Metrics

  Participated · Seed · Jan 2015

  Bold Metrics builds machine learning-driven body models that use simple inputs (height, approximate weight, optional waist and shoe size) to create 3D representations of shoppers and clothing to predict fit. The product guides consumers on sizing without requiring complex steps like photo uploads or scans, aiming for “zero additional friction” on the shopper. Its technology can, for example, indicate if a medium T‑shirt will feel tight around the arms, and it is used by brands including French Toast and Vuori. The company’s solution targets high return rates in e-commerce apparel by addressing fit rather than downstream return logistics. In May the company completed an $8 million Series A led by Kent Bennett, signaling venture interest in fit technology. Bessemer’s partner framed Bold Metrics’ approach as having a strong value proposition and potential for network effects in the apparel industry. Fashion Metric provides a big-data SaaS platform for apparel retailers and brands that gathers customer intelligence to personalize shopping both online and in-store. Its technology calculates a customer’s body measurements in seconds through a few questions, helping shoppers find the best fit. The platform aims to reduce size ambiguity, lower return rates, and give retailers continuous analytics for better targeting and inventory management. The company says the new funding will support strong demand from retailers and brands and continue product development. Fashion Metric plans to use the round to build its Austin, Texas-based team. To date the company has received prior investments from Mark Cuban and Techstars, bringing total funding to $1.4 million.

• Gravitant

  Led · Series B · Oct 2013

  Gravitant offers a cloud brokerage and multi-cloud management platform delivered as SaaS, with its cloudMatrix product for planning, buying, managing and brokering cloud services. The platform is designed to move organizations from a slow service-ticket model to an agile design-to-order model, improving time-to-value from months to minutes and reducing IT costs by as much as 50%, per the company. Gravitant positions itself as a leader in the enterprise cloud brokerage and management market and is used by some of the largest enterprises in the country. The company plans to use new funding to expand sales and marketing to meet growing customer demand and to extend the capabilities of its platform to target new customer segments. Management emphasizes enabling CIOs to deliver business-unit agility while retaining IT safeguards. Gravitant is described as a leading software company in the enterprise cloud brokerage and management market. Its core product is the cloudMatrix cloud brokerage and multi-cloud management platform, which the company positions as an IT‑as‑a‑Service solution for large enterprises. The platform enables users to select, procure, consume, and manage cloud services, shifting from a slow service‑ticket model to an agile design‑to‑order model. Gravitant says cloudMatrix improves time‑to‑value from months to minutes and can slash IT costs by up to 50%. The company plans to use the new funding to expand sales and marketing and to extend cloudMatrix capabilities to satisfy new customer segments. Gravitant is based in Austin, Texas and aims to grow as a major software company in the market.

• Toopher

  Participated · Series A · Jan 2013

  Toopher builds out-of-band authentication technology that uses the location-based capabilities of a user’s smartphone to learn normal locations via a mobile app and block online fraud and identity theft. The company’s core product automates location-aware authentication to add an additional layer of security for online accounts. Toopher graduated from the Austin Technology Incubator at the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin as an IT portfolio company. The startup was founded in 2011 by Evan Grim and Josh Alexander, who bring academic and industry expertise in software engineering and financial derivatives respectively. As of the article, Toopher has secured venture funding, having closed a Series A to support product development and growth.

No current team members are available.