Led · Seed · Dec 2021

Dataphyte provides data journalism, data-driven investigations, and analytics products and services to public and private sector clients. Launched in 2020, the company has built a niche data-journalism platform and three products, including DATAPLEX (an enterprise data merchandise platform) and a training academy. It also supports the media ecosystem with open data and capacity development and helped the Ekiti State Government develop an open data portal. Dataphyte announced a partnership with Statista to broaden its data offerings. The company plans to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to power its journalism and digital products. Financially, Dataphyte recently secured seed funding to support expansion and product development.

Led · Seed · Dec 2021

Launched in 2020, Dataphyte is a media and data analytics company that helps public and private sectors produce value from data and socio-economic insights through data journalism and data-driven investigations. The company says it has developed three successful businesses and recently established DATAPLEX, an enterprise data commerce platform, alongside a training-school platform and the first data-journalism specialty platform. Dataphyte has a partnership with Statista and sponsored the development of an open data portal for the Ekiti State government to make socioeconomic and public financial data more accessible. The team plans to use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to fuel its journalism and expand its product offerings. Financially, Dataphyte received a $100,000 seed investment to support its business-model mix for data journalism and to offer data analytics and information services to corporate and development sectors.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2013

ElectNext builds embeddable political-data widgets and profiles that give news readers contextual information about politicians. The product consolidates disparate political datasets—campaign finance records, legislation, roll call votes, press releases and speeches—and packages them into data-driven content for publications to embed. ElectNext pulls data from sources such as The Sunlight Foundation, GovTrack, Follow The Money and open-data friendly cities, and works with partner cities (including Philadelphia) to convert offline files into accessible formats. Founder and CEO Keya Dannenbaum, who has worked on 18 political campaigns including Hillary Clinton’s, frames the company as a “CrunchBase for politics.” Embedded profiles began appearing on PBS NewsHour, The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC Politics and other launch partners; the six launch partners represent 15M monthly unique visitors. The company is accepting submissions for more publication partners and has attracted interest from figures including former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. ElectNext offers a free, refined online survey that helps users discover where they stand on the political spectrum and which candidates best match their views. The platform asks users to rank the issues that matter most, indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with statements, and browse comments and discussion threads for context. The founders built a political database and algorithm to power candidate matches, and roughly 2 million people across all 50 states have taken the survey. Users register by signing in with Facebook or Twitter; the site notes it does not post political views to users' feeds. The founders cite declining youth turnout and aim to increase access to information and stimulate civic engagement. Onstage reviewers at DEMO praised the product and suggested mobile features and inter-election issue updates as potential improvements.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2013

Everwrite collects search data to understand demand and identify content opportunities and touchpoints for brands. The company merged with Text Corner and is launching a unified brand, Rock Content, to sell both content and the underlying technology. Text Corner contributes a marketplace of about 700 freelance writers, enabling end-to-end content delivery. The combined product mixes technology and service and aims to serve small, medium and large companies. The team is based in Belo Horizonte and has six employees today, with plans to grow to around ten by mid-year. Everwrite has also developed pricing plans under Rock Content, starting at R$349 for one weekly post plus one hour of consultancy, and an automatic-posting tool is nearly ready. Financially, Everwrite recently secured external capital to support these plans.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2012

Watchup, founded in 2012 and led by CEO Adriano Farano, delivers personalized newscasts compiled from trusted global news sources to tablets, smartphones and other devices. The service curates content from outlets including PBS NewsHour, CNET, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Univision. Its app is available on Apple’s App Store, Google Play, Google Glass and the Amazon App Store. The company is based in Stanford, CA and is currently hiring. Financially, Watchup has raised $4.25M to date. The product focus is on assembling a tailored TV‑style news experience across multiple consumer platforms. Watchup offers an iPad app that aggregates short video news segments into user-assembled playlists sourced from outlets such as the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, and Univision. Version 2.0 automated playlist assembly based on user preferences so segments start when the app opens. Co-founder Adriano Farano, a former journalist, says the company has validated its assumptions and is ready to expand to new platforms; it previously released an app for Google Glass. The product aims to create a new version of the daily newscast with an effortless, personalized video experience. Financially, Watchup announced $1 million in additional funding and previously raised $500,000 in angel funding in 2012; the company says the new money is not a Series A. Watchup is a StartX-incubated iPad video app that lets users select segments from a curated set of news channels and assemble them into automated playlists. The app currently aggregates content from 35 channels and offers premium placement partnerships with The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, and The I-Files. Founders position the product as a modern ‘‘time for news’’ experience, aimed at delivering high-quality, professional news in a compact, viewable playlist. Future product plans include more personalization and automation so Watchup can surface news with minimal user effort. Live coverage is not currently planned, as the team views the live space as crowded. Financially, the company has just closed a $500,000 angel round to support its development and growth.