Participated · Equity · Apr 2024

GA Drilling develops drilling technologies and is advancing NexTitan, a system the company says is designed to enable faster, longer-reach and lower-emission well construction. The recent funding award from Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Drilling Technology Challenge will be used to run a live pilot of NexTitan on conventional and coiled tubing rigs. The pilot aims to validate NexTitan’s performance and strengthen the company’s positioning in geothermal and oil & gas drilling markets. The announcement frames the government-backed award as external validation that could help secure future partnerships or project awards if performance targets are met. The articles did not disclose the company’s founding year, location, past funding rounds, or financial metrics.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2022

GroupSolver is a San Diego, CA–based market research technology company that offers a cloud platform combining advanced data analytics, machine learning and crowd intelligence. Its software provides market research and interpretation services designed to reveal insights that traditional surveys or focus groups miss. The company serves clients including IRI, Ipsos, Nikkei, Amazon, Adidas, Google, Lenovo and Deloitte. Led by CEO Rasto Ivanic, GroupSolver emphasizes automated insight discovery for decision-makers and research teams. The company said it will use the funding to accelerate its go-to-market strategy and continue advancing its product offering. Financial details provided in the article note a USD2.5M funding round closed in 2022. GroupSolver is a market research technology company led by co‑founder and CEO Rasto Ivanic, with operations in San Diego, Utah and Slovakia. It has built an intelligent market-research platform that combines machine learning and crowd intelligence to help businesses find insights hidden in online surveys and focus groups. The platform is positioned to help decision-makers and researchers answer questions with confidence by automating insight discovery. FinSMEs reported on 26 June 2020 that GroupSolver raised $2M in its third funding round. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its AI offering for online surveys. GroupSolver provides deep insights by quantifying open-ended, natural-language answers from groups of relevant online consumers rather than relying on multiple-choice responses. Its technology captures explicit information and reactions, producing more specific consumer input. Clients include some of the world’s largest brands, many of which are repeat buyers. The company completed a $1M financing round in 2017 led by Tech Coast Angels’ San Diego network, which provided $700k. It plans to use the funds to expand the product platform, raise the company and product profile, drive inbound traffic, consolidate its R&D team in San Diego in early 2018, and increase sales and marketing capabilities. GroupSolver is led by founder and CEO Rastislav (Rasto) Ivanic and is based in San Diego, CA.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2016

Vectary provides a browser-based design platform that makes high-quality 3D and AR design accessible to consumers and creators. The product simplifies traditional 3D workflows and enables designers to apply 2D designs onto 3D objects in Figma or Sketch, build 3D customizers in Webflow via an Embed API, and add 3D interactivity to presentations. Vectary reports over one million creators worldwide and more than a thousand digital agencies and creative studios as users. With the pandemic shifting more businesses online, the company has seen a 300% increase in AR views as customers showcase products in 3D and AR. The team argues that seamless 3D/AR content creation and sharing will be key to mainstream adoption and is positioning the product toward that outcome. The company raised new capital in 2020 to support growth and product adoption. Vectary is a browser-based 3D modeling tool paired with a community platform for sharing, discussing, and customizing models. It uses a parametric approach that lets users change shapes with sliders and receive interactive feedback. The product is aimed at a wider audience—offering simplicity for newcomers while providing enough features for professionals to create rapid designs. The platform emphasizes community templates so users can start from and customize existing models, speeding up the design process. Vectary is currently offering beta signups and, with its recent funding, is moving its headquarters from Bratislava to New York. The company was co-founded by CEO Michal Koor and Pavol Sovis.

Led · Seed · May 2016

SaferPass, founded in 2014 and based in Bratislava, Slovakia, develops online identity, security, and password management products. Its core product is an Online ID & Password Management tool that lets users remotely secure all devices across platforms from a single device and includes a password generator. The product aims to eliminate the need to create additional unique passwords. The company closed a €1m seed funding round to support its growth. SaferPass will use the funds for continued development of privacy products and features and for global distribution of its core products.