Participated · Seed · Jul 2026

Simón delivers mobile-first microlearning content designed to engage frontline workers with short, contextualized lessons inspired by social media formats. Cofounded by Matthieu Dahirel and Pablo Campos and operating in Mexico, the company has trained 29,000 frontline employees across clients such as Arca Continental, FEMSA, Mars, Nestlé, Grupo Rica and dmX. Simón reports revenue of $280,000 in 2023 with eight clients, became profitable after closing $50,000 in 2025, and is targeting $1.7 million in revenue and roughly 40 clients by 2026. To scale adoption inside large corporates, the company runs rapid pilots with measurable productivity KPIs and pursues midmarket customers to shorten sales cycles. It has received backing from New Ventures and investments from Arca Continental's corporate venture capital and Potencia.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

Skillmaker develops XR- and AI-powered immersive training programs aimed at shortening time-to-competency for skilled-trades workers. Its NAPA Autotech Xccelerator program, developed with NAPA Auto Care, has been commercially deployed in over 20 states and carries a five-year distribution agreement with Genuine Parts Company and NAPA. The company says its program can reduce training time for entry-level auto technicians from two years to 25 days. Skillmaker has also launched pilots with partners such as Black’s Tire & Auto Service and Southeastern Community College using AI-powered smart glasses. Founded in 2024 and based in Carolina Beach, Skillmaker has won regional awards including a Coastal Entrepreneur Award and a CED Venture Connect pitch contest in AI and machine learning. Following the seed round, the company plans to expand its platform into additional trades and grow its team.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2023

Escalate operates a proprietary platform designed to reduce turnover among frontline and hourly employees by creating a community of support and providing opportunities for learning and career growth. The company aims to address the high attrition many frontline workers face within their first year on the job. Escalate is based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and has participated in TEDCO programs such as Prelude Pitch, Network Advisors and the Loaned Executive program. Financially, Escalate has received prior support from TEDCO’s Social Impact Funds in 2023 and secured an additional $250,000 pre-seed investment from TEDCO’s Pre-Seed Builder Fund. The company plans to use the new capital to continue scaling and to help more businesses offer support to hourly workers.

Participated · Series B · Feb 2023

Pairin is a social impact technology company that connects workforce and education to support students and career-seeking professionals. Its science-based, no-code platform enables workforce programs, government and educational organizations to deliver training, career guidance, skills development, and tailored community services through data integration and workflow solutions. The company is based in Denver, Colorado and was founded in 2012; Michael Simpson is CEO. Pairin plans to use the recent funding to add software engineers and sales and marketing experts to support its growth. The firm raised both equity and credit to bolster its operational and growth plans, as reported in the article. Pairin offers a workforce journey platform that centralizes essential content and resources provided by regional workforce, government and educational organizations to make career and training pathways more relevant and equitable. The platform enables organizations to effectively deliver career guidance, skills development and tailored community services through one solution. Founded in 2012 by CEO Michael Simpson and based in Denver, the company targets improved access to workforce and educational resources. Pairin raised a $4.36M Series A and intends to use the funds to support growth of operations and further develop the platform. Previously, the company raised $2.1M in June 2020 from social impact investors including New Markets Venture Partners, Juvo Ventures, JFFLabs, Village Capital and Voqal. The latest close included additional funding from existing investors and a new investor, Potencia Ventures. Pairin provides a workforce process management platform that personalizes career exploration, job matching and skill development for education systems, workforce programs and governments. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and was founded in 2012 by CEO Michael Simpson. It closed a $2.1M first tranche of its Series A funding round. The round was led by social impact investor New Markets Venture Partners with participation from New U Venture Partners, JFFLabs and return investors Village Capital and Independent Spectrum. Pairin intends to use the funds to continue growth of its My Journey platform and for hiring initiatives.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2022

Flourish FI builds a configurable, modular platform that combines behavioral science and transactional/behavioral data to increase user engagement, loyalty and personalization for financial institutions. The platform’s modules can be licensed together or separately and are designed for easy integration with partner brand guidelines. The company currently licenses its technology in Brazil, the United States and Bolivia, and is about to announce its first client in Mexico. Flourish FI has worked with more than 10 financial institutions across Latin America and counts strategic partnerships with Mastercard and participation in BTG Pactual’s BoostLAB. The startup generates its own revenue and is scaling its product commercially while using venture capital to accelerate growth. Its near-term go-to-market focus is on mid-sized Brazilian banks and fintechs seeking improved retention, engagement and share of wallet. Flourish offers an engagement and financial-wellness platform for banks, fintechs and credit unions, delivered via SDK or API and licensed to partners. Its product includes a rewards engine, an intelligent automated micro-savings feature, and a financial-knowledge Q&A module that turns transactions into learning moments. The company has clients and pilots in the U.S., Bolivia and Brazil, including U.S. credit unions, Sicoob and BancoSol. Flourish began testing end-user mechanics with organizations such as CommonWealth and Opportunity Fund and released a B2C pilot app (Flourish Savings App) in 2019. The startup operates a partnership-based revenue model focused on user activation and engagement. The 11-person team works across the U.S., Mexico and Brazil and plans to use new capital to grow customers in Latin America, hire more staff, and develop additional platform functionality, with a near-term focus on Brazil.