Participated · Series A · Mar 2023

StellarFi is a bill-pay manager that helps members build credit by charging a subscription ($4.99 or $9.99) to manage and pay recurring bills—including rent, subscriptions and utilities—and reporting those on-time payments to Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Innovis. The company does not require credit checks or deposits, does not charge interest, and claims members see an average 26-point score increase in the first month; the average user score at signup is 580. Launched in late June, StellarFi scaled quickly via affiliate partnerships, neobank contracts and SEO, finishing the year with over $2 million in ARR and hitting $1 million ARR in 134 days. As a public benefit corporation, StellarFi focuses on financially disadvantaged communities and intends to build a marketplace to link members to lenders and provide access to capital through partners. The firm is still developing its mobile app and aims to “conquer the mobile experience” to drive engagement and lender access. Operationally, StellarFi reported zero defaults so far but has encountered significant fraud attempts and says it uses sophisticated algorithms to detect and quarantine fraudsters. StellarFi is a Public Benefit Corporation building a credit-building and bill-pay app that consolidates everyday bills and reports monthly payments to the three main credit bureaus. The company targets the 132 million Americans with poor or no credit and enables users to build credit through rent, utilities and other routine payments. StellarFi also offers rewards and cash back that users can apply directly to connected bills. The startup launched a public beta on March 14, 2022 in Austin, Texas and plans comprehensive money-management tools, partnerships for loan and credit card offerings, and financial literacy resources. StellarFi was founded by Lamine Zarrad, who previously founded neobank Joust (acquired by ZenBusiness) and served as Head of Product at ZenBusiness. The company recently closed an oversubscribed $7M initial funding round to deploy its platform and expand access nationwide.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2023

ROOK (formerly RookMotion) offers a B2B SaaS API that integrates and embeds health metrics from hundreds of wearables into existing apps and software. The platform aggregates and transforms fragmented wearable data, applies additional processing, and generates data-driven recommendations to minimize customer analysis effort. The company has rebranded and shifted its focus beyond the fitness market into healthcare, insurance, wellness, and other enterprise use cases. ROOK positions its product to help customers obtain ready-to-use biomarker data and implement valuable user insights more effectively. The company recently raised $1.7M in pre-seed funding and was accepted into the EndeavorLAB and Stadia Ventures accelerator programs to support its next stage of growth. CEO and co-founder Marco Benitez said the funding will drive more people to discover, build, and achieve more with ROOK.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2022

Colorcast offers a social sports talk app that enables anyone to commentate on live sports before, during, and after games with no special equipment. The platform supplies casters and listeners with real-time stats, scores, betting odds, and other game information. Interaction occurs via text chat and the “Hot Seat,” which brings listeners onto the microphone to ask questions or share takes. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Evan Kirkham and is based in Austin, TX. Colorcast raised seed funding and plans to use the proceeds to expand operations and broaden its business reach. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article. Colorcast is an Austin, Texas–based social sports talk app led by CEO Evan Kirkham. The platform enables anyone to commentate on live sports with no equipment, synchronizing audio streams and providing shared visual context. It surfaces real-time game information such as stats, scores, and betting odds, and supports interaction via text chat and a "Hot Seat" feature that brings listeners onto the microphone. Colorcast features high-profile NFL athletes and celebrities on the platform, including Ryan Shazier, Ike Taylor, James Washington, Taylor Rapp, Keith Smith, and Vic Mensa. The company plans to use its recent funding to expand into additional sports markets, grow its talent acquisition team, and continue diversifying its offering. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2020

TermScout provides a contract review platform combining artificial intelligence with real human attorneys to reduce the time and complexity of commercial contract review. The company offers contract review services priced under $100 per contract. TermScout plans to develop a contract review and comparison platform and to launch a website offering free and premium information about the top 500 B2B SaaS contracts. It is led by CEO and co-founder Otto Hanson and is backed by Techstars. TermScout participated in the LexisNexis Legal Tech Accelerator and won the 2018 Global Legal Hackathon. The company is based in Denver, CO.