Participated · Series A · Jun 2024

OnStation is a Cleveland, OH-based provider of a collaborative digital stationing platform tailored to the heavy highway industry. Its mobile app centralizes communication and delivers location-based project records from bid to close, with instant jobsite stationing, milepost, and LRS capabilities. Users can overlay design layers on project maps and communicate via a custom chat platform that organizes and records project events at their locations. The platform is designed to boost productivity, enhance worker safety, and improve project quality across civil engineering and roadway projects. OnStation is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play and is supported on desktop systems. The company intends to use the newly raised funds to accelerate growth, expand its customer base, and enhance its platform. OnStation is a mobile application that enables better communication, location-based documentation, and streamlined issue tracking for road construction projects. The app serves as a complementary plugin to larger road construction tech solutions and provides access to project design files and contract documents. It is currently in use in 23 states and reports its customer base grew seven-fold over the past seven months. OnStation plans to use new funding to scale nationally, hire sales professionals and additional developers, and automate the project onboarding process. Leadership credits JumpStart Cleveland for four years of mentorship and support, and the product was built by founder and CTO Jake Bailosky based on his experience at the Ohio Department of Transportation. The company intends to add functionality and grow headcount to meet anticipated demand if federal infrastructure funding increases roadway projects.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2024

Smart Apply developed a laser-guided, density-based precision spray system sold as a retrofit kit compatible with existing air-blast sprayers. The system is marketed through dealerships and has placements in the field growing faster than the company projected. Independent USDA research and a Journal of ASTM International study found pesticide reductions of up to 60 percent and average reductions around 50 percent across test sites. The company says the technology reduces chemical and water usage by an average of 50 percent and also lowers pesticide costs and labor. Smart Apply is a Delaware C Corp based in Indianapolis and was originally founded as SmartGuided LLC. Proceeds from its recent seed raise will be used to build momentum in preparation for a planned Series A in early summer.

Participated · Seed · May 2021

Veriskin develops TruScore, a proprietary, non-invasive hand-held device that combines active perturbative hemodynamic measurements with a proprietary machine-learning algorithm to detect structural and functional vascular abnormalities associated with skin cancer. The device works on both pigmented and non-pigmented lesions and produces a quantitative score; IRB-approved clinical studies in California and Arizona demonstrated sensitivity greater than 99% and specificity of 94% in a set of 125 biopsy-verified lesions. Veriskin has completed two clinical studies and is initiating a third to prepare the clinical trial needed to obtain FDA approval; TruScore received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in July 2020 and remains investigational and not available for sale. Development has been supported by multiple National Cancer Institute grants totaling $3.9 million (with opportunities for additional funding) alongside private seed capital. The company recently raised over $1M in a seed round co-led by Pasadena Angels and Ariel Savannah Angel Partners, with participation from Frontier Angels and TiE SoCal Angels. Veriskin is headquartered in San Diego and is led by CEO Mirianas Chachisvilis, PhD, with team members across the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

2Morrow, founded in 2011 and based in the Seattle area, develops smartphone-based digital coaching software that uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help users curb smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, and achieve other health goals. Its products are delivered through employers, states, health plans, retailers, providers, and public health organizations. The company has partnered with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center since 2013 on smoking cessation app development. The 11-person startup said 2020 was its best year as the pandemic spurred demand for remotely delivered digital health services, and it rolled out a program to help people deal with grief, loss, and change. Leadership is headed by CEO and co-founder Jo Masterson, a former nurse who previously held marketing roles at City University of Seattle and High 5 Software. Financially, the company has raised $2.9 million to date.

Participated · Equity · Aug 2019

NextStep is a Seattle, WA-based health care education and job placement company that trains and places workers displaced by automation and artificial intelligence with long-term care providers. Its core product is a blended-learning certified nursing assistant (CNA) program offered at no up-front cost that prepares learners for CNA roles and places graduates with employer partners. The company already trains and places CNAs at over 70 facilities of employer partners in Colorado. NextStep intends to use the $2.5M funding to accelerate growth in Colorado and to expand into other states. Led by CEO Chris Hedrick, the company focuses on reaching job seekers underserved by traditional education models. The recent raise provides capital to scale operations and employer placements. NextStep is a Seattle-based, mobile-first skills training and job placement company focused on expanding the supply of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). It delivers courses on mobile devices in 10–15 minute modules designed for displaced service and hospitality workers to retrain for higher-paying healthcare roles. Through a Colorado pilot approved by the state Board of Nursing, NextStep has enrolled more than 2,000 learners and places graduates with employer partners. The company launched a National COVID-Ready Caregiver Certificate to train CNAs, home health aides and other frontline caregivers on infection-reduction and safe-caregiving practices. In the first week after the certificate’s launch, more than 200 healthcare employers signed up, extending access to over 10,000 caregivers. NextStep raised $3.6M in funding to support its efforts and expansion. NextStep Interactive delivers mobile, 10–15 minute training modules to help displaced workers retrain for careers in the health care industry. Its platform enables employers to screen talent based on demonstrated competencies and soft skills indicative of fit for health-care professions. Workers receive training, certification and automatic job placement services aimed at shifting employees from low-wage service and hospitality roles into higher-earning health-care jobs with promotion potential. The company is a spinout of Pioneer Square Labs and is led by CEO Chris Hedrick, operating out of Seattle, WA and Bozeman, MT. Financially, NextStep announced a $3m funding round and had previously disclosed a $3.275m round in fall 2018 led by JAZZ Venture Partners. Recent backers include SEI Ventures, JAZZ Venture Partners, Learn Capital’s LearnStart fund, Springrock Ventures, City Light Capital, Frontier Angels and three managing directors of Pioneer Square Labs.