Participated · Series A · Aug 2021

Regology operates an automated regulatory-compliance platform that compiles and continually updates a large global database of laws, bills, regulations, agencies and their updates. The product covers geographies across five continents and tracks the lawmaking process from bills through regulations across multiple industries and topic areas. Regology provides customers a framework to automate compliance workflows and continuously reviews legal updates to help ensure ongoing compliance. The company targets large Fortune 500 customers, including major tech firms and large banks. Founded in 2017, Regology is remote-first with a small Palo Alto office and currently has 20 full-time employees with plans to at least double headcount by year-end. CEO Mukund Goenka, who spent more than 15 years in banking, started the company after witnessing compliance challenges and their financial consequences.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2021

Earth AI develops algorithms that scan decades of Australian exploration data to predict locations of critical mineral deposits, and it built its own drilling equipment to validate those predictions. The company has identified copper, cobalt, and gold in the Northern Territory and silver, molybdenum, and tin in a site in New South Wales about 310 miles (500 km) northwest of Sydney. Earth AI began as a software company emerging from founder Roman Teslyuk’s graduate work at the University of Sydney and was accepted to Y Combinator’s spring 2019 cohort. After YC it spent several years refining both its hardware and software to prove its models to conservative mining customers. The company raised a $20 million Series B in January. Its approach emphasizes scanning wide areas quickly and learning from the failures and successes archived by millions of past geologists. EARTH AI is a San Francisco-based vertically-integrated mineral exploration company focused on finding deposits of rare metals. Led by founder and CEO Roman Teslyuk, the company developed a technological process that uses machine learning to efficiently discover metal deposits. It has built specialized in-house, low-impact drilling hardware that enables fast site movement, requires no groundworks, and reduces the environmental impact of metals exploration to virtually zero. EARTH AI operates across all stages of mineral exploration, from geological mapping to drone-based geophysical surveying and exploration drilling. Financially, the company raised $5.5M in a Seed+ funding round. Earth AI builds a mineral-targeting platform that trains neural networks on global data sets — including remote sensing, radiometry, geophysical and geochemical data — to predict ore bodies for metals such as gold, copper, lead and rare earth elements. The company says its approach has been used to discover a vanadium deposit and that 2018 field tests produced a claimed 50x better success rate than traditional exploration while costing about $11,000 per prospect discovery. Earth AI positions its technology as a way to reduce wasteful drilling and accelerate access to metals used in industrial applications and battery technologies. The startup joined Y Combinator’s latest cohort and was due to present at YC Demo Day. Founder Roman Teslyuk is a geoscientist and former PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. Management says the recent funding will help the company reach its next milestones.

Led · Seed · Aug 2020

iFarm develops an adaptive vertical-farm management platform that combines computer vision, machine learning and data from a distributed network of farms to automate and optimize crop growth. Its iFarm Growtune platform can determine plant weight, detect growth deviations or pathologies, provide recommendations to staff and adjust microclimate settings autonomously. The company sells technologies that enable customers to start growing produce in empty warehouses, factory shops, basements and distribution centers. iFarm plans to use new funding to further develop the Growtune platform, quadruple the number of plants supported by its technology and optimize automated production lines to reduce labor costs. It is also completing experiments to grow strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radish and other crops. Led by co-founder and CEO Alex Lyskovsky, iFarm had over 50 ongoing projects with clients in Europe and the Middle East for 2020 and an industrial vertical farm based on its tech due to launch in Finland by the end of the year. iFarm Project develops an integrated vertical farming system combining proprietary multi‑layered horizontal shelving hardware and a cloud‑based software platform that controls microclimates and delivers downloadable "growing recipes." The company’s closed‑ecosystem approach and internal sterile contour technology aim to eliminate the need for pesticides and washing of produce. Their platform supports multiple crops today, including basil, arugula, spinach, cilantro and strawberries, and is designed to be modular and scalable to fit basements, roofs or spare rooms. iFarm has built five vertical farms and urban greenhouses in Moscow and Novosibirsk and employs a team of over 30 people. Near‑term plans include applying the technology to floriculture and piloting the system in the European market, with an EU showroom planned in 2019. The company was founded in 2017 and emphasizes both hardware and software development to expand cultivation solutions and automation.

Led · Equity · Jul 2020

RocketBody is a sports application from Belarusian developers that uses machine learning to incorporate ECG data into real-time workout recommendations. The app also lets users plan training schedules and track recovery timing to maximize training effect. The team originally intended to build its own wrist ECG device but pivoted to integrate with Apple Watch after Apple released Series 4; hardware production continues in a passive mode. RocketBody launched a new sports app on Product Hunt in September of last year and promotes personalized workouts generated from user metabolism. To improve customer interaction and test monetization the company raised funding from external investors. According to the CEO, the startup was valued at $10 million last year and its capitalization grew tenfold over roughly 1.5 years.

Participated · Series A · May 2019

ID R&D develops AI-based voice and behavioral biometrics along with voice and face anti-spoofing technologies. Its technology suite includes standalone components and packaged products for voice and behavioral biometrics and anti-spoofing, deployable on mobile apps, web apps, chatbots, conversational interfaces and messaging platforms. The company combines scientific research and development to deliver multiple biometric modalities. Launched in 2016 and led by CEO Alexey Khitrov, ID R&D is based in New York City. In May 2019 it raised $5.7 million in a Series A round led by GSR Ventures with participation from existing investor Gagarin Capital. It plans to use the funds to expand engineering teams and to accelerate marketing and international sales.