• TurboAppeal

  Participated · Series A · Oct 2016

  TurboAppeal provides a technology platform for consumers and businesses to appeal property taxes. The company was founded in 2015 and is led by CEO Badal Shah, COO John Guidos and CTO Scott Beason. In 2016 it opened an additional office in Miami and announced a strategic partnership with Paradigm Tax Group. TurboAppeal raised a $4M Series A to support growth. The company plans to use the funds to expand operations nationwide in 2017 and to grow both its consumer and commercial lines by developing new products and services. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article. TurboAppeal provides a residential property tax appeal technology service that leverages a proprietary machine-learning algorithm to continually mine property data and generate accurate evidence for appeals. Founded in 2015 by CEO Badal Shah and based in Chicago, the company serves homeowners in select counties in Illinois, Florida, and most recently Texas. It raised $3M in seed funding to accelerate geographic expansion and product development. The company plans to expand into Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington in 2016. The seed round was led by KGC Capital with participation from Ned Jannotta Jr., Gary Holdren, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Hyde Park Angels. In conjunction with the funding, investor Gary Holdren joined TurboAppeal’s board of directors.

• SwervePay

  Led · Series B · Feb 2016

  SwervePay provides a portal-free payment solution that enables patients to submit one-click payments via text message, eliminating mobile apps and paper statements. The platform uses a secure integration engine and back-end electronic health record automation to streamline revenue-cycle collections for providers. SwervePay’s system reduces outstanding patient balances, lowers debt and administrative costs, and improves staff efficiency and cash flow for hospitals and health systems. The company cites industry usage barriers — 64% of patients won’t use portals and 98% won’t use hospital/physician mobile apps — to justify its text-first approach. Launched self-funded in 2010 and based in Chicago, SwervePay previously raised a $1.6M Series A in 2014. The company plans to use new capital to grow and expand, enhance its channel partner network, and attract talent to advance its product and market reach.

• Shiftgig

  Participated · Series B · Nov 2015

  Shiftgig operates a smartphone-based marketplace that lets hourly workers (“Specialists”) pick up shifts at local businesses and events. The platform serves about 1,500 businesses and 15,000 workers, with customers across all 50 states concentrated in roughly 12 cities. It works across food service, hotel, retail, logistics, warehouse and experiential marketing verticals, handling weekly payments, vetting and reliability scores for workers. Shiftgig charges businesses per shift and takes a percentage fee that varies by order and client size. The company says it is ACA-compliant and carries appropriate workers’ compensation insurance. Management intends to use new funding to scale the marketplace into additional cities. Shiftgig operates a people-centered, mobile-first marketplace that connects workers with short-term shifts and enables hiring managers to fill and manage assignments. Led by cofounder and CEO Eddie Lou, the platform lets workers choose when, where and for which local employers they want to work. The company raised $22m in Series B funding to support growth. Shiftgig plans to use the capital to scale the business and launch in new cities across North America. Investments will be made in sales, marketing, technology and operations. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article. Shiftgig operates an online community and marketplace that allows members to connect with businesses to access jobs and content in the restaurant, nightlife, hotel and retail verticals. The company was co-founded in 2011 by Eddie Lou (CEO), Jeff Pieta (President) and Sean Casey (CTO). It reports over 1,050,000 registered members and 25,000 businesses on the platform. Shiftgig secured $10M in its first institutional financing and intends to use the funds to expand its technology, product and team. Recent senior additions include Jill Erickson as Chief Revenue Officer, Travis Haight as VP of Service Delivery, Dan Miller as VP of Talent and Michael Yoch as VP of Product. The product focus remains on connecting workers and businesses in the service industry and scaling the platform's capabilities.

• Acorns

  Participated · Series C · Apr 2015

  Acorns is a savings-and-investing app that automatically builds portfolios and offers products spanning investing, debt management, retirement, and a children-focused product called Acorns Early. The company plans to roll out customized portfolios, optional limited crypto exposure (no more than 5%) and expanded family-specific offerings in 2022. Acorns says it will not offer crypto trading on the platform; crypto will be an uncorrelated allocation option within diversified portfolios. Management intends to use the new funding to pursue acquisitions, fund growth and innovation, and scale product development. Financially, Acorns reports more than 4.6 million paid subscribers and said it exceeded its public forecast for 2021; its SPAC deck projected $126 million in revenue for 2021. The deck also showed revenue rising from $44 million in 2019 to $71 million in 2020, gross margin improving from 71% to 78%, and expected 2021 operating income and cash flow to worsen (operating income to -$85M; operating cash flow to -$70M). Acorns operates a financial-wellness program designed to encourage Americans to save and invest, including family-focused offerings such as Acorns Early. The company announced a strategic investment from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Dany Garcia, co-founders of Seven Bucks Companies; the size of the investment was not disclosed. As part of the partnership Acorns said it will run several programs to encourage families to start early and invest. One promotion tied to the partnership will invest $7 in each Acorns Early account opened by qualifying families. The article does not disclose operating metrics, revenue, or prior funding rounds. Acorns is based in Irvine. Acorns offers a micro‑investing app that rounds up debit and credit purchases and invests the spare change into index funds. Its core products include automated spare‑change investing, an automated retirement account called Acorns Later, and Acorns Spend (a checking account and debit card). The company has about 4.5 million users and manages over $1.2 billion in assets. Acorns Later has over 350,000 users who have invested roughly $40 million through the product. CEO Noah Kerner said the company will partner with CNBC to produce original content targeted at less financially savvy audiences. As part of that partnership NBCUniversal became the largest shareholder and will take a board seat. Acorns operates a mobile savings and investment service that rounds up purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference in exchange-traded funds it manages. The company has grown to more than 2 million investment accounts, with 600,000 opened in 2017, and is on track to execute 1 billion trades in 2017 through its proprietary broker-dealer. More than 50 percent of customers use the recurring investment feature, which the company views as a path to higher balances. Acorns charges $1 per month for accounts with balances under $5,000 and 0.25% per year for accounts over $5,000. With new capital the company is exploring potential acquisitions and focusing on personalization and responsible-spending features. Acorns is also expanding its team with senior hires including Gahl Berkooz as chief data officer, Jike Chong, and former BlackRock CIO Chris Jones. Acorns automates small-dollar investing by rounding up users' purchases and investing the remainder into diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds. Users sync credit or debit cards with the app for automatic, recurring contributions. The product targets millennials, with about 75% of users aged 18–34, and the company reports 850,000 investment accounts. Fees are $1 per month for accounts under $5,000 and 0.25% per year for larger accounts. Incoming CEO Noah Kerner emphasizes micro‑investing as a way for young people to grow accounts through many small sources. The company, based in Irvine, California, was started by father-and-son founders Walter and Jeff Cruttenden; Jeff says the firm’s portfolios have outperformed the S&P on a risk-adjusted basis and calls Acorns “the fastest growing investment app ever.”

• Dose

  Participated · Series A · Oct 2013

  Spartz is a digital media publisher whose network includes web and mobile sites such as OMG Facts, GivesMeHope, and MuggleNet. The network attracts 17m readers. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Chicago, IL. It is led by Emerson Spartz (CEO), Griffin Caprio (CTO), and Gaby Montero (VP of Product). Spartz raised $8m in funding from Garland Capital, John Compton, and Charlie Anderson. The company is hiring.

No current team members are available.