Led · Seed · Nov 2021

Kidas builds ProtectMe, an AI-powered software that monitors and analyzes text and voice communications during online gaming to identify and flag cyberbullying, scams and predatory behavior. ProtectMe provides real-time alerts to parents and includes the ProtectMe Bot for Discord servers, offering voice and chat moderation, voice transcription and customizable moderation modes. The company emphasizes integrations with popular gaming applications and cites a strategic partnership with Overwolf to expand reach. Kidas has received grants and accolades for its online child-protection work and highlights customer success stories where the system alerted parents to dangerous interactions. The team acknowledges challenges including staying ahead of evolving cyber threats and maintaining user trust and privacy, which it addresses through continuous R&D and transparent privacy communication. Kidas pursues a US total addressable market of $4.8 billion and intends to further enhance ProtectMe’s capabilities and expand partnerships globally. Financially, Kidas has completed a seed round led by Contour Ventures with participation from strategic and angel investors. Kidas develops AI-powered monitoring software for online gaming that scans voice/text communications for bullying, predatory behavior, and concerning language and emails parents when alarms are detected. The company pivoted from a hardware Xbox-monitoring product to a software-first approach to support PC games and integrations such as Discord, allowing entry into games like Fortnite and Roblox. Management says the software was built with guidance from leading bullying experts and researchers and is focused on protecting children ages 8–14. Kidas plans to use new capital to grow its marketing and development teams and expand partnerships with PTA groups, school districts, esports camps and tournaments, and gaming companies. The startup was founded in 2019 by Ron Kerbs, participated in Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs’ 2020 accelerator and has had initial investments from Comcast LIFT Labs and Techstars. The team is distributed across Philadelphia, Israel, and Canada with six full‑time employees.

Participated · Seed · May 2021

Upstream is a mobile-first professional social network created by SocialRank founders Alex Taub (CEO) and Michael Schonfeld to foster meaningful, career-oriented connections rather than serve as an online résumé. The platform organizes users into curated communities where they can post “Professional Asks” (e.g., job openings or introduction requests) and attend Upstream Events, which pair attendees for five-minute, one-on-one video conversations with other participants. Since its soft launch last fall, Upstream has hosted more than 100 events, and 72% of first-time attendees return for a subsequent event, signaling early engagement. The company recently added a Discovery section to browse communities and introduced “Office Hours,” allowing experts to offer structured blocks of virtual meeting time. High-profile users such as New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz and Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai already host sessions, adding credibility to the network. Future plans include launching a full web version and expanding both live and asynchronous features to deepen utility and retention. Upstream’s initial growth is being financed by an undisclosed pre-seed round, giving it runway to execute on these product expansions.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2020

Friday sits atop existing workplace tools to surface information when workers need it and keep teams aligned. Core features include a Daily Planner for roadmapping and sharing days, Work Routines to customize and automate recurring updates (e.g., weekly updates or standups), and Goals to align daily work with company OKRs. An Analytics dashboard lets users track time spent in meetings, team morale, and productivity. The product integrates with Slack and Google Hangouts to replace manual update-taking and reduce meeting overhead. Friday offers a free-forever tier while advanced features (Goals, Analytics, extended history) are paywalled at $6 per seat per month. Founded by Luke Thomas after a beta in early 2020, the app is used by employees at Twitter, LinkedIn, Quizlet, Red Hat and EA; the team is four full-time staff and plans to double following the raise, and total funding now stands at $2.5 million.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2019

Uizard offers an AI-powered, collaborative online design tool aimed at non-designers to design and test product ideas such as mobile apps, websites, and desktop software. Its main users include startup founders, enterprise managers, consultants and engineering teams. The SaaS platform has attracted notable customers across verticals, including Adidas, Google, Tesla, Slack, Airbus, Deloitte, Apple, Hitachi, ByteDance, Capital One, Airbnb and UiPath. The company launched out of beta in February 2021 and has grown to more than 170K accounts and over 13K monthly active users. Uizard operates a lean, fully remote international team of 12 and was founded in 2017. The company plans to use new funding to expand its marketing and commercial teams and to hire talent globally with a main focus on Europe. Uizard leverages advanced machine learning and computer vision to convert pen-and-paper sketches or photographed wireframes into basic, testable prototypes almost immediately. The product is designed to accelerate the ideation phase of website and app design by enabling rapid execution from sketches to working code. Typical users are UX design teams at enterprises, agencies and startups, and the product is currently operating as a free-to-use beta. Uizard positions its primary value as speed of execution, allowing teams to present functional prototypes seconds after sketching. The company says it has no direct competitors so far, noting only non-commercial Sketch2Code work from Airbnb and Microsoft. Uizard has also made commercial hires and advisory additions to support growth, including appointing Rizwan Khan as chief commercial officer and adding Benjamin Wilkins to its product advisory board. Uizard is a Copenhagen-based startup whose computer vision and AI platform converts design mockups — including wireframes and back-of-napkin sketches — into front-end source code. The generated code can be plugged into developers' backend systems to accelerate build processes. The company attracted attention in June 2017 with a research milestone called “pix2code,” whose GitHub implementation was the second-most-trending project that month. Uizard has raised $800,000 in a pre-seed round to grow the team and launch a beta product. The round was led by New York-based LDV Capital with co-investors ByFounders, The Nordic Web Ventures, 7percent Ventures, New York Venture Partners, entrepreneur Peter Stern (co-founder of Datek), and AngelList contributors Philipp Moehring and Andy Chung. Uizard positions itself to reduce the time, cost, and repetition of front-end design-to-code work.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2018

Peel Away Labs makes patented waterproof, multilayer disposable fitted sheets that peel away to reveal a fresh layer in seconds. Sheets are available in sizes from crib to king, come with five to seven layers per package, and allow a user to sleep on one fitted sheet for up to two months. The product is described as 32% softer than traditional sheets and includes a breathable membrane for a cooler night’s sleep; retail prices range from $15.99–$39.99. The company targets both consumer and healthcare markets and cites large market opportunities (U.S. retail sales ~$12.8B and healthcare linens/laundering ~$37B). Peel Away sells direct-to-consumer, to healthcare facilities and distributors, and is carried in retail (including Walmart); it also became a vendor with top U.S. healthcare distributors. The company has launched internationally (Peelaways Africa and PeelAways South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan) and plans expansion to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and India.