Led · Series C · Jul 2023

Ossium Health is a bioengineering company that has created an industrial-scale, on-demand bank of bone marrow recovered from organ donors and is developing stem-cell therapies for life-threatening blood and immune diseases. Its proprietary recovery, processing, and cryopreservation methods produce marrow the company says is phenotypically and functionally equivalent to cells from living donors and can be delivered months faster than traditional volunteer-donor options. Ossium partners with Organ Procurement Organizations representing just over half of U.S. organ donors to recover vertebral bodies, process marrow, and store product indefinitely until requested by treating physicians. Near-term clinical focus is on hematologic malignancy treatments, while additional programs target reducing rejection in organ transplants; the company is collaborating with Columbia University Medical Center on a Phase I intestinal transplant study. The company will also launch Ossigraft, an orthopedic product derived from the same vertebral bodies, which is slated to enter the clinic in the second half of 2023. Founded in 2016 and led by CEO Kevin Caldwell, Ossium is an FDA-registered tissue bank, accredited by COLA, and operates a CLIA-certified laboratory. Ossium Health develops cell therapies using a unique deceased-donor bone marrow banking platform. Its lead program, OSSM-007, is an interferon-gamma‑primed mesenchymal stem cell product being developed to treat steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). The company says the CIRM award will accelerate pre-clinical and manufacturing activities and support initiation of clinical study activities by the end of 2023. Ossium’s pipeline targets hematologic diseases, organ rejection, and orthopedic trauma. The company was founded in 2016 and is led by co‑founders Kevin Caldwell (President & CEO) and Erik Woods (EVP & Chief Science Officer). Ossium Health is a therapeutics company that leverages a deceased donor bone marrow banking platform to develop stem cell therapies for patients with life‑threatening blood and immune diseases. Founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, the company is led by Co‑Founder, President & CEO Kevin Caldwell and Co‑Founder, EVP & Chief Science Officer Erik Woods. Ossium uses donor‑matched hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells as the basis for its therapeutic programs. The company plans an initial suite of clinical trials to use donor‑matched hematopoietic stem cells to re‑educate organ recipients’ immune systems to accept donor organs. It also intends to deploy the anti‑inflammatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells to promote healing in patients with fistulizing Crohn’s disease. Another planned program aims to reset the malignant immune systems of hard‑to‑match blood cancer patients via bone marrow transplants from organ donors.

Led · Series D · Jun 2023

Augmedics develops an AR-based navigation platform (branded Xvision) combining custom hardware and software to display digitized CT scans from a surgeon’s perspective. Its system, FDA-cleared in 2019 and commercially deployed in 2020, has been used in over 4,000 procedures and is installed in more than 70 U.S. hospitals. The platform can replace fluoroscopy in some non-invasive procedures and provides continuous intraoperative spine visualization in more invasive operations. The company emphasizes purpose-built hardware optimized for surgical use rather than off-the-shelf AR gear. Management plans to use new funding to build the next generation of the platform and accelerate commercial development while remaining focused on spinal applications. It has also received inbound interest for extensions into other musculoskeletal and cranial procedures that use CT/MRI imaging. Augmedics develops the xvision Spine System, the first and only FDA‑cleared augmented reality surgical image guidance system that lets surgeons visualize 3D spinal anatomy and navigate instruments while looking directly at the patient. The company received FDA 510(k) clearance in December 2019 and began U.S. sales in the second half of 2020. By year-end 2020 the system had been used in over 250 spinal surgeries. Augmedics plans to commercialize more broadly across the U.S. and into OUS markets, pursue CE certification for Europe, develop next‑generation products, and expand to new indications. Financially, the company has raised $63 million to date following a recent $36 million Series C and an earlier $21 million Series B. Augmedics develops the xvision Spine (XVS), an augmented reality surgical image-guidance system that enables surgeons to visualize a patient’s 3D spinal anatomy during surgery. XVS is designed to let surgeons accurately navigate instruments and implants while looking directly at the patient rather than a remote screen. The company received FDA 510(k) clearance and launched XVS in the U.S. in December 2019. The system is being used in renowned hospitals and surgical centers in the U.S. In June 2020 Augmedics completed a $15M Series B round that included staff investment and SAFE conversions. Leadership cited in the article includes founder and CEO Nissan Elimelech and President and CCO Tim Murawski. Augmedics develops the ViZOR, an augmented-reality surgical visualization system that projects a 3D image of a patient’s spine onto a surgeon’s retina in real time using proprietary see-through AR optics. The ViZOR is intended initially for minimally invasive spine surgeries to reduce operative time, radiation exposure and unnecessary repeat operations or hospitalizations. Augmedics plans to complete R&D and conduct pre-clinical and clinical trials of The ViZOR, and to pursue 510(k) clearance from the U.S. FDA. Future product development includes integrating sensors to collect surgical data and applying deep learning to provide suggestions, alerts and other intraoperative assistance. The company has received industry honors and previously raised seed financing from the TerraLab incubator (an incubator of the Israeli Innovation Authority). Financially, it recently secured an $8.3 million Series A to advance regulatory and commercialization efforts.

Led · Series D · Feb 2023

LeafLink is a New York-based provider of a wholesale cannabis B2B technology platform that enables thousands of brands, distributors, and retailers to manage operations, create, manage, pay for, and ship orders. Its marketplace currently processes approximately $5 billion in annual transactions. The company offers marketplace and operational tools spanning ordering, payments, and logistics, and intends to use new capital to expand its suite of offerings. LeafLink raised $100M in Series D funding, to be funded in two tranches. The business is also evolving its executive leadership effective February 1, 2023, with co-founder Ryan G. Smith moving to Executive Chairman and Artie Minson appointed President & CEO. Karan Gupta has joined as Chief Technology Officer while co-founder Zach Silverman will transition to a Senior Advisor role. LeafLink operates in the cannabis wholesale market. The company raised $40M from Founders Fund and other investors to cultivate its cannabis wholesale market. That announcement appears amid 2020 trends that accelerated cannabis e-commerce and digital payments, as dispensaries were often classified as essential during the pandemic. TechCrunch notes legal cannabis sales reached nearly $20 billion in the past year and are expected to top $40 billion within the next four years, highlighting market expansion. The coverage frames the funding as part of broader investment and enterprise‑level technology adoption across the cannabis industry. LeafLink Financial is a digital cannabis supply-chain financing solution launched by LeafLink to address banking and liquidity challenges for licensed cannabis operators. The platform enables brands and distributors to assign invoices for upfront payments, broadly extend net terms, receive payment via ACH, and digitally reconcile invoices; retailers gain centralized accounts payable, net terms, digital invoice dispute resolution and cash-flow management tools. LeafLink developed the product with a focus on compliance and scalability across legal cannabis markets and processes roughly $2.8 billion in orders annually—about 30% of wholesale transactions on LeafLink’s marketplace. The service is marketed as the industry’s first “liquidity as a service” offering, providing on-demand funds to licensed businesses to support supply-chain growth and stability. Leadership for the unit includes Doug Gordon, appointed Executive Vice President and Head of LeafLink Financial, who has experience providing loans and lines of credit via partnerships with banks, B2B vendors and online platforms. LeafLink operates an e-commerce wholesale marketplace that connects more than 1,200 licensed cannabis brands to over 3,500 cannabis retailers and provides vendors with order management, CRM, inventory tracking, and customized reporting. The company charges a $299 minimum monthly subscription for its software, positioning it as a vertical-SaaS startup in the cannabis industry. LeafLink says it has facilitated more than $1 billion in annualized orders and has grown to more than 65 employees. It launched in Colorado in 2016 (with Zoots as its first brand) and is now described as a New York company. LeafLink is expanding its LeafLink Financial unit — a payments and credit management solution that is live in four U.S. states — to address banking challenges in the cannabis market. The company plans to use new capital to speed its expansion roadmap, improve technology, and undertake a major recruiting effort in its New York and Los Angeles offices. LeafLink is an NYC-based online commerce platform that connects cannabis brands and dispensaries. Led by CEO Ryan Smith and CTO Zach Silverman, the company facilitates transactions between brands and retailers. Since 2016 it has handled $186M in transactions and works with 400 brands and 1,700 retailers. The platform is live in five states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. LeafLink intends to use new funding to expand into California and to launch in additional states, timed ahead of California's recreational sales rollout.

Participated · Equity · Aug 2022

Kindred Motorworks handpicks vintage cars, tears them down and builds standardized blueprints to rebuild them with modern electric or gas powertrains, upgraded safety features (disc brakes, three-point seat belts, headrests, upgraded steering, LED headlights) and Bluetooth infotainment with rear-view camera. EV versions are advertised with battery ranges of about 200 miles per charge. The company emphasizes a tech-driven, repeatable production process with how-to videos, a real-time tracking system and staffed stations to enable less-experienced technicians to participate in builds. Kindred sells three pre-order models (VW microbus, Ford Bronco, late-1960s Camaro) with deposits of $1,000 and published starting prices ranging roughly $149,000–$199,000 depending on model and trim; it does not offer custom builds. Vehicles are hand-built, come with a one-year warranty, and Kindred plans to use service-center partners for post-sale support. Kindred currently has about 30 employees in Marin County, plans to move to a larger facility across the bay and expects to grow to roughly 300 employees by the end of 2024 as it works toward full production.

Participated · Series C · Sep 2021

Provi operates an online ordering and communication platform that consolidates beverage alcohol orders, allowing restaurants and bars to order all their beverages in one place instead of calling or using paper invoices from multiple distributors. The platform saves on-premise establishments an average of 20 staff hours per month. Provi reports relationships with 85% of major U.S. distributors, including Breakthru Beverage and Empire Merchants, and has retail customers across the United States. Led by CEO Taylor Katzman, the company plans to use new funding to expand throughout the market, hire, and scale its platform. The product’s core value is reducing ordering friction between retailers and distributors by centralizing communications and orders. Financially, the company has progressed through recent venture rounds, culminating in the latest Series C mentioned in the articles. Provi operates a marketplace platform that lets restaurants, bars, hotels and other on‑premise operators place orders with multiple alcohol distributors through a single interface. The platform centralizes order-taking for distributors and supplies location-level data on product performance. Provi rebranded from Tiz earlier this year and was launched in 2016. It currently operates in Illinois, Colorado and Georgia and plans to expand into Tennessee. Management says the platform is receiving “tens of millions of dollars” in orders every month and that its user base grew 500% over the past six months. The company employs about 20 people, recently moved into a new West Loop office and hired a former AB InBev e‑commerce VP.