Participated · Seed · Apr 2022

Founded in 2021, Hydra Host began by serving cryptocurrency miners and has pivoted to offer automation software for data center operators and an AI server brokerage platform. The company enables operators to rent out idle NVIDIA AI server computing power and runs a GPU matching marketplace connecting GPU owners with renters. As of the latest reports, Hydra Host has deployed its technology in 50 data centers worldwide, up from 30 earlier in the year. The company completed a $100 million project funding round led by Kindred Ventures that values it at close to $800 million post-money, with participation from Nvidia, ARK Invest, Magnetar Capital, Founders Fund, and Flume Ventures. The articles do not report revenue, user, or other operating metrics beyond data center deployments.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2022

Inner Cosmos is a neurotechnology startup founded by Meron Gribetz that has developed a tiny neural implant it calls “a digital pill for the mind.” The device is similar to a cochlear implant and is roughly the size of a fingernail; it is implanted under the skin and sits unobtrusively next to the skull. A separate “prescription pod” snaps onto the hair to power the implant, while clinicians program and tune therapy remotely via a dashboard. Sensors constantly monitor the implant so doctors can check patients’ brain activity in real time. The company presented this first neural implant to treat depression and says the system later will also treat other cognitive disorders. Inner Cosmos recently received FDA Investigational Device Exemption approval to conduct its first human study and closed a $10 million seed funding round.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

Xwing is developing a technology stack to convert aircraft such as the Cessna Grand Caravan 208B to fly autonomously by integrating lidar, radar, cameras and retrofitted servomotors. The company says it has solved core perception, planning and control problems and already conducts data collection and training from real flights. Xwing has performed close to 200 missions of its AutoFlight system, with a safety pilot onboard and a ground control operator relaying communications to air traffic control. It is also operating manned commercial cargo flights under a contract with a large logistics company and uses that flight time to feed training algorithms. Xwing holds an FAA experimental airworthiness certificate expanded to include a special flight permit for optionally piloted aircraft and plans to run short regional autonomous cargo flights with a safety pilot under an experimental ticket/exemption within the next 12 months, later removing the pilot once full redundancies and certification are achieved. Financially, the company said it will significantly scale its workforce (including tripling its engineering team) and commercial operations after raising new capital. Xwing develops a software stack focused on sensing, reasoning and control to enable pilotless flights and is designed to be integrated into existing aerospace systems. The company is aircraft-agnostic and pursues a retrofit approach to speed deployment, reduce cost, and ease regulatory approval. Xwing is using recent capital to hire talent and scale development of its software platform; notable hires include Terrafugia co-founder and COO Anna Dietrich and Ed Lim, a veteran of Lockheed Martin and Uber’s autonomous efforts. The startup has been working with the FAA on flight certification for pilotless aircraft and aims for commercial operations later this year, pending approvals. Xwing is San Francisco–based and is also participating in Bell’s work for NASA’s UAS in the NAS program, which plans demonstration flights this summer. Since its prior $4 million round in summer 2018, the company has continued technology development and regulatory engagement. Xwing is building the software stack to enable pilotless flight for small passenger aircraft, focusing on sensing, reasoning and control. Its core products include sensor-integration perception software and an Autonomy Flight Management System (AFMS) that integrates with air traffic control, generates flight paths, monitors system health and handles contingencies. The system is aircraft-agnostic; Xwing tested on a subscale fixed-wing aircraft and more recently on a helicopter, and is developing for rotorcraft, general aviation fixed-wing and eVTOL aircraft. The company employs about a dozen people, including engineers with experience in optionally piloted vehicles, DARPA Gremlins, the AgustaWestland SW4 Solo autonomous helicopter, Rockwill Collins, the Naval Research Lab, Google, and McKinsey. The two-year-old company announced a $4 million seed round led by Eniac Ventures with participation from Array Ventures, Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison, and Nat Friedman. Xwing plans to use the funding to scale operations, continue hiring aerospace and software talent, and is in discussions with larger companies to integrate its system into aircraft.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2020

Dash Systems develops a turnkey pod system — controllable, tail-equipped cargo pods that are released from aircraft and steer to specific coordinates — to expedite the middle mile to remote or disaster-stricken locations. Each pod currently carries about 50 pounds of payload, and the company has conducted Alaska pilot flights that dropped roughly 5,000 pounds of cargo. Dash pairs the hardware with route-calculation software and a simple pilot interface so aircraft need only reach release coordinates. The company plans to scale the team and further develop its deployment and pod technology while pursuing commercial and government contracts. Founders Joel Ifill and COO/chief pilot Bryan Miller bring engineering and military air-operations experience, and the team emphasizes collaboration with existing carriers rather than owning aircraft. The article notes regulatory barriers appear manageable because the pods aren’t considered drones and fit within existing regulations.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2020

Rune Labs is a precision neurology software and data company whose core products include the StrivePD care-delivery ecosystem and the StriveStudy clinical development platform. Since launching in 2021, the company says StrivePD has become the most widely used software by Parkinson’s patients and clinicians and connects patients to clinical trials. In 2022 Rune’s StrivePD ecosystem received FDA 510(k) clearance to collect patient symptom data, including tremors and dyskinesia, via measurements made by Apple Watch. Rune leverages longitudinal real-world datasets and a network of engaged clinicians and patients to support biopharma and device developers, and has announced partnerships with BlueRock Therapeutics and Aspen Neuroscience. The company reports adopting generative AI tools to provide personalized insights at scale and focuses on delivering actionable data to drive patient engagement and improved care management. Financially, Rune announced a $12 million strategic round that brings total capital raised to over $42 million. Rune Labs is a San Francisco, CA-based brain data company focused on enabling the advancement and delivery of precision neuroscience therapeutics. Led by founder and CEO Brian Pepin, Rune’s precision brain data software platform integrates electrophysiology, brain imaging, device data, wearable data and clinical labels to make brain data useful at scale. The platform is designed to provide researchers, drug developers, and clinicians with tools to guide treatment, uncover hidden disease phenotypes, and design targeted therapies. Rune targets precision medicines for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, depression and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company partners with academic collaborators and with biopharma and medtech companies to optimize clinical care and enable development of targeted treatments. Rune raised $22.8M in a Series A financing to expand the number of patients, clinicians, and researchers using its platform; Justin Butler of Eclipse will join the board. Rune Labs develops a cloud-based platform that sequences, labels and analyzes brain imaging and electrophysiology data to support neuroscience therapeutics. The company focuses on device-based neuromodulation therapies such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Its platform can aggregate longitudinal data across patients, studies and centers and apply machine learning tools, and it interoperates with systems from Medtronic, Abbott and consumer devices like Apple Watch. Rune Labs emphasizes HIPAA compliance and partners with med‑tech and pharma companies as well as academic centers to improve precision therapy delivery. The company plans to use recent funding to continue R&D and to develop additional products. Since its 2018 founding, Rune Labs has raised a total of $7.3 million.