Participated · Equity · Jan 2021

AppOnboard operates Buildbox, a no-code game engine that enables creators to build and publish 2D and 3D games to platforms including the App Store, Google Play, Steam, PC, and Apple TV. The company has seen rapid creator adoption, adding thousands of new users per week and reporting a 550% increase in global market share over the past three months. Nine games built on Buildbox reached the Top 100 most popular games globally in the last three months, and a Buildbox-made mobile game, Vegan Run, briefly reached number two in the app store charts. AppOnboard plans to use new capital to scale operations and expand headcount across product, engineering, marketing, and support to serve its growing creator community. It will also pursue creator-focused initiatives such as closing the user feedback loop, implementing user-centered design processes, and releasing more frequent product updates. The company shifted into game development after acquiring Buildbox in June 2019 and has recently appointed Mike Seavers as CEO, who has reoriented the business toward a more user-centric, product-focused approach. AppOnboard is a Los Angeles, CA-based mobile technology platform that enables developers to preview apps and games in high-end experiences served inside other mobile apps and games. Its Full-Fidelity Demos and Chronological Heat Maps visualize user engagement to deliver actionable insights during testing. The platform helps developers acquire high-quality users and optimize onboarding experiences and monetization funnels post-install. The company intends to use the Series A proceeds to further accelerate development and adoption of its app demo technology. Financially, AppOnboard raised $15M in this Series A and has raised $20M in total since its founding. Led by CEO/co‑founder Jonathan Zweig and COO Bryan Buskas, the company also maintains offices in San Francisco and Seattle. AppOnboard develops interactive, patent-pending Full-Fidelity Demos that let users experience mobile apps before choosing to download. Its technology reproduces core loops and onboarding, carries demo progress into the downloaded app, and includes anti-fraud vetting plus chronological heat-map, sight/sound/motion and touch analytics for developers. The company works with major game publishers including Zynga, Glu, Jam City, Scopely and Pocket Gems to drive higher-quality user acquisition and reports engagement and tutorial-completion rates at or above actual games. AppOnboard's demos also serve as an R&D and concept-evaluation tool that can facilitate updates without App Store resubmission. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Los Angeles, AppOnboard was co-founded by Jonathan Zweig and Adam Piechowicz; Zweig previously founded and sold AdColony to Opera in 2014. The company has raised a $4M seed round to scale its product and commercial partnerships.

Participated · Series C · Jun 2011

Semprius develops high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar modules and is based in Durham, North Carolina. Led by CEO Joseph Carr, the company manufactures modules using very small commercial solar cells and innovative manufacturing processes. It received a $2.9m grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA‑E. The funding will be used to develop technologies that lower the cost of solar-generated electricity while increasing system efficiencies and energy yields. Semprius is partnering with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign, The George Washington University and Veeco on the project. The effort aims to create a new class of high-performance PV modules based on very small lenses and micro-solar cells. Semprius develops concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems that use lenses over small gallium-arsenide cells and motorized sun‑tracking panels to boost energy output and conversion efficiency. Its technology achieves up to 35.5% conversion efficiency and, the CEO says, yields 30–40% more energy than similarly sized conventional plants. The company operates 16 pilot installations delivering power to grids in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Spain, and elsewhere to collect performance data. Semprius says a megawatt-scale deployment could be built for about $1.5 million and serve roughly 300–500 homes, and targets electricity costs just under $0.05/kWh. Demand has outstripped its current ramp — it turned away roughly six times more business than it accepted last year — while the firm works to scale production. A prior Siemens partnership and investment was discontinued when Siemens reduced its renewables exposure. Semprius was founded in 2005 and is based in Durham, North Carolina. Semprius develops high‑concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar modules built from the world’s smallest solar cells using a proprietary micro-transfer printing process. The company designs and manufactures high‑efficiency modules and operates headquarters and production facilities in North Carolina. Semprius recently closed an additional $3 million in venture funding from Morgan Creek Capital Management, Illinois Emerging Technologies Fund (managed by IllinoisVENTURES), and In-Q-Tel. Proceeds from the tranche will be used to expedite construction of a pilot plant to produce high‑efficiency, low‑cost solar modules. This funding is a follow‑on to a Series C in July 2011 led by Siemens Venture Capital. The company also added Gregory Wolf, president of Duke Energy Renewables, to its board. Semprius produces high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) modules that combine extremely tiny solar cells with low-cost, efficient optics that concentrate sunlight more than 1,000 times. Its micro-cell technology is NREL-certified at greater than 40% efficiency, and the modules are designed to remain cool for improved long-term reliability. The company leverages automated manufacturing using standard equipment and commodity materials to reduce capital and labor costs. Semprius has secured funding to construct a pilot HCPV module production plant to scale up and optimize production for subsequent large-capacity plants. Management reports that modules have been under on-sun testing for several years with excellent field performance. The company intends the pilot plant to enable rapid scaling to meet projected CPV demand growth. Semprius commercializes a process for printing high-performance semiconductors on any substrate, including glass, plastic and other semiconductor materials. The company's core product is a printed‑semiconductor process and associated design kit intended to enable wafer‑level production for its customers. Semprius has signed a development agreement with X‑FAB under which X‑FAB will provide turnkey silicon wafer fabrication and fully warranted wafer delivery for Semprius’ customers. The agreement includes a Semprius‑certified design kit to streamline customer designs for fabrication. Financially, Semprius received a $1.5M strategic investment from X‑FAB as part of the relationship. The partnership is positioned to combine Semprius’ IP in printed electronics with X‑FAB’s manufacturing capabilities to open new markets. Semprius is based in Durham, North Carolina.