Participated · Equity · Sep 2021

Amai develops ultra-realistic text-to-speech and voice synthesis engines aimed at enterprise customers as alternatives to offerings from Google, Amazon and IBM. Its deep-learning voice synthesis runs on CPU and GPU with a response time under 200ms and produced voices that 97% of users could not distinguish from human speech. The company targets use cases including gaming, call centers, banking, digital assistants, podcasts and audiobooks. Amai emphasizes improving synthetic-voice quality while addressing privacy concerns and reducing enterprises’ reliance on human voice talent. In 2021 the company raised $600K to support product development and market entry efforts. It plans to use the financing to enter the US voice market, launch new AI voice solutions for enterprises and expand product capacity.

Participated · Series D · Jun 2013

Cool Planet develops and markets Engineered Biocarbon™ technology products aimed at improving soil health. Its first commercial product, Cool Terra®, is a carbon-negative soil amendment designed to improve soil performance for plant growth and quality. The company serves hundreds of customers across conventional and organic growers, city park departments, professional sports teams, universities, and golf courses, including several that have hosted PGA Tour Championships. Cool Planet closed an additional $20.3M of new investment and note conversion as an extension of its previously announced Series A. The financing is led by existing investors Agustín Coppel and North Bridge Venture Partners. The company plans to use the proceeds to increase Cool Terra production, construct a commercial production facility in Alexandria, LA as its manufacturing hub (with production expected in summer 2019), invest in R&D and commercialization of Engineered Biocarbon into animal nutrition, biologicals, and early-plant establishment, and bring additional products to market. Cool Planet develops engineered biocarbon products, including Cool Terra for improving crop yields and sequestering carbon and Cool Fauna for animal health and nutrition applications. The company’s biomass conversion technology can also be enhanced to produce hydrocarbon renewable transportation fuels chemically identical to those from crude oil. Cool Planet serves customers across agriculture, landscape, turf, nursery and ornamental markets. It is led by President and CEO Jim Loar and was founded in 2009. Financially, the company closed a $19.3M Series A and note conversion and has raised nearly $30M in the last 18 months. The new proceeds are intended to commercialize Cool Terra and Cool Fauna. Cool Planet was founded in 2009 and is focused on deploying its proprietary Cool Terra® engineered biocarbon platform to improve soil health while sequestering carbon. The Cool Terra product retains water and nutrients at the root zone, nurtures soil microbial life, and is targeted at agriculture, landscape, turf, nursery and ornamental markets. The company says Cool Terra is now in commercial deployment and has signed development and distribution partnerships with J.R. Simplot and Triangle Chemical Company. Cool Planet has invested in a large public and private commercial trial initiative to accelerate adoption of the biocarbon category. Management has emphasized converting 2016 momentum into greater commercial success in 2017 and beyond, and the agricultural subsidiary promoted Jim Loar to president & CEO. The company also historically produced engineered biocarbon and renewable, carbon-negative fuel from biomass but is currently focused on the Cool Terra agricultural business. Cool Planet develops technologies to create green fuels and biocarbon, including CoolTerra™, a soil amendment that retains water and nutrients, increases crop productivity, and sequesters carbon. The company says its green fuels are chemically identical to fossil fuels and that its process is capable of being carbon-negative. CoolTerra™ is being commercialized for agriculture and water conservation and is positioned to reduce fertilizer and water needs while maintaining or improving production. Cool Planet holds a broad portfolio of pending and granted patents and cites strategic investors such as BP, Google Ventures, the Constellation division of Exelon, and Energy Technology Ventures. The company closed an additional internal financing round with current investors to advance its biocarbon technology and provide growth capital to develop the market for CoolTerra™. It hired James Loar to lead the biocarbon business and further develop market and sales efforts. Cool Planet continues to pursue parallel plans to deploy its carbon-negative fuel technology. Cool Planet commercializes a process that produces green fuels chemically identical to fossil fuels and a biochar product, CoolTerra™, that can make the fuel carbon negative. The company sells CoolTerra™ for agricultural use and has begun commercial agreements, including one with Organic Waste Solutions for water treatment and remediation. Cool Planet broke ground on its first biofuel production facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, expected to produce 10 million gallons per year of renewable fuel and gasoline blendstocks plus CoolTerra™. The business model favors small-scale facilities located close to biomass sources to lower capital costs and compete with traditional oil. Cool Planet holds a portfolio of pending and granted patents and reports growing international interest in deploying its technology in China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company has attracted strategic and venture investors including BP, Google Ventures, and Energy Technology Ventures as it moves to scale production and commercialization.