Participated · Seed · Mar 2024

Sahara AI offers a decentralized blockchain platform designed to ensure security, equity, accessibility, and provenance for AI development and deployment. The platform is built to support open and equitable AI, with features that prioritize sovereignty and provenance of AI models and data. The company is used by 35+ tech innovators and research institutions, including Microsoft, Amazon, MIT, Motherson Group, and Snap. Sahara AI has partnered with strategic angels and advisors from industry and academia, such as Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, Rohan Taori, Teknium, Vipul Prakash, and Elvis Zhang. The company intends to use new funding to expand its global team, enhance the performance of its AI blockchain, and grow its developer ecosystem. Sahara AI is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Sahara operates a decentralized AI network built around personalized Knowledge Agents that let businesses and individuals monetize proprietary data and expertise while preserving privacy. The company also offers Sahara Data, a data infrastructure service providing data annotation and AI model training services that has attracted interest from more than 30 enterprise clients, including Fortune 500 companies and unicorn startups. Sahara describes a Collaborative Economy model that rewards knowledge developers, providers, compute providers, execution node operators, validators, and knowledge consumers for their contributions. The team announced coming out of stealth on March 5, 2024 and reported rapid community demand: more than 50,000 people joined the waitlist within five days. Founders Sean Ren and Tyler Zhou have discussed the product and web3 architecture in interviews with Coindesk, emphasizing transparent tracking of contributions and rewards via blockchain. The company is actively building community engagement on Discord, Twitter, and LinkedIn as it develops Sahara Knowledge Agents and expands Sahara Data enterprise traction.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2021

Exponent Energy develops a proprietary full-stack energy solution that enables 15-minute rapid charging for commercial EVs and offers a 3,000-cycle life warranty using regular lithium-ion cells. The company combines its battery and charger technology with the Exponent OTO mobility platform and Exponent ONE financing and asset-management arm to address energy, vehicles and access to capital. Exponent highlights interoperability across its charging stations, millions of charging sessions and more than three years of field performance as evidence of commercial readiness. It aims to become the preferred energy partner for OEMs and to power millions of commercial vehicles across India. The company plans to use new capital to expand into additional cities and vehicle categories and to strengthen R&D as it scales its energy and asset-management offerings.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2021

Founded in 2017, Aira builds FreePower, a wireless charging system that lets users place up to three devices anywhere on a pad without precise alignment. The technology has already been commercialized through Nomad’s Base Station Pro and is now being engineered into automotive-grade modules with manufacturing partner Motherson. Beyond consumer accessories, the company plans to embed FreePower into enterprise, hospitality, and in-car environments, where it can accommodate shifting devices and deliver high-power charging that meets safety standards. Aira is currently developing a 2.0 version of FreePower that promises firmware updates for future enhancements and broader device compatibility. Recent strategic partnerships have filled a robust pipeline that management believes will accelerate adoption across multiple industries. Although the company has not disclosed revenue or user counts, it positions itself at an inflection point as wireless charging gains traction in vehicles and shared spaces. The new capital and board additions aim to speed product development, expand market reach, and solidify Aira’s role as a leading enabler of seamless wireless power.