Participated · Series C · Feb 2025

ICON develops large-scale 3D printers and materials to construct homes and other structures, and launched its first permitted 3D‑printed house after debuting at SXSW in 2018. The company is focused on deploying Phoenix, a new line of multi‑story robotic 3D printers that use a low‑carbon building material and aim to put the technology into the hands of builders. ICON still designs and builds a selection of projects itself across residential, hospitality, social/affordable housing and Department of Defense work. Over the years the company says it has 3D‑printed nearly 200 homes and structures in the U.S. and Mexico. The startup has raised more than $500 million to date, recently underwent a workforce realignment that included letting go of 114 employees, and presently has about 200 employees. Former presidential candidate and Congressman Will Hurd, a prior investor, has joined ICON’s board. ICON develops and constructs homes using 3D printing technology. Its core product is 3D-printed houses. The article reports that ICON raised $185 million. The piece does not provide details on investors, the financing instrument, valuation, or terms. No operating metrics (revenue, user numbers, or number of homes built) are given in the article. Reader comments on the article noted that the cost of the homes was not stated. ICON is an Austin, Texas‑based construction technology company that builds 3D‑printed single‑family homes and larger structures using proprietary Vulcan printing systems, robotics and advanced materials. Its Vulcan technology is positioned to produce resilient, energy‑efficient homes faster and with less waste; the new Vulcan can print up to 3,000 sq ft and is reported to be 1.5x larger and 2x faster than the prior system. The company has delivered more than two dozen 3D‑printed homes and structures across the U.S. and Mexico, including projects for homeless and low‑income populations with partners such as New Story and Mobile Loaves & Fishes. ICON has expanded into mainstream housing (including homes for sale) and launched an Exploration Series (House Zero) optimized for 3D printing, and it is working with NASA on habitat projects including Mars Dune Alpha. The company reports roughly 400% year‑over‑year revenue growth nearly every year, has tripled its team to over 100 employees and expects to double headcount within the next year. ICON says it will use new funding to scale construction of 3D‑printed homes, accelerate R&D and advance its space‑based construction efforts. Icon develops advanced construction technologies centered on proprietary 3D-printing robotics, software and advanced materials. The company intends to use the new funds to expand its team across robotics, off-planet construction, materials science, software engineering, architecture, building science and operations. It will also accelerate development of its printers, create a variety of home types and designs, and enhance its core technology stack. The $35M Series A brings Icon’s total funding since launch to $44M. Icon previously announced $9M in seed funding in October 2018 led by Oakhouse Partners with participation from Cielo Property Group, D.R. Horton and Emaar, among others. Led by co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard and based in Austin, Texas, Icon has launched printers and printed a home (March 2018), introduced its Vulcan technology stack in 2019, and delivered projects in the U.S. and Mexico. In 2020 it delivered 3D-printed homes in Mexico with nonprofit New Story, completed homes for the chronically homeless in Austin with Mobile Loaves & Fishes, and partnered with the Defense Innovation Unit and U.S. Marine Corps on a field demonstration at Camp Pendleton; additional projects will be announced. ICON develops 3D‑printing robotics (the Vulcan printer), software and advanced materials to transform homebuilding. The company is focused on making affordable, dignified and sustainable housing available worldwide. In March 2018 ICON unveiled its first 3D‑printed home in Austin and secured a building permit. ICON plans to deliver strategic signature projects in the U.S. and abroad and to continue work with the nonprofit partner New Story. A second‑generation Vulcan printer is under development and slated for unveiling in 2019. The company is expanding its team with technical hires in robotics, advanced materials and software engineering.

Participated · Series B · May 2021

RevenueCat builds subscription and billing infrastructure and developer tools for mobile apps, used by about one-in-three new subscription apps and powering subscriptions for roughly 50,000 mobile apps. Its core product simplifies implementing subscriptions and billing, and it recently launched a web billing engine (beta) that about 2,000 developers are testing. The company has added features like a drag-and-drop paywall editor and tools for apps offering virtual currencies, and it serves customers including OpenAI for the ChatGPT app. RevenueCat is expanding beyond billing into adjacent areas such as customer acquisition, point-of-purchase optimization, and lending to apps facing cash-flow constraints, and it uses experiments on an acquired consumer app, Dipsea, to measure billing changes. Leadership likens the roadmap to Shopify’s expansion from subscription tools to a broader platform, and the team is iterating on products to address opportunities created by changes in the Apple ecosystem and AI-driven app development. The company plans to use new capital to build products, hire, and pursue M&A to accelerate growth. RevenueCat provides a subscription management platform that aggregates in-app purchase and subscription data for developers. The company recently launched RevenueCat Billing, a web SDK that lets web app developers accept subscription payments and consolidates web and in-app data. It also offers products like Paywall, Targeting and Experiments and plans future support for Roku. The product expansion responds to shifts from Apple and the EU’s Digital Markets Act, driving more developers to monetize via the web. RevenueCat powers subscriptions in over 30,000 apps and handles more than $2 billion in subscriptions annually. The company reports roughly $20 million in ARR, over $40 million in the bank, has halved its burn rate since last summer, and is not yet profitable. RevenueCat provides an SDK and platform that lets developers implement and maintain in-app subscriptions and share subscription data with other tools. Its real-time dashboard surfaces metrics such as subscription revenue, churn, LTV, subscriber counts and conversions, and it integrates with tools like Adjust, Amplitude, AppsFlyer, Branch, Facebook Ads, Google Cloud, Mixpanel and Segment. The product grew out of the founders' experience untangling subscription infrastructure after they began work on RevenueCat in 2017 and launched out of Y Combinator. Today the platform is live on more than 6,000 apps and tracks over $1 billion in subscription revenue, double the app count since its $15 million Series A. The company is shifting pricing from flat monthly fees to a usage-based model with a free tier for apps under $10,000 in monthly tracked revenue and Starter/Pro plans priced per $1,000 MTR. RevenueCat plans to use new funds to expand platform support (including Amazon's Appstore), further invest in product, and grow headcount from about 30 to roughly 60. RevenueCat offers a platform that helps developers implement and manage in-app subscriptions across iOS, Android, and PC, including a dashboard for subscription status, data, and charts. The service is used by approximately 3,000 apps. CEO Jacob Eiting says the company helps developers monetize without selling users’ data. The recent funding will be used to broaden the scope of its AI, including adding new administrative tasks. Financially, RevenueCat announced a $15 million Series A and has raised approximately $16.5 million in total. The company plans to expand operations and advance its technologies with the new capital. RevenueCat offers an API to handle in-app subscriptions on iOS and Android, removing the need for developers to manage platform-specific bugs and updates. The company integrates revenue data with analytics and attribution services so developers can see which ads drive actual revenue. RevenueCat is part of the most recent Y Combinator batch and is led by CEO Jacob Eiting with co-founder Miguel Carranza. It is working with 100 live apps and is crossing $1 million in tracked revenue. The team continues to add features and aims to build a broader revenue management platform that integrates payment touch points across apps. Their stated mission is to help developers make more money by becoming a one-stop service for tracking and understanding customer spending.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2019

Elevate Labs builds digital mental-fitness products, including its long-standing Elevate brain-training app and a newly launched personalized meditation app called Balance. Balance aims to replicate the experience of working with a live meditation coach by stitching together dozens of short narration clips into individualized meditations and by continuously asking users questions to increase personalization. The app’s initial 10-day course is free; paid access costs $11.99/month, $49.99/year or $199.99 lifetime, and meditations are narrated by coach Leah Santa Cruz with other experts on the team. Elevate (formerly MindSnacks) previously made language-learning games before shifting to brain-training; the Elevate app has been downloaded 25 million times and won Apple’s App of the Year Award in 2014. The company says it was cash-flow positive last year and plans to continue supporting and growing Elevate while launching Balance and building a line of related apps. MindSnacks develops gamified mobile educational apps focused on language acquisition and test prep. Its portfolio includes 14 apps covering SAT help and multiple languages, and the company recently launched an iPad version with six new mini-games and three redesigned classics. Each game uses a personalized learning algorithm and collectively offers 50 lessons and over 1,000 essential vocabulary words, phrases and concepts. MindSnacks builds its games in-house with teams of designers, engineers and educational content specialists. The startup has attracted over five million downloads; users have learned more than 100 million words and phrases, 50% of users actively recommend the apps, and over one-third of users have downloaded more than one app. Looking ahead, MindSnacks plans to expand into additional subject areas like Math and Geography and aims to be a complementary, go-to gamified learning resource. MindSnacks develops mobile learning games that deliver "bite-sized" learning experiences and uses social elements and game mechanics to engage users. Its current apps focus on language learning, with MindSnacks Spanish and MindSnacks French available on the App Store. Each mini-game addresses specific needs such as vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and sentence construction. The company was incubated at Philadelphia incubator DreamIt Ventures. Additional languages and new subject areas, including SAT test prep, are coming soon. MindSnacks raised $1.2 million and plans to use the funding to hire engineers and game designers.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2019

Voatz builds a mobile voting and citizen engagement platform offered as a software-as-a-service product for election jurisdictions. The company works with state and local governments to conduct elections and provide related election management and cybersecurity services. Voatz has run more than 30 pilots, including two in West Virginia and a Denver municipal pilot in May restricted to active-duty military, their eligible dependents and overseas voters. The company is Boston-based, about four years old, and currently employs 17 people. Voatz has been the target of security criticism in coverage such as a Vanity Fair piece, but it has continued to attract government pilots and investor support. It previously raised $2.2 million led by the venture arm of Overstock.com and has now closed a $7 million Series A. Company leadership said the Denver post-election audit will begin shortly and that the next phase of pilot programs will be announced later in the summer. Voatz provides a mobile voting platform that leverages biometrics for security and blockchain technology for tamper‑proof recordkeeping, identity verification and auditing. The platform enables citizens to vote in many types of elections and voting events via a secured smartphone or tablet. Several leading universities, labor unions, state political parties, church groups and non-profits have deployed Voatz for internal elections, convention voting and other voting functions. Led by Co‑Founder & CEO Nimit Sawhney, the company is focused on expanding adoption across different organizations and voting contexts. Voatz raised seed capital to support growth and product development. The company plans to use the funding to build out its business development team, expand its reach across the United States and accelerate development of new product features.

Participated · Equity · May 2019

Zipline builds and operates autonomous fixed-wing drone systems to deliver packages, with a track record of medical supply deliveries in Africa and expanding consumer deliveries in the U.S. Its commercial roster includes partners such as Walmart and more than a dozen restaurant brands including Panera, Chipotle, and Wendy’s. The company operates across four continents and has completed about two million deliveries to date. Financially, Zipline closed an extended $800 million Series H earlier this year and was most recently valued at $7.6 billion. Under its new strategic partnership with Uber, Zipline will integrate with Uber Eats and begin deliveries in existing U.S. markets later this year, aiming to scale rapidly toward a target of one million daily deliveries by 2029. The deal is intended to accelerate mainstream adoption by pairing Zipline’s infrastructure and regulatory approvals in select markets with Uber’s on-demand marketplace.