Participated · Seed · Jan 2021

Longève Brands produces shelf-stable, pea protein–based pantry products created for people who like to cook. Its products deliver 20 grams of protein per serving, are minimally processed, non‑GMO certified, allergen‑free, soy‑free and do not require preservatives. The company launched in 2020 and began with a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model to develop customer relationships and extract insights. It raised $5M in seed funding to accelerate growth, expand into retail and foodservice channels, and bring several new products to market in 2021. Cie, a California-based venture studio that co-founded Longève, is supporting go-to-market strategy and scaling; Cie CEO Anderee Berengian, Longève CEO Doug Kantner, and Jim Davis will serve on the board. The brand positions itself for the flexitarian market as a clean-label, versatile meat-substitute alternative.

Participated · Seed · May 2020

Performa Labs develops a software platform designed to accelerate and improve safety in training for first responders and other mission-critical professionals. The company operates in semi-stealth mode and is led by CEO Yasuto Suga. It plans to use new funding to further build its training software and to expand its public safety mission. Performa is a portfolio company of Cie, a venture studio located in Irvine, CA. The article does not disclose operating metrics or prior financings.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2018

TITAN School Solutions offers cloud-based SaaS and services to help K-12 districts process meal applications, manage nutrition-related finances, and improve real-time alignment between parents and schools. Its platform is device-accessible, emphasizes ease of integration, reliable customer support, and a subscription pricing model with low-risk contractual commitments. The company serves nearly 1 million students across more than 150 school districts and 1,300 schools nationwide. TITAN positions itself as a category leader in children’s nutrition software through robust functionality and customer support. Future plans for the company include further building its software technology capabilities and expanding its sales and marketing organizations to scale to new districts. TITAN is a portfolio company of Cie Digital Labs, which provides strategic and operational support to the business.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2017

ASAP Tire provides on-site tire shopping and installation with certified technicians who arrive in fully equipped vehicles and complete installations in under an hour on average. The company was launched in partnership between Cie Digital Labs and auto industry veteran James Chen and benefits from CDL’s strategic, technical and operational support. CDL placed an EIR (Jim Davis) and shared domain experts in web/mobile, BD, finance, HR and IT to accelerate growth and operations. Within 100 days of CDL’s involvement, ASAP’s productivity increased fourfold, capacity and presence expanded in existing markets, and services were rolled out to four new major metropolitan cities. ASAP Tire operates in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, and in Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and it plans further expansion into other high-demand markets and business sectors. CDL raised $1.8M for ASAP Tire from investors to support the company’s rapid national rollout.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2015

Nativo is a Los Angeles-based content technology platform that enables advertisers and publishers to distribute brand stories at scale. Founded in 2010 by Justin Choi, the company uses patented technology that leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate content distribution within fully integrated, trusted environments. Its platform delivers deep insights into content performance and supports differentiated ad formats. Nativo works with more than 3,500 premium publisher websites around the globe. The company said it will use the new funding to further expand its technology, ad formats and insights platform. It raised $25M in structured capital provided by Capital IP. Nativo provides an advertising technology platform and content marketing tools that deliver native content for brands and a complete native ad solution for media companies to sell, deploy, and optimize native ads across sites and screens. The company’s platform is designed to scale, automate, and measure native advertising. Led by CEO Justin Choi, Nativo serves both brand advertisers and publishers. The company plans to use new funding to expand its platform solutions, scale operations, and grow its international presence. Financially, Nativo completed a $20M Series B and had previously raised a total of $11.2M. No operating metrics (revenue/users) were disclosed in the article. Nativo is the leading advertising technology platform for brand advertisers and publishers to scale, automate, and measure native ads. It combines a dynamic content management system with advanced content ad serving capabilities to allow publishers to create, manage, and monetize truly native executions across sites and screens. More than 150 brands and 350 publishers leverage Nativo's platform. The company said a $6 million credit facility from Bridge Bank will be used to support working capital and to fund expansion as it continues to grow. Nativo is venture-backed by Greycroft Partners, Signia Ventures, e.ventures and other top‑tier investors, and Justin Choi is founder and CEO. Bridge Bank framed the deal as part of its Technology Banking portfolio and said it tailored the financing after learning Nativo’s business model. Nativo provides a platform that lets publishers add code and create templates for sponsored content while advertisers upload content that is then displayed across relevant sites and formatted to match each site's look. The product serves native ads that are labeled as sponsored and designed to drive the same engagement as non-advertising content, and the ads work on desktop, smartphones and tablets. The company repositioned from its prior name, PostRelease, to embrace the native advertising category. CEO Justin Choi has emphasized the company's definition of native as engagement parity with editorial content and noted increasing marketplace attention. Nativo said it will have forthcoming publisher- and ad-agency-related announcements. Financially, the company has attracted investor interest and prior funding activity described below.