Participated · Seed · Jan 2026

Transition Metal Solutions is a mining-tech startup that creates low-cost, mostly inorganic additives designed to elevate entire microbial communities inside copper heap leaches rather than targeting single strains. In laboratory tests, its proprietary cocktail has lifted copper extraction to 90% versus the 60% achieved with conventional processes, and the team anticipates commercial recovery rates of 50-70% compared with today’s 30-60%. Each mine receives a tailored formulation following microbial assays, and the company aims to build predictive models that recommend treatments in advance. Management believes the technology can materially narrow the looming global copper supply gap by increasing output 20–30% from existing operations. Near-term plans include third-party validation by a respected metallurgy laboratory and a demonstration heap containing tens of thousands of tons of ore. The recently raised seed financing will fund these milestones and support further data collection to accelerate commercialization. The company has not yet disclosed revenue or customer figures.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2025

Homeostasis develops a novel electrochemical process that converts CO2 into solid carbon materials, including graphite, using small, modular, portable reactors. The company produces carbon materials in the Pacific Northwest and conducts research through a partnership with the ASRC CAT program at City College of New York. Homeostasis also benefits from support at the University of Washington's Clean Energy Testbeds and backing from the Washington Department of Commerce. Led by co‑founders Dr. Julien Lombardi (Co‑Founder and Chief Science Officer) and Makoto Eyre (Co‑Founder and CEO), the startup plans to use recent funding to accelerate reactor development and make key technical hires in 2025. The company raised $600K in Pre‑Seed funding plus matching funds from the Washington Department of Commerce. Investors in the round included the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Kayak Ventures and angel investors.

Led · Safe · Mar 2023

Wheel the World operates a travel-technology platform that aggregates and verifies detailed accessibility information for hotels, tours, and transportation services. Its core product pairs booking tools with a proprietary database covering more than 8,000 travel services across 150+ global destinations, allowing wheelchair users and other travelers with disabilities to reserve accommodations that genuinely meet their needs. The company’s Accessibility Verified program audits properties on-site to capture structured data points such as doorway widths, bed heights, and bathroom configurations. With fresh Series A capital, management plans to expand this verification program throughout the United States and Europe while embedding AI to accelerate data capture, validation, and distribution. Ultimately the team aims to make accessibility data as standard in travel as pricing and availability. Including the latest infusion, Wheel the World has secured $11 million in Series A financing to fund these initiatives.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2022

Encore provides a mobile-first platform and the Encore Studio App for artists to create and perform live in custom augmented‑reality environments from their phones and tablets. Fans engage through gamified microtransactions—a ten‑cent “clap”—to watch shows, chat, and interact, enabling direct payments to artists. The company launched its Studio App following a $9M seed raise led by Battery Ventures. While in private beta, hundreds of artists including SSGKobe, The Cool Kids, Too $hort, and DC the Don performed to tens of thousands of fans who have collectively clapped almost a million times. Encore was co‑founded in 2020 by Kid Cudi (Chief Creative Officer), Ian Edelman (President), and Jonathan Gray (CEO) and is headquartered in Los Angeles. The team says the product is aimed at democratizing the music industry by allowing artists to create personalized live experiences without a production budget and earn cash directly from fans. Encore is a mobile-first live music experience that lets artists drop new music, chat with fans and host live shows from anywhere. The app enables fans to interact and contribute content to communities centered around artists and shows, and to purchase unique artist experiences and merchandise. Its stated mission is to help more artists make a living from their music by encouraging collaboration and direct relationships with fans, addressing shortcomings of the streaming model. Co‑founders include Kid Cudi (Chief Creative Officer), Ian Edelman (President) and Jonathan Gray (CEO), combining creative and technical leadership. Encore is currently in private beta and is inviting artists and fans to sign up for access. Earlier this year it closed a $2M Seed round led by Battery Ventures, providing early financial backing as it develops and scales its product.

Led · Series C · Dec 2021

Founded in 2017 by Rami Zeidan, Life House began as a hotel brand and operator and has evolved into a tech provider, hotel manager and boutique brand with a 70-person team. The company has developed a comprehensive SaaS product for independent hotels covering revenue management, dynamic pricing, financial reporting, operations, branding and design. Life House currently manages close to 50 hotels in North America, with properties ranging from 14 to 375 rooms, and about 85% of its portfolio now consists of third-party hotels using its software via white-label agreements. According to the company, its software has consistently increased hotel profitability by over 200% and net revenues by over 45%, and the business has grown over 600% since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is initially focused on small hotels but plans to expand to larger properties over time. New capital will be used largely for hiring software developers, product staff, engineers and to build out its sales organization. Life House is a New York-based, tech-enabled lifestyle hotel brand, management company and vertically-integrated software platform founded in 2018 by Rami Zeidan. The company builds and operates boutique hotels alongside a white-labeled management platform that includes automated financial reporting, an algorithmic machine-learning pricing system, and an employee-facing property management system. Life House runs an asset-light model and has more than 800 beds today, expects 25 hotels to be open by early next year, and operates with only 30 corporate employees. Its platform is driving over 40% increases in revenue, reducing operating costs by as much as 45%, and capturing over 65% of bookings directly on its website. The brand also offers differentiated products such as luxury bunk rooms that sleep four adults while maintaining upscale amenities, and has secured hundreds of millions in third-party real estate capital to scale. The company has raised under $9 million in prior venture funding and with the new financing plans to expand into new markets, launch new brands across consumer price segments, and continue product and supply-chain innovation. Management targets reaching corporate profitability within 18–24 months. Life House operates and manages locally-rooted lifestyle boutique hotels using a proprietary, tech-enabled management and white-label operations platform that centralizes back-office functions and drives direct web bookings. The company pairs in-house design and contextual repositioning with software that increases revenue and automates operations, claiming 30–50% higher returns for real estate partners versus traditional managers. Life House currently operates four hotels, has signed over 500 rooms across nearly 10 projects while spending less than $5M of venture capital, and counts venture backers including Global Founders Capital, Comcast Ventures, and Trinity Ventures. The company reports 50–80% of bookings driven direct to its website (a 200–300% improvement versus typical independents) and first-year NOI uplifts of 40–100%; a Nantucket repositioning is projected to raise NOI by >100% and add about $15M in property value. Life House plans rapid, asset-light expansion—raising a Series B and targeting over 20 hotels open or under construction by 2020 in markets such as Nantucket, Brooklyn, Denver, and Lake Tahoe. The $100M equity commitment from Blue Flag Partners will fund acquisition of seven to ten additional hotels and scale the company’s management and investment partnership model. Life House builds and operates vertically integrated lifestyle boutique hotels and develops properties for real estate owners, combining design, food & beverage, operations and in-house technology. The company has a proprietary technology platform intended to drive direct bookings, optimize operations, and power a social network for travelers to meet before arrival. Life House structures venture and real estate capital separately so the operating company can remain asset-light and scalable while supporting property development. Co-founded by Rami Zeidan and Yury Yakubchyk in 2017, the team includes hotel and technology executives with experience from Starwood, 1 Hotels, Sydell Group, and others. Life House plans to open its first two hotels in Miami in the fall and a property in Brooklyn in early 2019, and has run a pre-launch referral campaign offering free trips and opening-party invitations.