Participated · Series C · Jul 2017

LendKey provides a lending-as-a-service solution for traditional financial institutions to launch digital lending businesses and manage the end-to-end process, including demand generation, online decisioning, loan origination, customer service and balance sheet management. The company serves hundreds of banks and credit unions, including Navy Federal, McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union and WSFS Bank. Its platform supports loan programs across private student loans, student loan refinancing, auto and home improvement loan asset classes. Led by CEO Vince Passione, LendKey operates from Cincinnati, OH and New York City. The company plans to use new funding to expand its services and staffing, grow its regional office in Cincinnati, and expand its account development and sales teams. LendKey operates a Lending-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform that lets consumers search for, compare and complete student, auto and home improvement loans online from partner financial institutions. The company reports a network of over 300 financial institution clients and has deployed $800M in loans to more than 35,000 borrowers. LendKey says the new financing will be used to drive continued technology and product innovation and to expand partnership and marketing initiatives. Recent corporate developments include a $1B commitment from MidCap Financial and a partnership with Navy Federal. Leadership is led by CEO and founder Vince Passione. The company is headquartered in New York and Ohio. LendKey offers a comprehensive, white-label lending platform that handles the full loan lifecycle from application scoring to fund pulls and electronic invoicing. The company began by managing in-school student loans in 2009 and expanded into student consolidation loans in 2011. LendKey was formerly known as Fynanz and rebranded earlier this year to reflect its shift to institutional clients. It serves 253 lending partners and manages roughly $400 million in student loans through its service. LendKey generates revenue through origination fees on loans and annual servicing fees. The company plans to expand its technology, sales, and operations teams and open a new office in Ohio. By the end of the year it intends to add a green loan product to finance high-efficiency home retrofits and solar panels. Fynanz is a peer-to-peer lending platform for student loans that applies the P2P model to educational lending and guarantees each loan. Launched in 2008, the platform allows students to apply for loans that participants help fund, with loans co-payable to the school and sized to cover tuition and other expenses. To reduce risk, Fynanz evaluates borrowers using credit scores plus factors like grade point average and the student’s school. The company typically offers interest rates about 0.60% to 1.0% lower than what a student would get from a bank. Fynanz faces competition from fellow student lending platform GreenNote. The company plans to use new funding to expand its credit union and student lending marketplace and to develop additional lending programs including financial literacy initiatives.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2015

StellaService offers Stella Connect, a SaaS people-success platform that provides real-time customer feedback, recognition, and rewards to enable on-the-spot microcoaching and friendly competition via leaderboards. The product integrates with major CRM platforms such as Zendesk. Led by co-founder and CEO Jordy Leiser, the company serves hundreds of brands across industries including retail, financial services, travel, healthcare, and automotive. Clients named in the article include Brooklinen, Earnin, Sam’s Club, Williams‑Sonoma, Jet.com and PowerReviews. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations. StellaService gathers customer-service performance data for retail and e-commerce companies by hiring hundreds of shoppers to make purchases and returns across the U.S. and U.K. and tracking metrics such as delivery times, refund speed and response times via phone and email. It licenses data to Google (used in AdWords five-star ratings and merchant profile pages) and sells access to performance data to clients — the site lists customers including Walmart and Abercrombie — with clients paying on average over $100,000 a year. The company is piloting a program to measure in-store customer service tied to online purchases and returns. StellaService is not yet profitable but reported revenue growth of more than 100 percent last year and has around 70 full-time employees. The company plans to use new funding to build new products, expand further into brick-and-mortar store measurement and enter new geographies, and is in discussions to measure companies in industries beyond retail. StellaService measures and benchmarks customer service performance of online businesses using a nationwide network of anonymous, paid mystery shoppers and by purchasing products itself for evaluation. It combines shopper data with analyses from an internal team and says its evaluation process is audited annually by KPMG; the company does not accept payments for ratings. StellaService assigns ratings ranging from “elite” to lower tiers, offers a paid “seal of approval” to top performers, and sells access to its underlying data. In 2012 the company produced 3.9 million data points and says it currently has about 700 seal partners, with roughly 5 percent qualifying as “elite.” The company has developed Stella Metrics, a SaaS data platform that was deployed to a few charter partners and is now being made generally available. New capital will be used to deploy and scale Stella Metrics nationally, expand coverage, and grow its research and client services teams. STELLAService provides independent customer-service ratings for online retailers by having analysts purchase products and test the end-to-end shopping and support experience. Analysts collect data across multiple touchpoints, produce ratings ranging from "elite" to lower tiers, and publish those ratings on the site. Retailers that earn "elite" or "excellent" ratings receive a STELLA seal of approval to display. The service is used by companies including Zappos, 1800Flowers, Wine.com, 1800Contacts, Gilt Groupe, and GNC, and the number of retailers using the service grew tenfold since April. Founded in 2009, STELLAService sells ratings and marketing services to online retailers and uses its testing methodology as the core product. The company plans to use the new capital to aggressively grow the business, build out its team, and ramp up product development. STELLAService evaluates online retailers' customer service and publishes ratings to help shoppers make informed purchasing decisions and help retailers improve. The company employs trained customer-experience analysts who purchase products and thoroughly test the thousands of companies it evaluates. Its customer portfolio includes known e-retailers such as Diapers.com, Zappos.com and 1-800-Flowers.com. STELLAService was founded in 2009. The startup announced a $2 million early-stage funding round and said it will use the capital to step up development of its customer service evaluation system. It also plans to expand its website with new tools and features to make it more comprehensive for online shoppers.

Participated · Series C · May 2014

Jibe provides corporate talent acquisition teams a cloud-based recruitment marketing platform that optimizes mobile and desktop apply, job distribution, employee referrals, and integrates with applicant tracking systems via a SaaS delivery model. The platform includes an analytics engine, Recruiting Analytics, which aggregates recruiting metrics from disparate back-end systems into real-time business intelligence for talent acquisition professionals. Jibe pioneered a complete mobile job application experience for job seekers and focuses on improving the candidate experience across the hiring funnel. The company serves more than 70 companies worldwide, including customers such as Accenture, Macy’s and Walmart. Through the first quarter of 2014 Jibe reported annual recurring revenue growth of 289% year-over-year and contract bookings growth of 219% over the same period. Jibe plans to use new funding to grow its software engineering, customer success and global sales teams and to further penetrate international markets and expand its footprint within the global Fortune 1000. Jibe builds mobile-friendly job-application technology and backend recruiter analytics to help employers process and analyze applicants. It recently launched a suite of recruiter analytics tools that show where applicants come from, how they find openings, how much time they spend on applications, and where they abandon forms. The company says it is processing hundreds of thousands of applications now and has three unnamed Fortune 1000 customers using the new analytics. To scale without giving up equity, Jibe secured a $4 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank. Previously the startup raised a $10 million Series B led by Longworth Venture Partners with participation from Polaris Partners, Lerer Ventures, DFJ Gotham, and Thrive Capital. Jibe is hiring as it prepares to move into a new office in Greenwich Village. JIBE provides mobile-first job application software that integrates with large employers’ applicant tracking systems to simplify applying via smartphones and tablets. The company pivoted from its consumer-facing origins as TechCrunch 50 startup localbacon (which charged recent grads $0.99 to apply) to an enterprise-centric model focused on ATS integration. JIBE has secured partnerships with major employers including AT&T, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart. Management plans to use recent funding to hire engineers and salespeople to improve the product and win new clients. CEO Joe Essenfeld says the product’s tighter ATS integration is a key competitive differentiator. Financially, JIBE reported that fiscal Q4 2012 was its best quarter ever, improving by over 100% versus prior performance. The company is New York–based. Jibe (formerly LocalBacon) is a next-generation social job board that leverages Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to help job seekers find positions. Users sign in with Facebook Connect and the platform pulls work and education history from Facebook and LinkedIn to pre-populate profiles and surface connections at hiring companies. For each job posting Jibe shows whether a user is connected to employees and enables messaging to request recommendations or advice; it also uses a credit system to manage applications. On the enterprise side Jibe allows employers to add a social layer to candidate evaluation and vetting. The company reported more than 700,000 visitors engaged with its platform in April, resulting in thousands of interviews, and has signed up 25% of the Fortune 50 as clients, including Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, MTV, American Express and Bank of America. Jibe faces competition from LinkedIn and BranchOut and plans to use the funding to build out its engineering team, expand its product, and further develop its mobile offerings. The Series A brings its total funding to $7 million. Jibe is a social recruiting service that ties into Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to help users find jobs through their social networks and see connections at hiring companies. The product pre-populates profiles from Facebook Connect, lets users link LinkedIn and Twitter, and shows who in a company is connected to an applicant so candidates can request referrals or advice. Jibe is operating in private beta, targeting the 24-and-under crowd, and is distributing invites (the first 200 with code “Techcrunch”). Its monetization mixes a credit system for applicants (users can earn credits or buy 500 credits for $5) with employer fees—employers post free but pay $15 to unlock an applicant’s profile. Job listings are ranked by views, saves, and applications, and the company offers a Facebook app for employers and is making its recruiting graph available to college career centers. Jibe relocated to Dogpatch Labs in New York City as part of the relaunch from the founders’ prior site, localbacon.

Participated · Series C · Dec 2013

Sailthru is best known as an email marketing company but positions itself as a broader customer engagement platform that personalizes every touch point across websites, mobile apps, email, and offline channels. The company emphasizes “smart data” and real-time personalization rather than broad demographic segmentation. CEO Neil Capel says Sailthru personalizes every single event to deliver individualized experiences. Sailthru reported that its 2013 revenue was double what it was the prior year and counts customers including Mashable, Rent the Runway, Acumen Brands, and Khan Academy. The company plans to focus on growth, including international expansion. Capel noted the company still had funds from the prior round and raised now to avoid fundraising distractions next year. Sailthru provides "smart data" personalization for email marketers and publishers, using user data to drive personalized email recommendations and tailored on-site experiences. The company began in email communications and expanded to personalize homepages and other web content so users see different content based on interests. It also offers AdFlight to enable more targeted advertising. Sailthru's revenues grew 270% year-over-year and have been increasing at over 9% month-over-month. The company has about 85 employees and expects to double headcount over the next year while expanding its San Francisco office and growing its presence in Europe. It is using recent funding to accelerate growth, increase headcount, and open new strategic offices. Sailthru is a New York-based platform that delivers highly relevant, personalized content to users via email, the web, and advertising channels. Its technology enables publishers and e-commerce companies to communicate directly with individual users and tailor content based on user behavior. As users engage, their behavior provides insights that help create more personal and engaging experiences, encouraging profitable brand–customer relationships. Led by CEO Neil Capel, the company plans to expand into the e-commerce, flash sales, and publisher markets. Sailthru intends to hire additional staff and invest in continued product innovation to support that expansion. The company raised $8M in Series A funding to finance these growth and development plans. Sailthru is a New York City–based behavioral marketing email service founded in 2008. It offers Triggermail to monitor emails and inbox events, Horizon to track browsing habits and format/send customized newsletters, and GetConnect to aggregate multiple email services. The product suite is designed to help companies optimize outbound email marketing campaigns and manage service providers. Sailthru says it has no direct competition, though providers like Constant Contact and ExactTarget also enable and track outbound email marketing. Customers include Business Insider, Tumblr, Bit.ly, OMGPOP, WeGame.com and MusicNation.com. The company recently secured funding to support growth initiatives.

Led · Series A · Apr 2013

DailyWorth, founded in 2009, began as a daily email newsletter and has grown into an online community providing editorial personal-finance content and paid offerings. Its core product remains the daily newsletter, supported by staff-led editorial content and a four-week Money Clarity online course with videos and workbooks. The company has built partnerships with Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Nestwise, ING, and H&R Block to expand its reach. Within two years of launch the newsletter reached more than 55,000 subscribers and grew to 250,000 subscribers by January last year. DailyWorth estimates its site will hit two to three million monthly readers by the end of 2013. It recently added $1 million to its Series A to support growth and key hires as it scales readership and offerings. DailyWorth publishes a daily email newsletter focused on financial literacy and money management for a female audience. Its content spans practical topics such as organizing finances, tax tips, and saving advice, supported by an editorial team led by MP Dunleavey. The newsletter has 55,000 subscribers and currently monetizes through advertising and sponsorships, including deals with ING and H&R Block. DailyWorth plans to expand revenue with sponsored educational events and intends to broaden its content with customized email newsletters, video content, and a developed website. The company uses editorial-driven content to engage its community and build sponsorship opportunities as primary monetization channels.