Participated · Series B · Aug 2021

Pickrr provides an end-to-end, plug-and-play logistics solution that helps e-commerce sellers and D2C brands ship products across India and internationally. The platform offers one-click integrations with partners such as Amazon, Shopify, and WooCommerce and aggregates courier selection, pricing, and data analytics. Pickrr reports about 25 delivery partners on board and capability to ship to 29,000+ PIN codes and 220 global destinations. The company plans to continue product development and R&D and to expand its network of fulfillment centers across the country. Its services target SMBs, marketplace sellers, retailers, and D2C brands to improve delivery performance and inventory management. Pickrr Technologies is a Delhi-based, end-to-end plug-n-play logistics solution founded in 2015 that serves e-commerce sellers and D2C brands across India. Its core product is a logistics platform that routes shipments to courier partners using CALCULA, a machine-learning algorithm with 20+ proprietary logistics features that recommends couriers to improve delivery performance. The company says it will use new capital to continue market expansion and product development. Pickrr claims coverage of 26,000 pin-codes and handles 1.5 million shipments per month. The platform targets sellers and D2C brands that want to ship anything anywhere in India, emphasizing reduced delivery time and lower operational hassle. Founders named in the article are Rhitiman Majumder, Gaurav Mangla, and Ankit Kaushik.

Led · Seed · Apr 2020

Spot & Tango makes ready-to-serve, human-grade meals personalized to dogs' nutritional needs through a subscription model. Founded in 2018, the company sells fresh and "fresh dry" formats, including its UnKibble™ line introduced in 2020. All recipes are formulated by animal nutritionists, use fresh whole ingredients, exclude common artificial additives, and are minimally processed and cooked at low heat. The service grew over 250% in 2021 and has delivered more than 15 million meals since launch. Spot & Tango plans to use new capital to advance R&D, expand its product offering, introduce a grain-free Cod & Salmon recipe, and scale supply chain and operations. The company also launched a program in 2022 that donates high-quality meals to shelters and rescues to support dogs awaiting adoption. Spot & Tango is a direct-to-consumer pet food company that launched in 2018 making fresh, customized wet dog food and has now introduced UnKibble, a Fresh Dry line. UnKibble uses a Fresh Dry process that mixes whole ingredients, forms bite-sized pieces and gently heats them in a vacuum chamber to remove water and pathogens without extracting nutritional value; bags are then sealed to remove oxygen and keep the product fresh. Subscriptions for UnKibble start at $9/week and are offered in Beef & Barley, Chicken & Brown Rice, and Duck & Salmon, with a scooper portioned to each dog's serving. The company has delivered more than 1 million meals and says it has quadrupled the size of the business in the last six months. Spot & Tango ships in bulk to delivery partners using recyclable and compostable materials as part of an eco-conscious approach. The founder and CEO describes the company as building a health and wellness platform for pet parents, and Spot & Tango plans to expand its product formats and offerings.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2017

Petal issues Visa credit cards (issued by WebBank) that let consumers who are new-to-credit qualify using their banking history rather than established credit scores. The company enables individuals to build credit histories and targets millions of U.S. consumers with limited or no traditional credit data. Petal has approved nearly 400,000 consumers for its credit cards to date, including more than 100,000 new cards approved in 2022. Led by CEO and co-founder Jason Rosen, the company plans to expand the Petal credit card program using the new capital. With the announced transactions Petal has raised more than $300M in equity capital and more than $680M in debt financing to date. The firm is based in New York, NY and Richmond, VA. Petal issues three Visa credit card products and a companion mobile app that use cash-flow underwriting (and traditional credit scores when available) to help underserved consumers build credit. Its cards are issued by WebBank while Petal manages servicing and monetizes via interchange, interest and card fees (including a $59 Rise membership). Demand has grown rapidly: Petal added 100,000 cardholders last year and reported 300,000 cardholders at its January 2022 Series D. At that time it said it was doing $20–30 million in annualized revenue, which rose to $80 million by year-end; management projects profitability sometime in 2024. The company says delinquency and default rates have not risen and have been improving this year. Petal conducted a restructuring in Q3 that reduced headcount by about 10% and currently has roughly 140 employees. Petal is spinning out its Prism Data unit (established in 2021, ~10 employees) to commercialize its cash-flow underwriting technology to other lenders and fintechs. Founded in 2016 and based in New York, Petal offers two Visa credit card products and a mobile app designed to help consumers build credit responsibly by underwriting on cash flow rather than traditional credit scores. Its proprietary underwriting, branded CashScoring, analyzes banking history—income, spending and savings—and was productized into Prism Data, a B2B platform launched in 2021 to provide transactional scoring and insights to other fintechs and financial institutions. Over the past year Petal tripled its user base and more than quadrupled revenue, growing from $11 million to nearly $50 million; it now reports nearly 300,000 cardholders and adds 10,000–20,000 new members per month. The company says members who joined with no prior credit history have reached an average credit score of 676. Petal has more than 160 employees (doubling over the last year) and plans to hire 100+ roles in 2022 while adding new card features and scaling to hundreds of thousands more cardmembers. Prism Data is described as a sister company and a strategic growth channel alongside Petal’s consumer card business. Petal is a New York, NY and Richmond, VA-based credit-card company that issues two Visa cards, Petal 1 and Petal 2. Petal 1 targets consumers with existing credit history; Petal 2 helps people build credit with a no-fee card, cash back and higher limits for those new to credit. The company uses a Cash Score—an alternative measure based on income, savings, and spending history—to evaluate creditworthiness and encourage responsible spending. Petal credit cards are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC. To date more than 100,000 people have been approved for the two cards. The company intends to use new financing to expand and support the Petal credit card program. Petal issues consumer credit cards and distinguishes itself by underwriting applicants based on prospective cash flow rather than traditional credit scores, enabling access for underbanked users. The company has grown by “tens of thousands” of customers since early 2019 and now employs about 100 people while operating remotely. Petal opened a second office in Richmond, Virginia and recently hired Kaustav Das as chief risk officer, bringing experience from Kabbage. Financially, Petal has raised equity rounds totaling roughly $100 million and in September secured a $300 million debt facility from Jeffries to finance its card product. In April the company closed a $55 million Series C to support expansion. Management’s near-term goal is to onboard hundreds of thousands of new customers over the next two years.

Led · Seed · Jul 2016

MailControl offers a SaaS-based enterprise-class email security platform that detects and deactivates hidden tracking codes in email messages before they reach employee inboxes. Led by founder and CEO Paul Everton, the company positions itself as an anti-spymail solution for enterprises. MailControl is based in Chicago, Illinois. It sells to enterprises with custom pricing for organizations with more than 300 users and a published price of $500 per month for deployments up to 300 users. The company raised $1M in seed funding and will use the funds to accelerate product development and sales efforts. The round was led by Guild Capital.

Led · Series A · Apr 2016

Home Chef offers a flexible meal‑kit service with a weekly menu of 10 dinner choices that emphasizes home‑cooking staples rather than exotic dishes. The company delivers nationwide and charges a standard price of $9.95 per serving. Home Chef reports it is delivering 1.5 million meals each month and employs more than 600 people. To support scale, it opened a new distribution facility in Atlanta to complement existing facilities in Los Angeles and Chicago. Founder and CEO Pat Vihtelic highlights flexibility and choice as the company’s differentiators. Home Chef is a subscription meal-kit service that delivers recipes and ingredients and uses a "taste algorithm" to recommend meals to customers. It offers flexibility by letting customers choose from roughly 10-13 menu options each week and emphasizes customer-driven menus. Since launching in 2013, the Chicago-headquartered company has grown to more than 400 employees and delivers over 540,000 meals per month. Leadership, including founder and CEO Pat Vihtelic, stresses capital efficiency as the business scales. The company plans to use the new funding to open a West Coast distribution center. Home Chef has raised $12 million in total funding to date. Home Chef provides a subscription service delivering personalized recipes with pre-portioned, fresh ingredients, and cooking instructions and tips. The company offers free delivery of those curated meal kits. Recipes are developed by experts and menus are tailored to customers' dietary restrictions and preferences. The business is led by Bryon Finke, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer. The company raised a new seed funding round with an investment from Guild Capital (amount undisclosed). The raise was reported by FinSMEs on 25/07/2014.