Participated · Seed · Dec 2025

Lyric Bio is a 2024 spin-out from Prellis Biologics that is engineering human-tissue-based production systems for donor-derived and protein therapeutics. Its proprietary platform recreates the cell density of human tissue inside large-scale 3D bioreactors, enabling up to 100-fold improvements in manufacturing efficiency and an estimated ten-fold reduction in the cost of IVIg and SCIg therapies. The company is initially targeting the $20 billion global IVIg market, which is constrained by limited human plasma supply. By reducing donor dependency, Lyric aims to increase patient access, improve product consistency, and strengthen supply-chain resilience. The founding team includes CEO Kayj Shannon, an advanced-manufacturing and synthetic-biology entrepreneur, and CSO Dr. Melanie Matheu, a pioneer in 3D tissue engineering and laser bioprinting. Based in San Carlos, California, Lyric Bio plans to scale its bioreactor technology to commercial production while expanding its pipeline of donor-derived biologics. The company has secured $6.6 million in seed funding to advance platform development and pilot manufacturing.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2025

TRIC Robotics operates a fleet of tractor-sized autonomous robots that apply UV-C light and use vacuums to kill bacteria, damage pest populations, and collect bug residue without harming crops. The company runs the robots as an overnight service for growers rather than selling machines directly, replacing traditional spray services. TRIC can treat up to 100 acres per robot and currently works with four large strawberry producers. The startup has deployed nine robots with three more on the way as it scales operations. TRIC was founded in 2017 after CEO Adam Stager completed his PhD in robotics and pivoted to agriculture in 2020; co-founders include Vishnu Somasundaram and Ryan Berard. The company plans to use recent funding to expand its autonomous fleet and eventually move into other crop types.

Led · Seed · Jul 2024

BoldHue builds a countertop “Keurig for makeup” device that scans the face with a wand and dispenses a week’s worth of custom foundation blended from five pigments. The device is priced at $295 and pairs with a companion app that alerts users when pigment cartridges need refills (roughly $15–$20 each). A starter kit includes the first month of foundation and accessories; BoldHue will also offer a premium package for makeup artists. In the near term the company plans a nationwide roadshow and will ship 10,000 units to a 40,000-person waitlist before general availability. Longer-term plans include a virtual try-on app, broader personalization options, and expansion into other makeup categories and partner formulations. To date BoldHue has raised roughly $5 million in total capital.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2023

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in New York, Chptr builds a distribution layer for time-sensitive, hyperlocal community stories, beginning with end-of-life memorial announcements. Its Broadcast, Social, and Video offerings convert family-provided photos and stories into professional-grade memorial videos that are reviewed by humans before broadcast. Chptr partners directly with funeral homes and media companies, including an integration with Tribute Technology (which serves more than 9,000 funeral homes), to plug into existing local workflows. The platform is live in 132 U.S. television markets and has delivered thousands of localized broadcasts, reaching a majority of American households. Chptr emphasizes a constrained, human-centered use of AI for formatting, production, and distribution and states family data is never sold or repurposed. The company recently raised $5.5 million in a Series A to fund geographic expansion, deeper broadcast and audio integrations, and additional local content categories.

Participated · Series C · Aug 2022

Prellis Biologics develops the EXIS (Externalized Human Immune System) platform that uses high‑resolution two‑photon holographic 3D bioprinting to produce lymph node organoids (LNOs) which recapitulate human immune responses in vitro. The platform enables discovery of fully human antibodies with broad genetic diversity in as little as three to four weeks and allows assessment of immunogenicity for therapeutic candidates. The company plans to use the new capital to expand the EXIS platform and accelerate drug discovery, preclinical assessment, and translational pharmacology. Prellis has announced collaboration and licensing option agreements with Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb to advance applications of its technology. Leadership changes accompany the financing: Michael Nohaile was appointed CEO and founder Melanie Matheu will serve as CTO and retain a board seat. Prellis was founded in 2016 and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area; the new financing brings funding to date to $64.5 million. Prellis Biologics develops 3D-printed vascular scaffolds and organoids, and recently debuted EXIS, a lab-grown human lymph node meant to model immune responses. The company uses its scaffolds to support oxygen and nutrient exchange needed for functioning lymph-node organoids. Prellis can create roughly 1,200 organoids from a single blood draw, generates on the order of 500–2,000 unique antibodies per donor, and converts a blood draw into an "antibody library" in about 18 days. It has produced antibodies responsive to SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A and Marburg (results not yet published). The company plans to shift from an R&D-driven organization to a product-focused business, pursuing more drug partnerships and demonstrating platform capabilities. Prellis has indicated the major marker of success would be advancing an antibody treatment into the clinic, either via partners or an internal pipeline. Prellis Biologics develops a holographic 3D printing system that fabricates high-resolution (<1 micron) vascularized tissue scaffolds from biocompatible hydrogels. Its core product, Vascular Tissue Blanks, are sold to pharmaceutical and academic labs for oncology, neurobiology, tissue development research, and drug testing. More than 30 labs, including groups at UCSF, Johns Hopkins, UC Irvine, and Memorial Sloan Kettering, are using the blanks; Prellis says they reduce time to 3D organoid drug screening by an estimated 90% and can yield results in as little as 48 hours. The company has demonstrated first animal transplantations at Stanford with rapid spontaneous vascularization and effective tumor engraftment using far fewer cells than typical models. R&D progress includes achieving in vitro microfluidic flow through complex vascular channels as fine as 10–20 microns and testing biomaterial interfaces for cell–cell interactions and nutrient exchange. Prellis plans to initiate its first large-animal studies before the end of the year and is testing engineered arterial replacements as a stepping stone toward larger solid organs. Founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, the privately held company has raised $10.5M in invested capital to date. Prellis Biologics is developing holography‑based 3D bioprinting to create one‑cell‑thick capillaries and internal scaffolds critical for implantable organs. Its process uses an infrared‑triggered photo‑initiator with bioinks to polymerize structures in milliseconds, reducing cell death and enabling high‑resolution internal features. The company published findings claiming it can manufacture capillaries at the size and speed that could deliver 3D‑printed organs to market within five years. Prellis demonstrated real‑time printing of cell‑encapsulation devices and smaller structures such as 200‑micron devices that can hold thousands of cells. Founded in 2016 by Melanie Matheu and Noelle Mullin, the team works out of MBC Biolabs in San Francisco’s Dogpatch. The company received a small $3M investment and estimates roughly $15M and about 2.5 years will be needed to reach first animal trials; it plans to pursue partnerships, licensing, and nearer‑term products like lab‑grown tissues for antibody production and islets of Langerhans for diabetes. Prellis Biologics develops patent-pending 3D printing technology aimed at producing viable human tissues and organs by building scaffolding that includes microvascular structures. The company’s core innovation addresses the microvasculature bottleneck that prevents lab-printed tissue from surviving beyond very thin constructs. Founders Dr. Melanie Matheu and Dr. Noelle Mullin bring expertise in 3D tissue imaging, stem cell biology, and immunology to the effort. Prellis plans a phased go-to-market approach starting with lab-grown tissues to produce human antibodies and to improve drug development and toxicology testing. The company intends to print islets of Langerhans as an early clinical tissue target to treat type 1 diabetes. At the time of the article the 10-month-old, San Francisco-based startup had received seed funding and accelerator support totaling $1.92 million.