Participated · Series A · May 2022

Cushion provides an app that helps U.S. consumers negotiate bank and credit card fees and is expanding into bill pay to offer a single place to track, pay, and finance bills. The company reports more than 100,000 current customers and an additional six-figure waitlist for the new bill pay product. After months of beta testing, Cushion is preparing the bill pay solution for a general audience. Proceeds from its financing will be used to hire across product, engineering, data analytics, and marketing to support the rollout. Led by CEO Paul Kesserwani and based in San Francisco, Cushion aims to help consumers avoid overdraft and late fees through its bill management and fee-negotiation services. Cushion offers a consumer app that downloads users' transaction histories, identifies assessed bank fees, and conducts negotiations with banks to secure refunds. The company only takes a commission on returned cash, aligning its incentives with customers. Founder Paul Kesserwani formed Cushion in late 2016 and built its own infrastructure to avoid using Plaid, launching a new platform in early January 2018. Cushion says it has onboarded tens of thousands of users and has recovered more than $1 million in fees for customers since founding. The company raised seed capital and is hiring engineers and data scientists to build out AI recommendations. Longer-term plans include broader active management features—switching users to lower-fee accounts, adjusting bill timing to avoid shortfalls—and potentially working directly with banks to offer lower-cost customer service channels.

Participated · Series C · Jan 2022

Facet operates a tech-driven platform that pairs members with CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals to deliver personalized, unbiased financial planning without asset minimums via an affordable flat membership fee. The company is an SEC-registered investment adviser and reports serving over 14,000 households. Facet says it will use new capital to advance technology development, expand its suite of financial planning services, and improve the overall member experience. The firm emphasizes a subscription model that targets consumers often overlooked by traditional AUM-based advisors. Facet has received recognition from outlets including Real Simple, NerdWallet and TIME. Since its founding in 2016, it has raised approximately $210 million in funding to date. Facet Wealth offers tech-driven, subscription financial planning that pairs proprietary technology with CFP® professionals to deliver fiduciary, no‑asset‑minimum advice across all aspects of clients' financial lives. The company emphasizes a transparent subscription fee model intended to democratize access to financial planning and reach an estimated 40 million underserved American households. Its core product is integrated, personalized financial plans delivered 1:1 by CFPs and supported by a suite of technology and client‑experience tools. Facet plans to use the new funding to continue fueling rapid growth and to invest in its technology, product suite, and client experience. The firm has grown roughly 10x since 2020, serves more than 10,000 clients, and employs over 300 people across 42 states. Facet was founded in 2016 and has raised approximately $165 million in total funding since inception. Facet Wealth offers comprehensive financial planning services that pair clients with fiduciary financial-planner professionals to develop long-term relationships. The company also provides a Financial Wellness offering for employers seeking to give employees comprehensive financial guidance. Facet has pre-launch employer partnerships with ClassPass, MyVest and ChiliPiper. The business reports rapid product growth and intends to use new funding to accelerate market expansion. The company is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and is led by co-founder and CEO Anders Jones. Professionals serving clients are located across the United States. Facet Wealth provides comprehensive, transparent financial planning by pairing clients with dedicated CFP® Professionals supported by a proprietary technology platform. The company is an SEC-registered investment advisor and positions itself as a fiduciary serving mass-affluent households often underserved by traditional wealth managers. Facet delivers personalized, on-demand service intended to lower the cost and increase access to high-quality financial advice. The firm partners with incumbent financial services firms to identify and transition clients who do not fit those incumbents’ ideal profiles, enabling broader access and practice-level benefits for partners. Facet plans to use new capital to accelerate expansion, scale its proprietary technology platform, and pursue substantial industry partnerships. The company is based in Baltimore and serves clients nationwide.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2021

Bear Flag Robotics develops autonomous technology that enables farm tractors to run autonomously while human supervisors monitor and command fleets from a remote mission control room or personal device. Its software plans optimal field patterns based on growers’ implements and provides predictive and post-run analytics to improve seasonal farming. The company is working with the largest produce and commodity growers in California and Arizona. Bear Flag Robotics was co-founded by Igino Cafiero and Aubrey Donnellan in 2017 and is based in Newark, Calif. In January 2021 it raised a $7.9M seed extension, bringing total funding to date to $12.5M. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach. Bear Flag Robotics develops autonomous driving and implement-control technology for agricultural tractors, enabling growers to automate tasks such as spraying, mowing, discing and ripping. Its system allows a single supervisor to operate a fleet of vehicles, reducing labor needs on farms. The company cites research suggesting autonomous robots can lower labor expenses and increase yields by up to 15 percent, partly via reduced soil compaction from smaller tractors. Bear Flag is targeting specialty crops such as nuts, fruits and grapes and aims to deliver yield and cost improvements to growers. The company plans to offer leasing options plus full-service and hybrid (centrally supervised) operational models, with operations slated to begin by the end of 2018. Financially, Bear Flag announced a $3.5M seed round led by True Ventures and has raised $4.5M in total since its 2017 founding; Rohit Sharma of True Ventures joined the board as part of the financing.