Led · Seed · Nov 2025

Upward provides turnkey embedded financial infrastructure that bundles card issuance, banking, payments, and compliance into one platform, sparing customers the hassle of integrating multiple vendors or navigating complex regulations. Its API-driven system lets companies—particularly those serving gig workers, creators, and small businesses—stand up branded credit card, payment, and banking solutions in weeks. The firm positions its technology as a way to lower cost, cut complexity, and speed time-to-market for new financial products. Upward recently struck a strategic partnership with Mastercard, allowing clients to launch Mastercard-branded card programs that tap features such as Easy Savings and the Business Builder Program. Proceeds from its latest financing will be used to expand core infrastructure, grow engineering and partnership teams, and reach more customers in fintech and adjacent sectors. While the company has not disclosed revenue or user numbers, management highlights accelerating demand for embedded finance among creator and gig-economy platforms.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2025

Curated For You transforms traditional online merchandising by replacing static product categories with dynamic, lifestyle-oriented shopping stories. Its agentic AI synthesizes retailer performance data with external signals such as trends, weather, and local events to create visual, context-rich storefronts. This approach is designed to boost engagement and has reportedly driven millions in incremental revenue for clients including REVOLVE, Lulus, and Steve Madden. The platform promises faster, more profitable customer journeys, positioning itself as a revenue-enhancing tool for fashion and lifestyle retailers. Co-founded by Katy Aucoin and Mary Brendza, the company aims to scale its technology and market presence. Proceeds from its latest seed round will fund expanded operations and continued product development efforts.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2024

Pear Commerce provides a retail ecommerce enablement platform that connects CPG brands to retailers and converts shoppable tools into actionable insights to accelerate performance marketing. Its suite of shoppable products includes Pear Connect, store locators, shoppable PDPs, landing pages, and direct-to-cart links, and the platform integrates with all major ad platforms to help brands build owned custom audiences and improve return on ad spend. The technology powers shoppable experiences for more than 3,000 retailers and 165,000 store locations, updating inventory daily and capturing consumer behavior insights. Pear plans to use the funds for product development, market expansion, and hiring, specifically adding a Vice President of Sales, Vice President of Engineering, and Head of Customer Success. By combining shoppable experiences with daily inventory updates and ad-platform integrations, Pear aims to create direct paths to purchase and actionable performance marketing insights for omnichannel brands.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2024

Gather AI offers a vision-based platform that equips off-the-shelf drones and strategically mounted cameras to scan barcodes, lot codes, expiration dates, damages, occupancy and other metrics across warehouse shelves. The system relies on classical Bayesian techniques combined with neural networks to create "curious" robots that decide what to inspect next, avoiding the hallucination issues seen in large language models. Data is fed directly into warehouse management systems so operators can detect low inventory, misplaced stock and safety risks, even in harsh environments like freezers. The technology stems from Carnegie Mellon University research where the founders built some of the first autonomous helicopters, positioning the company within the emerging "embodied AI" category. Customers include Kwik Trip, Axon, GEODIS and NFI Industries, and the team has grown to about 60 employees. To date, Gather AI has secured $74 million in venture funding that will be used to scale commercial deployments and enhance its product capabilities.

Led · Seed · Aug 2023

Blanka operates a one-stop private-label beauty and wellness platform that handles product procurement, personalization, branding, fulfillment, and shipping for independent brands. The platform sources and customizes high-quality North American-made products and removes high manufacturing minimums, long production lead times, and analogue order forms. Blanka says a new beauty brand can be launched in under an hour for less than $200. Over the past 12 months the company has seen steady growth and now reports thousands of brands subscribed to the platform, fueled entirely by organic marketing and integrations with partners like Shopify. Management positions the product to unlock faster innovation for brands of all sizes by dramatically reducing barriers to entry. The company emphasizes continued expansion of its platform and partner integrations to support the growing direct-to-consumer beauty market.