• Sensel

  Participated · Series A · Mar 2020

  Sensel began with the Morph consumer device as a proof of concept for its multitouch, haptic trackpad technology but pivoted away from consumer hardware to focus on OEM licensing. Its core product is a cost-effective, high-volume haptic touchpad module that laptop manufacturers can integrate. The company counts Lenovo as one of its biggest hardware partners. Sensel has entered a strategic module partnership with Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) to scale manufacturing and improve manufacturability. The firm says new funding will support further scaling of its technology and continued R&D for future products. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in the Bay Area. To date it has raised $57 million. Founded in 2013 and based in Sunnyvale, Sensel began by shipping the Morph modular music and computing peripheral. The company’s core product is an advanced pressure-sensing touch sensor that it says outperforms existing touch technologies on multiple metrics at lower cost. Over recent years Sensel has shifted its focus from a standalone hardware product toward supplying pressure-sensing components to smartphone and tablet OEMs. The company intends to work with device manufacturers to integrate its sensing technology into third-party devices while continuing to support the Morph product. Sensel raised a $28 million Series A that brings its total funding to $38 million; the financing is expected to support that strategic pivot and broader commercialization efforts.

• Phiar Technologies

  Participated · Seed · Nov 2018

  Phiar develops an ultra-lightweight Spatial-AI Engine and Mobility AR Engine to deliver camera-based augmented-reality navigation, vision-based live road detections, HD mapping, smart parking, and traffic-condition awareness for vehicles. The company integrates its software with modern automotive chipsets including Qualcomm Snapdragon and works closely with OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers such as Nissan, Panasonic Automotive, and Bosch, as well as mapping vendors TomTom and HERE. Phiar announced a recently closed Series A to accelerate business with OEMs and Tier-1 partners and to expand go-to-market resources. Founder Chen-Ping Yu will shift to Chairman of the Board and CTO to focus on spatial-AI technology and product development while new CEO Gene Karshenboym onboards to lead global growth. The company has announced partnerships with Panasonic Automotive to integrate its AI-based navigation into automotive solutions. Phiar is headquartered in Redwood City, California and was founded in 2017. Phiar develops an AR navigation app that overlays turn-by-turn directions while using object recognition and visual mapping to build high-quality map data. The company focused on software after initially considering building hardware prior to joining Y Combinator. Its app captures up to 30 minutes of dash-cam footage per ride, providing free dash-cam utility to users and anonymized metadata for mapping. Phiar has engineered single-camera, high-speed geometry understanding and real-time occlusion so digital overlays interact cleanly with the physical world at driving speeds. The startup plans to release its free consumer app in mid-2019 and is positioning its mapping data for partners in autonomous vehicles and ridesharing. CEO Chen-Ping Yu says Phiar is in talks with automotive and ridesharing partners to integrate its technology.

• Catalia Health

  Participated · Seed · May 2017

  Catalia Health is a San Francisco–based patient care management company founded in 2014 that offers an AI-powered personal healthcare companion called Mabu. The platform combines artificial intelligence, psychology and medical best practices to support patients managing chronic illnesses and to deliver daily, tailored check-ins. Mabu is deployed to help patients with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, late-stage kidney disease and congestive heart failure and to provide clinicians insight on adherence and patient status. Catalia positions its technology against a U.S. population of roughly 117 million people managing chronic conditions and targets improved medication adherence, symptom management and reduced readmissions. The company announced a hire for Director of Product Management to oversee the platform roadmap as it prepares clinical and commercial rollout. Catalia Health provides an AI-powered patient engagement platform that pairs proprietary conversation-generation algorithms with a social robot, Mabu, to engage patients, collect data, and support care management. The platform targets chronic-disease management and medication adherence, aiming to improve symptom management and reduce hospital readmissions. Catalia plans to build and deploy its care management system across its first three disease states and begin patient rollout in its first two disease states in early summer 2017. The company emphasizes scalable, personalized conversations to increase adherence and monitor patient health. Catalia was founded in 2014 and is based in San Francisco; Dr. Cory Kidd is CEO and founder. Financially, the company has completed a seed extension following an earlier seed round to fund product deployment and data collection. Catalia Health develops Mabu, a social robot designed to provide information and support for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer and heart disease. The company is pitching Mabu to healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies to augment doctors and help manage large patient populations. Catalia has an alpha prototype in its offices and plans to scale production and deployment. The firm expects to have the first robots on the market by the end of the year and is already in discussions with several early potential customers. Founded by Cory Kidd using work that began at MIT’s Media Lab and evolved through his prior company Intuitive Automata, Catalia is positioning Mabu around engagement and the psychology of interaction. The company will use the recent financing to scale up its business.

No current team members are available.