Led · Seed · Dec 2025

Lucidean builds CohZero™, a coherent-lite optical interconnect architecture that offers coherent-class reach and bandwidth while operating within the cost and power envelopes of traditional intensity-modulation direct-detection (IMDD) systems. The platform is designed to slot into existing IMDD ecosystems—leveraging widely available lasers, simplified DSPs, and standard pluggable module architectures—so hyperscale data centers can scale to multi-terabit performance without a disruptive physical-layer overhaul. Lucidean is currently engineering 3.2 Tbps and 6.4 Tbps transceivers aimed at AI-driven fabrics and data-center interconnects. Following an $18 million Seed round, the company plans to expand R&D, validate CohZero™ performance, and accelerate productization. The capital will also support hiring as the team moves hardware toward commercial readiness. Industry veteran Dr. James Raring has joined as CEO, bringing more than 300 patents and deep experience in photonics commercialization. The company’s financial resources now position it to demonstrate its value proposition and pursue market entry, though no revenue or deployment metrics were disclosed.

Led · Seed · Nov 2025

Subtle Computing is a California-based startup developing end-to-end voice isolation technology that lets computers reliably understand users in challenging acoustic settings such as loud cafés or open offices. Instead of training a single generic model, the company trains device-specific models that preserve each device’s acoustic characteristics, delivering an order-of-magnitude performance improvement over standard solutions. Its core voice-isolation model can run entirely on-device, occupies only a few megabytes, and operates with roughly 100 ms latency; a complementary model converts the cleaned audio into highly accurate text transcripts. Subtle Computing has already been selected for Qualcomm’s Voice & Music Extension Program, ensuring compatibility with OEM products, and it is piloting its software with an unnamed consumer hardware brand and an automotive manufacturer. Looking ahead, the team plans to launch its own consumer product that combines hardware and software sometime next year. The company was founded by Stanford alumni Tyler Chen, David Harrison, Savannah Cofer, and Jackie Yang and has secured $6 million in seed financing to date.

Led · Seed · Jun 2025

Gemist offers a white-labelled, full-stack SaaS platform with a proprietary 3D visualisation engine that renders photorealistic custom jewellery in real time. The product supports real-time 3D styling, dynamic pricing, and a fully brandable interface across web, tablet, and mobile that integrates with existing e-commerce stacks. The company plans to expand product development into dynamic pricing, advanced rendering, and omnichannel commerce integrations. Gemist reports customers design more than 14,000 custom pieces weekly and says partner brands can accelerate sales cycles by up to 400% and increase average order value by 300%. The company has raised $9M to date, including a $6M seed round led by Entrada Ventures with participation from The Artemis Fund and Collide Capital. Gemist was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. Gemist is a vertical SaaS solution for the jewelry industry that licenses technology to allow jewelry brands to engage consumers in a more personal buying experience. Its Customize, Stack, and Try-On SaaS solutions have generated increased consumer engagement, higher conversion rates, larger average order values, and improved final-mile sales, and can be integrated into existing websites and branding. Founder Madeline Fraser built Gemist to make online jewelry shopping more visual, engaging, and fun while helping independent jewelers stay competitive. The company targets a large market: the global jewelry market was worth $300B in 2023 and is projected to reach $340B by 2025, with independent jewelers driving 70% of 2023 value and 85% of jewelers being SMBs. Consumer research cited in the articles shows 62% of consumers made online jewelry purchases in the past year, though many still prefer in-person purchases and often begin their journeys online. Gemist recently closed a $3M priced seed round to support its mission to disrupt the jewelry industry and help SMB jewelers access industry-specific digital solutions. Gemist is a U.S.-based fine jewelry brand and digital platform that combines design technology with a try-on-at-home model to let consumers customize and test jewelry before buying. The platform provides complimentary replicas for customers to evaluate fit and style prior to purchase. All pieces are handmade in Los Angeles using responsibly sourced materials and ethical practices. Gemist emphasizes personalization and aims to change consumer shopping behavior in the fine jewelry market. The company is led by Founder and CEO Madeline Fraser and has strategic partnerships with industry players such as De Beers Group Ventures. The recent financing will support scaling Gemist’s growth as an experiential digital jewelry platform.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2025

Coreshell Technologies develops metallurgical silicon anode materials intended for use in battery anodes. The company has been selected as a recipient of a $50 million DOE award to expand its manufacturing capacity for that material. This award is part of a larger $500 million DOE program aimed at strengthening domestic energy supply chains and supporting startups. The program emphasizes goals such as reducing dependence on foreign sources, enhancing national security, and advancing U.S. energy leadership, with defense demand highlighted as an important market signal. The company’s near-term plan, as reflected in the award, centers on scaling production capability. The article did not provide revenue, user, founding year, location, or prior financing details.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2025

Kapta Space is a Seattle-based developer of advanced spaceborne electronically-steered radar imaging systems, founded in 2023 by Milton Perque and Adam Bily. Its core product is a metasurface-based electronically-steered antenna radar array intended to offer more capable, scalable, and cost-effective performance than spaceborne AESAs. Kapta plans to deliver persistent geospatial imagery and ground-target-tracking modalities from LEO using SAR and related techniques such as InSAR and GMTI to serve commercial earth-observation and defense customers. The company says its InSAR capability can produce centimeter-scale 3D deformation maps and that a modest constellation of around 10 satellites could enable rapid-revisit, practical 3D infrastructure monitoring. Kapta will use the new funding to accelerate on-orbit demonstrations and intends to continue pursuing non-dilutive funding while leveraging security clearances to pursue classified defense contracts. Financially, Kapta announced a $5 million seed round and previously received a $1.8M Direct to Phase II SBIR award to build its electronically-steered antennas.