• Echo360

  Led · Series C · Nov 2014

  Echo360 is a SaaS-based classroom and workplace engagement platform offering digital interactive learning, content creation, training, and engagement solutions for higher education and corporate customers. The company is owned by private investment firm Centre Lane Partners. o15 Capital Partners, through its Emerging Americas Credit Opportunities I fund, acted as co-agent to provide a $43 million facility to refinance Echo360's existing debt and finance a transformative acquisition. The acquisition is described as creating a large SaaS platform of scale with a comprehensive product suite and a well diversified, global customer base. That scale is expected to allow the company to further capitalize on market growth tailwinds in the education technology space. o15 said the investment aligns with its impact strategy and expressed excitement to partner with Centre Lane Partners and Echo360 for the next phase of growth. Echo360 offers an active learning technology platform for higher education, delivering a SaaS learning and analytics solution called the Echo360 active learning platform. The platform increases in-class participation through digital polling, records and publishes course instruction for out-of-class access, and provides usage analytics to help instructors respond to student needs. Students can revisit lectures, collaborate with peers, and participate using smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The company is led by CEO Fred Singer and recently launched the Echo360 active learning platform. Echo360 intends to use new funding to accelerate deployment of that platform. Echo360 offers a lecture-capture platform—described as a TiVo for the classroom—that records classroom video and audio and converts them into digital modules accessible on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. The product set has expanded to let educators create learning modules, screencasts, and tutorials, edit and publish rich media (including offline workflows), and access video-viewing stats and analytics in a single hub. The company says it already has 1 million students using its solutions across more than 6,000 classrooms and 500 institutions and claims a 54% share of its market. Echo360 reports roughly $15 million in annual revenue and is currently serving about 10% of U.S. colleges and universities. It licenses its software to schools on annual contracts that range from $20K to $200K (about $15 per student per year on average). Management has set a goal to reach 50% of U.S. college students within five years and also sees expansion opportunities abroad.

• Life360

  Participated · Series C · May 2014

  Life360 offers a family-focused communication and location-tracking app with services that include location sharing, driving-safety tools, emergency assistance, and identity-protection features. The company has worked to add privacy-respecting features such as “Bubbles,” which shows a general location rather than an exact dot, to better balance teen privacy and parental peace of mind. Life360 says its app is used by over 28 million monthly users across 195+ countries and is on track to top $110 million in revenue this year; as of March 2021, 916,000 families were paying for the service. To broaden its product reach beyond phone-based tracking, Life360 announced a $37 million acquisition of wearable maker Jiobit that it expects to close in about 30 days. The company faces competition from built-in device services like Find My and operator offerings and has been positioning itself as a broader family-safety platform rather than solely a tracker. Life360 also appointed celebrity and industry advisors (and new board and C-suite hires) to help refine product and go-to-market strategy. Life360 provides a location and communication app for families, enabling members to share locations, know when someone needs help and communicate via in‑app messaging. The app is available for Android and iPhone. Founded in 2008 and led by CEO Chris Hulls, the company is based in San Francisco. In May 2014 Life360 raised a $50M Series C, strengthening its financial position. Life360 and ADT plan to develop a new mobile application that will provide direct access to ADT’s 24/7 monitoring centers to connect users to police, fire and emergency medical responders. The planned app is scheduled to be available in late 2014, free with optional upgraded ADT security features offered via a monthly subscription. Life360 offers a free iOS and Android app that uses proprietary location-based technology to keep families connected through private location sharing, a messaging stream, regular check-ins and panic alerts. The app includes features such as Circles for separate group privacy controls and Places for automatic arrival alerts. It is used by more than 20 million families. The company was founded in 2008 and is led by CEO Chris Hulls. Life360 recently secured follow-on funding as part of its Series B and is pursuing integrations of its family graph technology into smart-home products and services. The partnership with The Duchossois Group’s portfolio aims to embed Life360 capabilities into companies such as Chamberlain and BrivoLabs. Life360 is a mobile family-locator app that lets family members share locations, create private groups, and receive location-based alerts. The service launched in 2008 on Android and has grown to more than 40 million users, with over half of its user base overseas. Life360 recently introduced a Premium tier at $4.99/month that includes a 24/7 Live Advisor, roadside assistance, unlimited Places, expanded location history, $100 stolen-phone protection, and non-smartphone lookups. The company is pursuing integrations with automotive and home-security partners and plans to introduce a “Circles” feature to invite babysitters and extended family into designated groups. Life360 processes over 250 million API requests per day, incurs infrastructure costs in the hundreds of thousands per month, and has 32 employees in San Francisco. The additional funding will be used for product enhancements, internationalization (starting in Asia and then Europe), hiring, and infrastructure. Life360 launched in 2008 and provides a suite of family-oriented services across iOS, Android and BlackBerry, including real-time location tracking, check-ins, geo-fenced alerts, group and one-to-one messaging, and an emergency/panic button. The company is positioning itself to move beyond an app into a broader platform that can integrate with cars and smart-home systems to automate navigation to people and arm home security when no family members are present. Life360 has hired former Twitpic CTO Steve Corona to build infrastructure and APIs; the company says it is a massive PHP user (among the largest worldwide) and handles more request volume than WordPress and Wikipedia. Two months ago Life360 began monetizing with a premium suite, initially $5/month (intro) rising to $7/month, offering OnStar-like live operator support, stolen-phone insurance, additional geofences and location history; the company reports thousands of free-to-paid conversions. The product roadmap includes Circles for caregivers, messaging improvements and a premium concierge service. Financially, Life360 is backed by $10 million in outside funding and plans to raise a B round.

• Skylight Healthcare Systems

  Led · Series D · Sep 2012

  Skylight Healthcare Systems provides interactive patient care systems designed to support patients from pre-admission through post-discharge. The company helps customers address patient education, service delivery, and essential information flows to enhance the patient experience. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Skylight sells solutions to hospitals and other healthcare providers. GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services is serving as administrative agent and sole lender on a $10 million senior secured multi-draw term loan to the company. Skylight intends to use the financing primarily for capital expenditures associated with new hospital contracts and for other corporate purposes. Company executives characterized GE Capital as a flexible, knowledgeable lender supportive of their growth amid changes in healthcare and rising demand for patient engagement solutions. Skylight Healthcare Systems builds the CareNavigator interactive patient-care platform for both in‑patient and ambulatory settings, delivering individualized "CareMaps" and web-based engagement before admission, during stay, and after discharge. The platform provides patient education, reminders, forms, follow-up services, and outcome reporting intended to improve HCAHPS scores and reduce readmissions. Skylight positions CareNavigator as a tool to connect patients and clinicians across the continuum of care and to monitor long-term outcomes and hospital operations. The company says patients are better prepared for procedures, experience smoother recoveries, and remain connected to clinicians via the system. Skylight plans to use new funding to accelerate product development, marketing, and sales and to develop the next generation of CareNavigator. The company reports it is profitable and cash-flow positive.

• Alereon

  Participated · Equity · Jun 2012

  Alereon develops industry-standard Ultra Wideband (UWB) radio technology and sells wireless monitor docking station technology used in products such as the Samsung Central Station and the Samsung Smart Station. The company has added Apple OS support and implemented TCP/IP over UWB as an alternative to wireless USB, enabling new use cases where Wi‑Fi cannot guarantee video performance. Alereon is developing next-generation products including the AL7350, an advanced UWB radio targeting 1 Gbps PHY rates at short range and extended range over earlier chipsets; the AL7350 was in alpha sampling with general sampling planned for mid-2012. Its roadmap targets both consumer/commercial markets and new verticals — industrial, medical, military and gaming — where Quality of Service is critical. The company describes itself as focused on low‑power, high‑speed wireless streaming of real-time video and data to HDTVs, monitors and laptops.

• AirWalk Communications

  Participated · Series B · Feb 2011

  AirWalk Communications develops small cell radio access network solutions, including femtocells, enterprise femtocells, picocells, metrocells and microcells. The company uses a flat IP architecture to enable operators to extend coverage and capacity in high-density areas and off-load macro networks. AirWalk has launched products such as the EdgePoint PRO enterprise femtocell, the EdgePoint consumer femtocell, and the AW100 picocell. It plans to use the investment to expand its small cell product portfolio, enhance existing CDMA products and launch LTE solutions. Established in 2002 and based in Richardson, Texas, AirWalk is privately held and serves a worldwide customer base. The company positions its technology to address surging data and video traffic and the resulting network congestion in hotspots and buildings.

No current team members are available.