Participated · Series A · Mar 2022

Clean Crop Technologies develops the EPA-approved Clean Current system, a dry, fully electric, residue-free cold-plasma seed decontamination device that treats 25–50+ lbs. of seed per hour. The system combines electricity and food-grade gases (air) to inactivate a broad spectrum of contaminants without chemical or water additives, aiming to stop crop loss at the source and avoid chemical run-off. Clean Crop has signed $3.4 million in purchase orders from customers that represent 39% of the global vegetable seed market. The company is based in Holyoke, Massachusetts and has operated in the Pioneer Valley since 2019. With recent recognition from Fast Company and TIME, Clean Crop is scaling capacity and hiring to meet demand, including a workforce-development partnership with Springfield Technical Community College. The company plans to use new funds to engage additional contract manufacturing partners and expand on-site capacity, team size, and revenue at its seed tolling facility. Clean Corp Technologies, based in Holyoke, MA, has developed high-voltage catalyst technology that uses electricity to decarbonize how food is grown and kept safe and fresh. Its core technology is aimed at boosting yields, improving food safety, and reducing food waste across a broad range of categories including nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood. Led by CEO Dan White and COO Daniel Cavanaugh, the company plans to continue scaling and commercializing the technology across the supply chain. Clean Corp raised $6M in a Series A to support those scaling and commercialization efforts. The round included both prior and new investors, reflecting continued investor interest in the technology. As part of the investment, Dan Fitzgerald of ReGen Ventures will join the company's board of directors. Clean Crop Technologies is a Northampton, Mass.-based agtech company that develops High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma (HVACP) systems to reduce food waste and crop loss. The company is co-founded by Dan White and Dan Cavanaugh, who have a combined 25+ years of experience in agricultural supply chains. Clean Crop is building a proprietary ionized air generator designed to be energy efficient and to optimize treatment effect in processing environments. It intends to use the recently raised funds to accelerate development of its technology and expand technical and product development capacity on the team. Field tests are scheduled to begin in the U.S. later this year, with the company targeting commercial deployments in emerging markets and the U.S. starting in 2021. The company closed a $2.75M seed round to support these near-term development and deployment milestones.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2014

CogBooks offers an adaptive learning platform enabling publishers, universities and OER providers to create personalized learning experiences with measurable impact. The company is led by CEO Jim Thompson and its team includes Martin Reynard (CFO), Hank Bowman (VP of Academic Partnerships) and Vivek Sambaiah (CTO). CogBooks raised £1.25m in funding to support its operations. The funds are intended to accelerate the company’s expansion in the UK and US higher education markets. The company’s product targets improved personalization and measurable learning outcomes for higher-education customers. No operating metrics were reported in the article. CogBooks builds an adaptive learning platform that intelligently personalizes learning for each student in real time to improve learning outcomes and retention. The platform can be used as a massive-scale stand-alone online learning solution or integrated with customers’ existing systems such as MOOCs or Learning Management Systems. Led by CEO Jim Thompson, CogBooks has been pioneering adaptive learning technology for over ten years and has been highly rated in reports commissioned by the Gates Foundation. The company serves publishers and institutions in the US and UK post-secondary education market, including Edinburgh University and the OCR exam board. CogBooks raised £1.75m and intends to use the funds to extend its international reach. The company is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.