• Kira

  Led · Seed · Aug 2025

  Kira offers an all-in-one payments infrastructure stack that combines stablecoins, AI-driven agents, and enterprise APIs to let enterprises and startups launch embedded fintech products (payments, remittances, savings, payroll, treasury). The platform includes AI-driven payments, treasury automation, compliance workflows, and global payouts to remove technical friction for clients. Kira operated in stealth for over a year while building its stack and is led by founders with prior fintech experience, including a founder of Arcus (acquired by Mastercard). The company reports $3 million in revenue in its first year. Kira plans to accelerate technical hiring and develop new fintech products while forming strategic partnerships with regional banks and payment processors. The funding announcement emphasizes an initial expansion focus across Latin America, starting in South America.

• Trustwise AI

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2024

  Trustwise launched Optimize:ai, a generative AI application performance and risk management API that performs red teaming, continuous safety monitoring, and dynamic model selection to reduce risk and costs for enterprise LLM deployments. Optimize:ai is powered by THEO, an optimization foundation model that supports diverse AI models and architectures and is designed for large-scale generative AI operations. The product aligns with major AI standards and regulations, including the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF 1.0, Responsible AI Institute RAISE benchmarks, and the SCI ISO software carbon intensity standard. In customer deployments Trustwise reports up to 15x reductions in AI costs and risks, an 80% reduction in LLM and compute costs, a 64% decrease in carbon footprint, and detection of 40% more AI safety and alignment issues versus other vendors. The company intends to use its financing to accelerate development of cost- and risk-optimized generative AI prototypes, speed its go-to-market and partnership strategy, and expand research initiatives. Founded in 2022, Trustwise is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with research labs in Cambridge, UK, and New York, and Optimize:ai is now generally available.

• Apptronik

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2022

  Apptronik develops the Apollo humanoid robot and emphasizes human-centered design for collaboration in industries like manufacturing and logistics. The company emerged from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin and cites nearly a decade of development experience built on about 15 prior robots, including work tied to NASA’s Valkyrie. Apptronik has roughly 350 employees working on advancing its Apollo platform. Management positions the robot to address labor-intensive tasks and reduce repetitive-motion injuries while improving productivity and safety. The company says Apollo could expand into healthcare, the home, and other markets beyond its initial industrial focus. Recent secondary share activity—an approximately $4.2 million transaction—provided liquidity for existing shareholders and is portrayed as helping bridge development toward mass production.

• RIOS

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2022

  RIOS develops AI- and vision-driven robotics focused on automating manufacturing processes, quality assurance, process improvement and digital twinning. The company emphasizes partnering with customers to provide reliable, flexible automation and real-time insights and control that exceed traditional automation systems. RIOS plans to expand its deployments across wood products, beverage distribution and packaged food products. It is beginning a product rollout in the lumber and plywood handling sector. The company recently completed a $13 million Series B financing. Existing investor participation and strategic partnerships underpin its near-term growth plans. Rios Intelligent Machines builds AI-powered, end-to-end robotic workcells that integrate within existing factory, warehouse, and supply chain workflows. The company offers its robotic workforce through a factory automation-as-a-service model with no upfront capital commitments. Its workcells are deployed in the United States across manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and food & beverage sectors. Rios has signed agreements with over a dozen customers in the U.S. and Japan, ranging from mid-size businesses to large enterprises. The company is led by CEO Dr. Bernard Casse, is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, has a distributed U.S. workforce and a subsidiary in Australia. In February 2022 it raised $28M in Series A equity and debt financing and intends to use the funds to deploy its robotic fleet at scale to new and existing customers. RIOS is a Bay Area robotics startup founded in 2018 as a Stanford spin-out with contributions from Xerox PARC engineers. Its first product, the DX-1, is a robot designed for a variety of industrial tasks including static bin picking and conveyor belt operations. The system is powered by the company’s AI stack, which includes a perception system and tactile sensors mounted on the robotic hand. RIOS operated in stealth for roughly a year and a half while testing its technologies with a select group of partners. The company plans to charge a monthly fee for the robotic system that bundles programming, maintenance, monitoring, and regular updates. RIOS announced $5 million in funding as it came out of stealth to support development and commercialization amid increased interest in factory automation.

• Agot

  Participated · Equity · Feb 2022

  Agot AI develops computer vision powered by machine learning to confirm order accuracy in real time and notify employees when corrections are needed. The company initially targets the quick‑serve restaurant (QSR) industry and has been piloting its technology with large food‑service brands, including a Yum! Brands pilot in about 20 restaurants with plans to expand to 100 if the pilot succeeds. Founded three years ago by Evan DeSantola and Alex Litzenberger, Agot aims to reduce order errors, reward employee success, and improve customer satisfaction. Since unveiling its technology it has demonstrated operational capabilities in small- and medium-sized proof‑of‑concept deployments and says it is ready to scale to larger markets. Agot plans to use new capital to grow its engineering team, secure additional pilot programs with QSR brands, and add features for drive‑thru and behind‑the‑counter operations as well as customer and operations analytics. The company did not disclose growth metrics in the reporting, though Yum! Brands said early pilot results are promising.

No current team members are available.