Participated · Seed · Oct 2023

Gardenuity operates a curated platform that pairs consumers and companies with customized gardens and gardening kits, using a patent-pending Match technology that factors weather, seasonality, farm inventory, plant nutrient needs and customer preferences. The company serves both consumers and corporate clients nationwide and has served over 500 companies, including customers such as Google and Cigna. Its core product is a combination of physical gardening kits and a digital experience that connects growers through a Digital Greenhouse Community. Gardenuity plans to enhance its technology platforms, expand its suite of gardens and kits, and grow its team across functions. The company will introduce Match 2.0—an improved version of its match technology—and expand its Digital Greenhouse Community to increase engagement and support. Founded in 2017, Gardenuity positions gardening as a wellness offering accessible regardless of age, location, circumstance, or skill level.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2020

Topl operates a blockchain used to trace products such as conflict-free diamonds, ethically sourced coffee, and fair-wage cocoa, and is used by sustainability startups, move-to-earn apps and some Fortune 500 companies for ESG reporting. The company raised $15 million in a Series A and previously raised $5 million in a 2020 seed round. Over the next 12 months Topl plans to decentralize its blockchain to enable community governance and to hire additional talent. It will launch two blockchain-powered products: a traceability-as-a-service application next month and a registry-as-a-service application for carbon credits next year. Topl expects to have about 40 to 50 projects on-chain by the end of the year as it pursues broader adoption. Topl is a purpose-built blockchain ecosystem that enables companies and communities to record verifiable social and environmental impact claims on an immutable ledger. Its core product simplifies certification and track-and-trace for ethical supply chains, aiming to cut operational costs and increase transparency across industries such as fashion, agriculture, healthcare and energy. Topl plans to launch a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution in early 2021 that offers two-click access to the Topl blockchain. The company announced a strategic partnership with TrackX to provide verifiable tracking and tracing for supply chain sustainability. Topl emphasizes diversity, equity and inclusion across its team and board and uses the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a guidepost. Financially, Topl closed a $3.0M seed round and has raised $4.4M in total venture capital since its 2017 founding.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2019

Accel Robotics builds camera-based AI and computer vision systems that enable checkout-free, grab-and-go shopping experiences where shoppers pick items and leave, receiving a receipt via text or app notification. The platform delivers live inventory, shopper analytics, and frictionless commerce capabilities to retailers and brands, allowing faster throughput and elimination of checkout lines. Deployments are already underway with grocery, convenience, quick service restaurant, and drugstore chains in North America and Japan. The company plans to use Series A proceeds to accelerate global expansion by growing operations, increasing manufacturing capacity and streamlining its deployment pipeline. The Series A adds $30 million to the company's prior $7 million in funding, bringing total capital raised to $37 million. Accel Robotics was founded in 2015 and was incubated with RevTech Ventures and EvoNexus.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2019

Pensa develops a retail inventory visibility system that combines artificial intelligence, computer vision and autonomous drones to see and understand products on store shelves. Its solution detects stockouts with 98+ percent shelf accuracy and has demonstrated up to 40% more accuracy in stockout detection versus industry practice. The system is designed to be simple, flexible and low-cost-per-store, enabling scalability across multiple store locations. Pensa has completed pilots and expanded into commercial deployments with major retailers and global brands, including Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company announced an additional $10M seed financing and has now raised $17.2M total. Pensa says the new funds will accelerate delivery and deployment of its retail inventory visibility system.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2019

Pensa Systems offers a retail inventory visibility system that uses advanced computer vision, patent-pending artificial intelligence and autonomous drones to see and understand store shelves. The system detects stockouts with 98+ percent shelf accuracy and is designed to be scalable across store locations via a simple, flexible, low-cost-per-store deployment model. Pensa’s solution aims to help brands and retailers minimize stockouts, optimize product planning and increase revenue. The company has completed pilots with major retailers and global brands, including Anheuser-Busch InBev. Pensa intends to use the new funding to accelerate deployment of its retail inventory visibility solution. Financially, the company has now raised a total of $17.2M. Pensa Systems delivers a scalable system that automatically and systematically tracks in-store inventory using advanced computer vision, patent-pending artificial intelligence and autonomous drones. Led by president and CEO Richard Schwartz, the company has completed multiple live trials with major consumer brands and retailers. Notably, Anheuser-Busch InBev participated as a strategic investor through its ZX Ventures unit. Pensa intends to use the new funds to accelerate deployment of its system for retail inventory visibility and to expand store trials with large retailers and CPG brands in North America and abroad. The company has raised a total of $7.2M to date and will apply this capital toward commercial rollouts and additional trials. Its technology aims to help brands and retailers minimize stockouts, optimize product planning and increase revenue. Pensa Systems is an Austin, Texas–based provider of autonomous perception systems for inventory visibility. The company offers a software solution that gives retailers and manufacturers an automated view of retail shelves using autonomous vision capture on the front end. On the back end it applies a novel AI approach to predict out-of-stock products. Pensa is led by Richard Schwartz, President and CEO. It is currently conducting customer field trials and plans to release further product details at a later date. The company intends to use new funding to accelerate product development and support market demand.