Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

AethexAI develops compact, low-latency voice AI models and an orchestration layer designed for the dialects, code-switching, and telephony realities of Africa and the Middle East. The company built the Kora series of models (300 million to 1.7 billion parameters) and its own orchestration stack to reduce jitter and latency versus using large models hosted outside target regions. It sources training data from anonymized call-center recordings, shipped hard drives to radio stations across Africa for more audio, and uses a network of university students to annotate data and pronounce local names. AethexAI has launched an enterprise platform and offers APIs and SDKs for developers, and reports handling more than 17,000 calls per day. Its primary enterprise use cases include debt collection, customer activation, and KYC, and it deploys forward‑deployed engineers on contract while building telecom channel partnerships. The company was founded last year by CEO Mariama Diallo and CTO Ayooluwa Odemuyiwa.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2026

Adaptive Innovations builds an AI-native operating system and clinical services platform for home healthcare that automates medical intake, scheduling, charting, compliance, and billing. The company reports it has delivered over 100,000 patient visits across Texas hospital networks and has reduced clinical rehospitalization rates to 4.9 percent. It also says practitioner documentation timelines have been reduced by roughly 80 percent. Leadership is led by Co-CEOs Alex Wendland and Logan Stinson, CTO Ryan Tolsma, and COO Hunter Stinson. Financially, the company has raised $60M to date, including the recent $50M Series A. Planned uses of the new capital include expanding engineering and operations headcount, accelerating software development, and entering new state markets.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2026

Sonibel Instruments is developing a torch-mounted acoustic sensor that uses machine-learning models to identify welding defects by sound and alert operators via a display. The company is advancing its product toward a plug-and-play form factor and plans to use the new capital to expand development work. Sonibel is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is led by CEO Sophia Millar, CPO Hooman Pirouz and CTO George Hollo. The startup announced a $1.6M pre-seed raise led by Maple VC with participation from Champion Hill Ventures, Dorm Room Fund and angels. At the time of the funding it was running its first paid pilot with a Fortune 100 customer in the power transmission sector.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2026

Barnwell Bio delivers a metagenomic biosurveillance platform that captures the entire microbial fingerprint of poultry barns, turning hundreds of thousands of data points into actionable dashboards for veterinarians and producers. By identifying pathogen spikes before clinical symptoms appear, the system lets managers shift from reactive treatment to proactive flock management. The New York–headquartered startup was founded by the team that built the U.S. COVID-19 wastewater monitoring infrastructure and is already working with partners such as Mississippi State University, West Liberty Foods, and Vital Farms. Rising USDA/FDA pressure to reduce routine antibiotics and costly outbreaks like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza position Barnwell’s data layer as a must-have for the $315 billion global poultry market. The company plans to use newly raised funds to expand throughout the Midwest and Southeast poultry belt and to strengthen its proprietary insights engine. Significant investment will go toward hiring bioinformatics, data science, and AI/ML talent to deepen predictive capabilities. No revenue or user numbers have been disclosed.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2025

Jolly is a workforce optimization platform that uses gamification — branded as "Earn Points at Work" — to reward frontline employees for actions like picking up extra shifts or showing up on time. Points are dispatched autonomously based on objective work data and can be redeemed for gift cards and other items. The platform is designed to recognize work regardless of managerial visibility, improving productivity, compliance, referrals, and loyalty. Jolly reports working with over 100 frontline employers and more than 30,000 essential workers, and a cited client saw a 30% improvement in on-time documentation after four months. The company plans to use new funding to expand its product suite and scale into new verticals.