• Skurt

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2017

  Skurt operates an on-demand rental car delivery service that lets customers request a rental on their phone and receive a car within 60 minutes, with pick-up arranged when the renter is done. Customers only need to be 21, more than 80 percent are millennials, rentals include unlimited miles, and prices range from $21 per day for sedans to $59 per day for luxury cars. Skurt fills inventory by partnering with fleet owners — manufacturers with excess inventory, dealerships, and traditional rental companies — so it does not own vehicles and all cars are less than two years old. The company operates on iOS and Android in Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami and says it has delivered 'tens of thousands of cars.' Its model aims to combine the reliability of fleet vehicles with the convenience of delivery, positioning it between traditional rental companies and peer-to-peer services. Skurt plans to expand to other major U.S. cities during the next 12 months and recently raised a $10M Series A to support that growth. Skurt operates a service that delivers rental cars to customers by picking them up and bringing vehicles to their location. The company partners with independent car rental companies that have excess inventory, with partner fleets ranging from about 200 cars to over 2,000. Skurt currently has access to over 5,000 cars in Los Angeles and is operating at LAX. The service emphasizes a consistent, on-demand experience and aims to be significantly less expensive than some alternatives. Skurt plans to expand to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) soon. The offering is presented as a disruptive alternative to the large, incumbent rental companies.

• Jopwell

  Participated · Seed · Jan 2016

  Jopwell connects people of color with recruiters and has facilitated tens of thousands of connections with companies such as Lyft, American Express, Conde Nast and Pinterest. The company reports an increase in offers extended since 2015 but does not disclose exact offer counts. Founded by Porter Braswell and Ryan Williams, Jopwell has primarily focused on Fortune 1000 companies but has recently seen demand from younger companies. The startup plans to scale, take on more companies, and build out services that meet smaller organizations where they are. Jopwell raised a $7.5 million Series A led by Cue Ball Capital, bringing its total funding to $11.75 million. The company describes itself as a diverse organization (62% female; 34% Black; 28% Latinx; 21% Asian; 17% white) and cites that diversity as a factor in its success. Jopwell is a Y Combinator‑backed diversity and hiring platform focused on connecting underrepresented ethnic minority candidates with employers in tech. The platform reports that recruiter searches typically yield about 250 qualified candidates from underrepresented groups. From a gender standpoint its users are roughly 50% female, 49% male and 1% non‑binary. In the last year Jopwell added 40 corporate customers and its client roster includes Facebook, Box, Trello, Khan Academy, MasterCard, BuzzFeed, Jet and Etsy. The company says it has facilitated over 6,000 connections between companies and potential candidates and that employer searches tripled in Q4 2015. Jopwell plans to use new funding to scale operations and expand product capabilities. Jopwell operates a recruiting platform that lets college-educated job seekers create detailed profiles, express interest in specific companies, and lets employers search for candidates with particular qualifications. Candidates must have a college degree in any discipline; the company sources talent via on-campus partnerships with minority-affiliated clubs and alumni networks such as Teach for America. Jopwell is open to all colleges and reports candidates from more than 200 schools across the country. It currently focuses on Black, Latino and Native American candidates and says it will expand its definition of diversity over time. Employer partners include 24 companies, among them AppNexus, BuzzFeed, Etsy, Facebook, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Pinterest and Square. The company offers a flexible fee structure—ranging from subscription models to recruiting-style placement fees—and reports having placed 20 candidates in full-time or internship roles; it has raised $1 million from angel investors and Rothenberg Ventures.

No current team members are available.