The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Jul 2024

F1 Arcade is a Chicago, IL-based F1 experiential hospitality brand that operates high-energy venues featuring full-motion racing simulators, reaction games, huge viewing screens, food, and cocktails. Its in-house tech team collaborated with Formula 1 and Studio 397 (a Motorsport Games subsidiary) to create a new gaming experience using Studio 397’s rFactor 2 simulation platform. Led by CEO and founder Adam Breeden, F1 Arcade opened its first venue in London in 2022, followed by Birmingham, and launched its first U.S. site in Boston Seaport in April 2024. The company plans further roll-out with a Washington, D.C. location slated for Fall 2024 and a Las Vegas flagship planned for 2025. F1 Arcade raised $130M in growth funding from backers that include Cheyne Capital, Liberty Media Corporation, Permira Credit and OakNorth and intends to use the proceeds to expand operations and development efforts. The article describes the financing as growth capital but does not detail an instrument breakdown or prior equity rounds.

Participated · Series E · Dec 2022

Svante develops carbon capture and removal technology built around nanoengineered filters and modular rotary contactor machines. The company is constructing a 141,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Burnaby, BC that will produce filters capable of capturing 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually and serve as its global headquarters and R&D center. Svante disclosed a US$145 million capital investment in that facility. The company offers integrated project development services and aims to de-risk first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial deployments while accelerating delivery of projects domestically and internationally. Svante intends to leverage its Canadian IP and manufacturing capabilities to prioritize opportunities in its Canadian pipeline. The company has received industry recognition, including placement on the 2024 Global Cleantech 100 and XPRIZE XB100 lists, and a Corporate Knights ranking among private companies. Svante designs and manufactures structured adsorbent beds (filters) that capture CO2 from industrial flue gas and direct air, concentrating it into 95% pipeline‑grade CO2 for storage or industrial reuse. Its modular solid sorbent technology is tailored to separate CO2 from nitrogen in dilute, low‑pressure flue gases and is targeted at heavy industries including hydrogen, pulp and paper, lime, cement, steel, aluminum and chemicals. The company was founded in 2007 and its board includes Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. Svante is commercializing its technology through a planned Vancouver manufacturing facility that it says will produce enough filter modules to capture millions of tonnes of CO2 per year across hundreds of large-scale CCUS facilities. Management says the new facility will remove barriers to rapid deployment and enable rapid expansion of its order book. The company has received strategic partnerships and pilot projects with Chevron, including prior investment and a 2020 pilot funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Svante builds solid sorbent-based carbon capture technology that captures, concentrates and releases CO2 for storage or industrial use in about 60 seconds. The company plans to scale up manufacturing through a new Centre of Excellence for Carbon Capture Use and Storage in Vancouver, BC to produce commercial-scale structured absorbent filters and test its rapid adsorption machine (RAM) designs. Svante says its planned filter plant will have annual capacity to deliver filter modules capable of removing 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year (equivalent to three 1 Mt/year plants). Its technology is being deployed at pilot and demonstration scale, including a 1 tonne-per-day CO2MENT pilot with LafargeHolcim and TOTAL in Richmond, a 30 TPD demonstration completed in Lloydminster, and a 25 TPD plant under design at Chevron near Bakersfield. The company has attracted more than USD$195 million in funding since its founding in 2007. The article highlights Svante’s World Headquarters, R&D and engineering test center in Canada and emphasizes the role of its technology in decarbonizing emissions-intensive industries like cement and large-scale hydrogen production. Svante develops a solid sorbent carbon-capture solution that captures CO2 directly from industrial sources for safe storage or industrial reuse. The company says its technology can achieve capture at less than half the capital cost of existing engineered solutions. Svante plans to use new growth capital over the next three years to support several commercial-scale carbon capture facilities targeting hard-to-abate sectors such as cement manufacturing, blue hydrogen production and natural gas boilers. The company emphasizes a capital-light business model and deployment at industrial scale. Svante has attracted more than USD $150 million in funding since its 2007 founding. Its board includes Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Pratima Rangarajan of OGCI Climate Investments.

Led · Series D · Aug 2022

Overtime is a NYC-based company that builds new sports leagues aimed at the next generation of sports fans and athletes and operates digital-first brands OTE (basketball) and OT7 (football). It leverages short- and long-form digital content across basketball, football, soccer, gaming and sneakers to engage a community of over 65 million followers. Its content receives more than 2 billion video views each month. The company monetizes through sponsorships, brand relationships, e-commerce, licensing and media rights. It intends to use the funds to grow OTE and OT7, create new sports leagues, expand e-commerce and web3 verticals, and continue investing in content. Overtime is led by CEO and co-founder Dan Porter and President and co-founder Zack Weiner, and has raised more than $250m in total funding. Overtime is a New York–based digital sports network that produces short-form action videos—primarily featuring high-school athletes—for distribution on social platforms. Its content is distributed across Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook and other social outlets. The company also sells branded apparel. Overtime's videos are viewed more than 1 billion times a month. Co‑founders Dan Porter and Zachary Weiner say they are developing new ways to engage and entertain the next generation of athletes and fans. Since inception the company has raised capital to scale its content and distribution efforts. Overtime is a NYC-based sports network that produces short-form and longer-form video content for younger sports fans across platforms like Snapchat and YouTube. The company uses technology, new platforms, and new formats to deliver highlights, 20-minute episodes, and longer-form series covering sports, lifestyle, and music. It operates a platform for young storytellers who film, produce, and edit content full-time, with a youthful point of view informing the programming. Led by CEO Dan Porter, Overtime plans to use the new funding to invest in content production, build out the team, and pursue international expansion into Europe, Asia and Africa. The company has over 55 employees in New York City. Financially, Overtime raised $23M in a Series B, bringing total funding to date to more than $35M. Overtime creates digital-first sports content tailored to younger viewers, focusing on storytelling around rising high-school and college athletes. Its videos appear across multiple platforms (notably YouTube) and the company has app features that let users follow specific players. Overtime emphasizes a platform-agnostic distribution strategy and has two programming deals with Comcast and NBC. The startup combines user-generated clips, curated highlights, and editorial storytelling to reduce traditional television production costs. Many Overtime videos rack up hundreds of thousands of views and the company reports that 95% of its views occur on mobile devices. It recently raised $9.5 million to fund growth and community-building for a next-generation sports network aimed at young fans.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2021

Clear provides secure identity and access services that link identity to multiple information sets, including credit cards, tickets, frequent flyer numbers, driver’s licenses, passports and health care identification. The company recently launched Health Pass, a mobile application that connects members’ identity to COVID-related information, including vaccination results, to reduce public health risk and help restart the economy. Health Pass is being used to reimagine sports, work, travel and events; it will have access to the majority of healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and state-authorized vaccination centers. Clear reports more than 5 million users and 55+ locations across the United States. More than 35 organizations are using Health Pass, including a league-wide partnership with the NHL, MGM Resorts, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and nine NBA teams. Led by CEO and founder Caryn Seidman-Becker, the company plans to use new funding to accelerate customer adoption, hiring and technology development. CLEAR operates biometric-powered identity verification used by members to speed entry at airports and stadiums, and is led by CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker. The company reports 1 million members across 21 airports, six baseball stadiums and one NBA arena, and says member enrollment is up 150% year-over-year. CLEAR is already used in multiple venues with LAX scheduled to activate next. Its core product is a biometric "tap and go" experience the company pitches for seamless transfers and payments. CLEAR intends to move into new verticals and add more airports and stadiums to its network. The company is partially owned by Delta Airlines and plans to use the financing to expand its footprint and customer use cases. Clear operates a secure identity platform that enables expedited, biometric-based entry at airports and stadiums. Led by co-founder and CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker, the company currently provides services at 12 major airports and three major-league baseball stadiums, including locations such as San Francisco, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas, and New York. Clear reports a base of approximately 500,000 members and says its service has been used almost two million times. The company intends to use the new funds to accelerate growth of its platform and to further redefine and improve the customer experience across multiple channels. It is actively expanding to bring its technology to additional airports around the country.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2020

Secret Double Octopus builds a workforce passwordless authentication platform designed to secure employee access while simplifying the user experience. Led by CEO Raz Refaeli and based in Menlo Park, CA, the company emphasizes broad enterprise use cases, ease of deployment on any infrastructure, and customizable transition paths to full passwordless operation. Its platform leverages multiple patented technologies, supports common standards and protocols, and offers deep integrations with other IAM vendors. The product is positioned for heavily regulated sectors, including financial institutions, defense contractors, critical infrastructure, and government agencies. The company says it will use the new funding to accelerate delivery of its solutions and services and to expand the reach of its platform into new markets and verticals. Secret Double Octopus offers an enterprise-grade, multi-factor passwordless authentication platform that eliminates passwords to reduce cyber risk and improve user experience. The platform is deployed at hundreds of global enterprises and is used by hundreds of thousands of employees across industries including finance, defense, government, and manufacturing. It facilitates more than a billion authentication requests annually and is recognized as a best-in-class vendor for workforce authentication. The company emphasizes phishing-resistant authentication and high-scale performance in mission-critical environments. Secret Double Octopus is pursuing expansion into new markets and recently appointed Timothy Youngblood to its board to support growth and enterprise adoption. The business closed a Series C round, raising $15 million to help meet increasing demand for its workforce-focused solutions. Secret Double Octopus is a Tel Aviv, Israel–based passwordless authentication platform led by CEO and co-founder Raz Rafaeli. Its Octopus Authentication Server allows employees to forego passwords when logging into workstations, cloud services, legacy applications and other common workplace tools. The platform supports biometrics, mobile devices and FIDO security keys and also offers integration with on-premises Active Directory systems. The company delivers enterprise security solutions designed to protect company assets. It currently serves mid-sized companies up to Fortune 50 customers around the globe. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Secret Double Octopus is an Israeli cybersecurity startup offering keyless authentication and post-computational ("quantum-safe") data-in-motion protection. Its core product models authentication on the multi-piece consensus used for nuclear launch codes, combining passwordless factors with device biometrics and other parameters to produce a single identity. The company positions the approach as more secure against computational and quantum attacks while providing a seamless user experience compared with conventional two-factor methods. It says the technology can be deployed alongside existing security solutions and is developing related algorithms for IoT devices and network packet protection. Founded by academics and industry executives — Professor Shlomi Dolev (chief science officer), Dr Shimrit Tzur-David (CTO), Raz Rafaeli (CEO) and Chen Tetelman (VP R&D) — the startup recently completed a new funding round. The funding will support expanded R&D and business development in the U.S. and Europe.