• Clear Labs

  Participated · Series D · Jan 2025

  Clear Labs develops next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and integrated solutions for clinical and applied diagnostics. Its platform integrates DNA sequencing, robotics, and cloud-based bioinformatics and analytics to enable healthcare institutions to perform advanced genomics in-house. The company is led by CEO Dr. Sasan Amini and is based in San Carlos, California. Clear Labs raised $30M in a Series D financing. It plans to use the funds to accelerate development and adoption of its NGS solutions and to scale operations to meet demand for fully automated turnkey genomics solutions worldwide. The company also added Kevin Keegan, formerly of Illumina and Becton Dickinson, to its board of directors. Clear Labs builds a fully automated next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform that combines DNA/RNA sequencing, robotics, and cloud-based analytics to deliver turnkey diagnostics for clinical and applied markets. Its Clear Dx Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) workflow can determine the complete SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequence in under 24 hours, and the EUA-approved Clear Dx SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Assay enables simultaneous diagnostic screening and genomic surveillance at the price of a traditional PCR test. The company also markets the Clear Safety platform for food safety, used for listeria and salmonella detection, which substitutes PCR, culturing, and antigen-based tests. With the new financing, Clear Labs plans to broaden availability of its solutions to public health organizations, reference labs, hospitals, and epidemiologists and to continue innovating its real-time genomic surveillance and variant-tracking capabilities. The company emphasizes scaling its fully automated sequencing approach to deliver early warning systems and improved pathogen management for future outbreaks. Clear Labs is based in San Carlos, Calif., and has raised $60 million in this Series C financing to accelerate those plans. Clear Labs provides an automated and intelligent diagnostic NGS platform integrating DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, and robotics to safeguard the global food supply and support preventative food safety management systems. Its core product offering is Clear Safety, a food-safety platform the company intends to commercialize. Clear Labs plans to leverage its underlying NGS technology into the clinical market. Specifically, the company aims to enhance the availability and quality of COVID-19 diagnostic tests. In this financing Clear Labs raised an $18M strategic round, bringing total capital raised to $62M to date. Investors in the round included a lead from Redmile Group and participation from Wing VC, Menlo Ventures, Tyson Ventures, Khosla Ventures, GV, Felicis Ventures and HBM Genomics. Clear Labs, led by CEO Sasan Amini, offers Clear Safety, a food-safety testing platform that integrates next-generation sequencing, advanced microbiology, robotic automation, data science and software analytics. The system collects hundreds of millions of data points per analysis and can characterize pathogens in a single test. Currently the platform supports high-volume testing for Salmonella, with plans to add support for additional pathogens and software features in 2019. Clear Labs has over 40 customers globally, including many leading food brands and service labs. The company closed a $21M Series B2 round that brought total funding to $45M. Clear Labs intends to use the funds to ramp up commercial operations and build new Clear Safety features. Clear Labs applies next-generation sequencing (NGS) to food testing, offering microbiome tests and whole-genome sequencing to identify pathogens, ingredient accuracy, origin, GMOs, allergens, nutritional data and off-label additives. Its core product is an NGS-based molecular testing platform positioned as a scalable alternative to inspection- and documentation-based certification methods. The company works with major food brands to deploy these tests across supply chains. Clear Labs plans aggressive commercialization in the U.S., Europe and Asia and intends to use new funding for hiring, accelerating licensing of its technology to third-party laboratories, and expanding its portfolio of tests. Former FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine Michael R. Taylor joined the board to support government relations and industry standing. Financially, the company raised $13 million in Series B, bringing total reported funding to $19.5 million after a prior $6.5 million Series A.

• Terradepth

  Led · Equity · Apr 2022

  Terradepth builds AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) and a cloud-based visualization platform called Absolute Ocean to create high-resolution maps of the seafloor. The company says its system can operate to depths of up to 6,000 meters and emphasizes onboard edge-processing and recharging capabilities for greater scalability. Terradepth positions its offering as a lower-cost alternative to existing methods and aims to monetize collected data as sharable, cloud-based content. The firm describes its mission as creating a “Google Earth for Oceans” to support governments, businesses, and research organizations. Terradepth is Austin-based and has previously raised an $8 million round in 2019. Its near-term product plans spotlight improving Absolute Ocean and AUV recharging to expand data collection and commercial use cases. Terradepth develops fully autonomous submersible vehicles — called Autonomous Hybrid Vehicles (AxV) — to collect deep-ocean data at scale. The company offers raw sensor outputs, its own machine-learning–powered analytics, or third-party cloud analytics. Its planned product capabilities include multispectral imaging, surveillance, and monitoring/forecasting for offshore equipment and resources. Vehicles alternate between deep passes and surfacing to communicate with surface robots that recharge and relay data via satellite. The startup is led by co-founders Joe Wolfel and Judson Kauffman and includes roboticists and engineers across software and hardware. Terradepth is based in Austin, Texas and recently raised new funding to advance development and deployment.

• Lambent

  Led · Series A · Aug 2021

  Armored Things provides an AI-powered platform that gives facilities and security teams a real-time understanding of how many, and how often, people are utilizing different spaces in arenas, buildings, and on campuses. The software enables smart decisions related to crowd density, space utilization, security, maintenance, and guest experience while providing access to data trends for ROI on space management. The company said it will use its new funding to continue building out its product platform, add to its team, and accelerate go-to-market efforts in sports and entertainment venues, and on college and corporate campuses. Led by co-founder and CEO Julie Johnson Roberts, Armored Things raised $12M in a Series A round led by Nimble Ventures with participation from several other investors. Along with the funding, the company announced Jonathan Tice as Chief Revenue Officer to lead market expansion, sales, marketing, business development, and strategic partnerships. Armored Things is a Boston, MA-based SaaS crowd intelligence company providing AI-powered occupancy and crowd-flow analytics. Led by CEO Julie Johnson Roberts, the company offers software for facility managers and stadium operators to observe density and flow of people in real-time, historically and predictively. Its platform delivers granular building- and room-level occupancy data, anomaly and overcrowding alerts, and supports data-driven decisions on gate crowding, staffing and security. The AI software is deployed in command centers and on mobile devices for stadiums, college and corporate campuses, and conference sites. The company announced an additional $7M seed round, bringing total capital to $14.8M, and said the proceeds will support expanded product development and customer presence. In a separate release, Armored Things said Los Angeles Football Club will use its software as part of its reopening strategy to help ensure the safe return of fans. Armored Things develops a predictive cyber-physical incident-response platform that uses existing IoT and mobile devices and systems to provide early warnings, threat assessment information, and automated responses. The company targets safety in large shared spaces such as schools, stadiums, and streets. Led by CEO Charles Curran and based in Boston, MA, Armored Things plans an initial product release slated for early next year. The business completed a $5.5M seed financing and intends to use the capital to ramp up product development and increase sales and marketing ahead of that launch. The platform is positioned for deployment by security operations teams to augment situational awareness and incident response.

• Yoom

  Participated · Equity · Aug 2021

  Tetavi develops highly reproducible hologram creation technology aimed at completing and popularizing ideal volumetric video capture for immersive media, games and virtual content. The company was founded in 2016 by Dr. Miky Tamir and Micha Birnboim and is led by CEO Gilad Talmon. Tetavi has offices in Tel Aviv, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. It is currently in advanced discussions with major creative artists and production companies for projects anticipated to release in 2022. Tetavi recently closed a $20m venture funding round and intends to use the funds to increase its presence in North America, expanding partnerships and its content platform across the U.S. The company plans specific studio and business-development activity in Los Angeles and New York. TetaVi builds an affordable, portable volumetric capture system that transforms multi-camera depth footage into high-fidelity 3D model sequences for AR/VR, gaming and immersive video. Their system uses four depth cameras capturing at 30–60 fps and an AI-driven algorithm stack to produce time-series 3D models that integrate with game engines and cross-platform workflows. The studio can be set up in under five hours without fixed installations or green screens, a competitive advantage highlighted during COVID-19 when productions needed local capture. Use cases span entertainment, gaming, 5G, VFX, online shopping, remote learning and telepresence; the company reports five deployed volumetric studios across the US, EU and APAC and involvement in a hyper-realistic VR documentary and a WebAR presidential hologram that logged over 250K sessions in three days. TetaVi began sales in Q4 2019 and recently closed a $6M Series A, bringing total funding to $11.3M. The company says it is improving accessibility and fidelity of its output and plans a soft launch of a new AR/VR-focused solution toward mid-2021. TetaVi develops volumetric video capture technology and a production chain that includes a portable four-camera studio to create 3D assets and holograms for virtual, augmented and extended reality. The company says its holograms improve engagement for remote learning, training and communication, and targets applications across advertising, gaming, sports and other sectors. TetaVi plans to leverage machine learning and AI in further development of its holograms and 3D imaging capabilities. The startup’s R&D team is headquartered in Tel Aviv, while commercial studios operate in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Founded in 2016, the company is positioning its technology as a disruptive solution aligned with trends in AI, 3D image processing and smart studios. Financially, the company has just completed a funding event to support its product and market expansion efforts.

• Liteboxer

  Led · Series A · Jun 2021

  Liteboxer offers an in-home device that gamifies boxing workouts using patented lights that sync to music, creating rhythm-driven sessions and a game-like experience. The product includes trainer-led classes and a Quick Play mode that lets users work out to their chosen songs. Content is a central focus: for $29/month users get unlimited training sessions and Liteboxer maintains an exclusive partnership with Universal Music, rotating 100 songs and automatically pairing lighting to beats. Since shipping equipment in October, the company reports users average four to five workouts per week. Liteboxer is adjusting its trainer model from 1099 contractors toward part-time and potentially full-time W2 employment. The company is using new funding to accelerate growth and get more devices into consumers' hands. Liteboxer offers a free-standing replacement for a heavy bag that uses a lighting system and force sensors to guide workouts and provide metrics on force, timing, and accuracy. The system pairs with an iOS/Android app that delivers trainer-led sessions, a Training Camp, and a Quick Play mode that uses patented Rhythm Technology to match punches to music. The unit is available for pre-order at $1,495 and the subscription content is priced at $29/month. Content includes expert-guided boxing sessions, music‑paced rounds, and social challenges that let users compare results with friends. Cofounded by Jeff Morin (CEO) and Todd Dagres (Chairman), the company emphasizes habitual engagement and aims to get users on the platform multiple times per week. Liteboxer has raised a total of $6 million to date to support product launch and content development.

No current team members are available.