Participated · Series A · May 2023

Essenvia is a Los Angeles-based company that provides a regulatory submission management platform for the MedTech industry. Led by CEO Soumya Mahapatra, the platform requires zero technical implementation time and integrates with a regulatory team's existing processes. It enables native collaboration on 510(k), MDR and IVDR submissions directly inside a submission, with built-in error checking, dynamic publish/re-publish capabilities, and instant submission using the latest agency-specific technical requirements. Unlike conventional RIM tools, documents, or spreadsheets, Essenvia emphasizes quick adoption and workflow alignment with regulatory teams. The company raised $4M in a Pre-Series A round and intends to use the funds to expand operations and broaden its business reach.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2022

Autio offers a location-based audio storytelling app that uses a user’s GPS location to deliver narrated stories about nearby landmarks, cities, and towns. The company was founded by Woody Sears, Bill Werlin, and Kevin Costner and is based in Santa Barbara. It originally launched in August 2020 under the name HearHere. On March 29, 2023, Autio announced it had raised $5.9 million in a funding round. The round was led by iHeartMedia. The article does not disclose additional operating metrics, valuation, or other participating investors. HearHere is a GPS-powered audio entertainment app that delivers immersive, location-based storytelling to road-trip travelers. Launched in August 2020 and based in Santa Barbara, the app pushes three- to five-minute stories to users as they drive, surfacing history, natural landscape, sports, music and local insights. HearHere currently has more than 100,000 registered users and offers over 8,880 stories across the continental United States; free accounts include five stories while paid subscriptions cost $36 per year for unlimited access. The company maintains a 26-person content team of researchers, writers, editors and narrators (primarily contractors), and actor Kevin Costner joined in 2020 as a co-founder, narrator and investor. HearHere plans to expand its content library, add offline listening, launch an Android app, and extend availability to Alaska and Hawaii later this year. The new funding will also be used to grow the team and expand functionality. HearHere produces short (three- to five-minute) narrated audio stories that trigger with users’ permission while they drive, surfacing local history, sports, music and lesser-known points of interest. The company has banked 5,500 stories across 22 states and plans to be nationwide by summer. It operates a content team of 22 researchers, writers, editors and narrators and currently has a five-person core team. HearHere offers five free stories per month and unlimited streaming for $35.99 per year. The roadmap includes opening to third-party contributors and incorporating AI and machine learning for language support and better personalization. HearHere has formed distribution and promotion partnerships with AAA, Camping World, Outdoorsy, RVshare and Cruise America.

Led · Seed · Oct 2021

Xeal offers smart EV charging hardware and software that lets multifamily and commercial real estate owners install chargers with little to no infrastructure upgrades and manage them remotely via a dashboard showing charging sessions, energy management, utilization and revenue share. Its driver app uses token-based technology to enable reliable access to chargers without depending on cellular or garage IT infrastructure. Xeal’s patent-pending Apollo protocol is a distributed, ledger-based communication system that the company says enables 100% self-reliance for smart functions, 100% uptime and 50x faster processing speed. The company reports relationships with more than 80 major real estate companies, including Lincoln Property Company, NRP Group, Stoneweg and Harrison Street. Xeal is described as a hyper-growth, venture-backed tech startup headquartered in New York City. Recent financing activity is intended to strengthen its funding position and support expansion of relationships in the commercial real estate industry to deliver EV power nationwide. Xeal develops Apollo, a patent-pending protocol that enables offline, closed-loop payments and authentication for public EV chargers using time-bound cryptographic tokens and distributed ledgers. Drivers download an app (over Wi‑Fi), receive a token tied to their payment and vehicle details, and authenticate charging sessions locally without modems, SIM cards, or ethernet. Tokens dissolve after use and chargers exchange distributed-ledger records of sessions and fees to nearby devices so data reconciles when phones reconnect. Xeal says the approach is more secure than internet-dependent chargers and reduces costs for real estate owners by removing the need for data plans or internet installs. The company launched Apollo in July after roughly two years of development and is on track to install 2,000 stations by year-end and 10,000 in 2022. Xeal plans to use the new funding to reach the 10,000-station target, hire more engineers, and potentially expand the offline protocol to other use cases. Xeal builds a predictive AI platform that integrates with electric vehicles, smart buildings, utilities and charger hardware to turn charging stations into revenue-generating amenities for property owners. The company says its technology eliminates energy price volatility and can generate up to 700% return on investment for buildings. Xeal provides calculators for apartments, condos and workplaces — for example, it recommends five chargers for a 30-spot apartment building, estimating $17,550 in annual charging revenue and a 20-ton annual CO2 reduction at a $2.25/hour rate for 30 hours per week. Its software is already operational at properties across nearly a dozen cities and the company works with leading charger manufacturers in the U.S. Xeal was launched in 2019 and has had support from the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). With new seed funding, the company plans to expand its geographic footprint in the U.S. and develop and deploy next-generation technology in 2021.

Led · Seed · May 2021

Veriskin develops TruScore, a proprietary, non-invasive hand-held device that combines active perturbative hemodynamic measurements with a proprietary machine-learning algorithm to detect structural and functional vascular abnormalities associated with skin cancer. The device works on both pigmented and non-pigmented lesions and produces a quantitative score; IRB-approved clinical studies in California and Arizona demonstrated sensitivity greater than 99% and specificity of 94% in a set of 125 biopsy-verified lesions. Veriskin has completed two clinical studies and is initiating a third to prepare the clinical trial needed to obtain FDA approval; TruScore received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in July 2020 and remains investigational and not available for sale. Development has been supported by multiple National Cancer Institute grants totaling $3.9 million (with opportunities for additional funding) alongside private seed capital. The company recently raised over $1M in a seed round co-led by Pasadena Angels and Ariel Savannah Angel Partners, with participation from Frontier Angels and TiE SoCal Angels. Veriskin is headquartered in San Diego and is led by CEO Mirianas Chachisvilis, PhD, with team members across the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2020

Virtanza provides virtual, synchronous sales training and white‑label curriculum to universities, colleges, and employer customers. Its core product is the Virtanza Professional Sales Ready Certificate, which is recommended by ACE CREDIT, along with Sales Management 1 & 2, Sales Bootcamps, and on‑demand materials. The company has expanded its reach to sixteen universities and colleges across the U.S. and serves undergraduates, adult learners, entrepreneurs, and employer partners. Virtanza is developing an Employer Portal to auto‑match program graduates to participating employers, scheduled to debut in Q1 2021. The company plans to scale its platform, curriculum, and program management services to meet higher education demand for virtual classroom solutions. It is headquartered in Orange County, California.