The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Nov 2013

littleBits makes easy-to-use electronic building blocks and kits that snap together with magnets to let anyone prototype electronics without soldering, wiring, or programming. Its platform includes more than seven kits and 67 interoperable modules, with millions of products sold in over 100 countries. The company is focused on STEM/STEAM education and has a Global Chapters Program and a customer base of more than 8,000 educators and 2,100 schools and universities. littleBits plans to use new funding to expand STEM/STEAM distribution, grow its global footprint, develop enterprise initiatives with partners such as SAP, Twilio and Salesforce, and increase retail availability. The company highlights recent retail partnership activity (Barnes & Noble) and executive hires to support product, marketing and operations expansion. LittleBits, founded in 2011 by CEO Ayah Bdeir, provides a library of electronic Bits™ modules that snap together with magnets to let designers, artists, schools and after-school programs build simple circuits and inventive projects for play, prototyping and learning. The company is New York City–based and has a 29-person team and is hiring to add staffers. In September 2013 it launched an Exploration Kit series, and in early November it announced a Synth Kit created in partnership with KORG. The firm said it will release two products in the coming months in partnership with science and technology leaders. LittleBits previously raised $3.65M in Series A funding and $850K in seed funding. The company raised $11.1M in this funding round to support its product and distribution plans. LittleBits produces snap-together magnetic electronic modules (light, sound, sensors, motors, etc.) sold in starter packs and add-on modules; an initial pack retails for $89. The product is explicitly open-source: users are encouraged to upload and share creations on the company site. About 30 modules were on offer at the time of the article, and roughly 60–70% of buyers are parents and kids, 20% are schools/educators, with the remainder hobbyists and electronics enthusiasts. The company reported selling over 2,000 units in the first two weeks after its December 2011 launch and says it is currently overrun with orders. Founder Ayah Bdeir, a TED Fellow and MIT Media Lab alum, positions the product as both an educational toy and a prototyping aid; Joi Ito and other notable angels participated in earlier financing. To scale production and keep costs affordable the company signed a manufacturing and supply-chain deal with PCH International, which will begin manufacturing in August and assume logistics and supply-chain management.

Led · Seed · Dec 2012

Burpple is a mobile app and website that helps users decide where to eat based on recommendations from other food-lovers and Burpple editors. Launched in 2012 and led by CEO Dixon Chan, the company recently introduced an online service for F&B owners called Burpple for Business. More than 1,000 F&B owners have signed up for that service. Burpple is available for free on the Apple App Store, Google Play and the web. The company raised US$6M to enhance existing features, introduce complimentary dining services, hire engineers and product development staff, and prepare for a regional roll out. Existing shareholders include Neoteny Labs, Silicon Straits, NUS Technologies Holdings and QuestVC. Burpple is a mobile app that connects food lovers by allowing users to upload and share photos of dishes, follow other users, and ‘reburp’ favorites. The app organizes food photos into categories (e.g., healthy, home-cooked, special occasion) and automatically records time and location for uploads, using Foursquare to suggest nearby restaurants. Launched in December 2011 by Dixon Chan, Elisha Ong, and Daniel Hum, Burpple reports users in 3,300 cities across 115 countries and more than 170,000 shared dishes. Most users are concentrated in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with additional presence in the US, Canada, and Australia. Burpple is available on iOS and an Android version is in development, and it offers a simplified Chinese version for Asian markets. The company has been recognized regionally, including being named one of the top 10 startups in Asia at Open Web Asia 2012.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2012

Lumatic builds a mobile mapping app focused on walking, cycling and public-transit navigation, using photography, landmarks and visual cues rather than traditional turn-by-turn directions. The Android app currently works only in San Francisco and displays street-view photos with arrows as users walk. The product is built on top of OpenStreetMap and chooses routes optimized for pedestrians, cyclists or transit riders. The company originated in TechStars under the name Omniar, and serial entrepreneur Scott Rafer joined as CEO a year ago. Lumatic recently raised a seed round, providing early capital to expand the product and user base. The team sees monetization opportunities in local commerce and advertising if the app gains a following.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2011

Insync is a file synchronization and sharing platform positioned as a "Dropbox for Google users" that automatically syncs, updates, manages, and shares Google Docs files on Mac and Windows desktops. It supports all file formats (MP3, exe, dmg, MS Office, etc.), offers nested or individual file sharing, and lets users assign read/write or read-only permissions. The company removed registration and sync limits and made the service free; existing users can request a refund or credit. Insync simplified its user experience and is in the process of giving its web app another facelift. The product targets Google Docs users who want Dropbox-like functionality and becomes more useful the more Google accounts a user links. Insync is based out of Singapore and Manila and is led by co-founder and CEO Terence Pua.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2010

Foound offers an iPhone app to simplify organizing hangouts, letting users display their location and invite friends in real time. A single Foound message conveys the address, time, and people invited, and the app streamlines sending and receiving updates among multiple users. The app was tested on the Singapore iTunes store and is now available to US iPhone users; Foound is unveiling at DEMO Fall 2010. It supports sharing hangout sessions over Facebook and Twitter and competes with Facebook events as well as sites like Plancast and Evite. Foound is based in Singapore and has raised $500,000 in seed funding from Neoteny Labs, East Ventures, Varsha Rao, and Singapore’s National Research Foundation. The company faces U.S. competition from Facebook’s platform-agnostic event tools but seeks synergy through social sharing integrations.