Participated · Equity · Jan 2024

Mountaintop is a game studio building a tactical shooter focused on bringing players together through unforgettable new challenges. The team says it aims to build a "timeless game" and emphasizes listening to player feedback to guide development. Over the last few years the studio has been playtesting regularly with a group of tactical shooter fans. The company invites players to sign up for upcoming playtests and is recruiting for roles via links in its post. Mountaintop announced $30M in additional funding from industry investors to support ongoing development and team growth. Named angel backers include streamers and public figures such as shroud, tarik, iiTzTimmy, Zedd, CohhCarnage, Sacriel, and Paul George. Mountaintop Studios is building a player‑versus‑player (PvP) tactical shooter and positions itself around a more collaborative approach to game studios. The company was cofounded in 2020 by Oculus alumni Nate Mitchell and Matt Hansen and is based in San Francisco. According to its website and reporting, the team has spent the past three years developing the PvP tactical shooter. An SEC filing shows Mountaintop has sold $20.5 million in Series A shares in an additional funding effort and the filing implies a $25 million target. The filing does not identify specific investors but indicates seven backers have participated to date; final fundraise details may change. Previously, in summer 2021 the company raised $30 million in a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Founders Fund, Spark Capital, and Detroit Venture Partners, which the report said bumped its valuation to $86 million. Mountaintop is an independent studio formed by veterans from major gaming companies and led by Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell. The studio’s first title will be a PvP shooter. It raised a $5.5M seed from friends and family to fund development. The team has grown from an initial five founders to about 20 employees and targets a headcount of roughly 50. Mountaintop is remote-first and intentionally aims to avoid crunch and toxic cultures common at larger publishers. The studio says it is committed to diversity and inclusion but currently faces challenges—19 of 20 staff are men and 18 of 20 are white.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2022

Led by CEO Benjamin Nazarian and based in Los Angeles, Therabody develops wellness technology products and content embraced by medical, sports, and beauty communities as well as consumers. Its flagship product line includes Theragun percussive devices and proprietary technologies that leverage biometrics for personalized real-time therapies. The company operates company-owned retail stores and Reset® whole-body wellness and recovery centers, and its products are available in more than 60 countries. Therabody recently launched eight new products expanding into whole-body wellness, including a new Theragun PRO, Theragun mini, and SmartGoggles™. SmartGoggles™ pair with TheraMind® sound therapy via the Therabody App and include a smart sensor that personalizes treatment to help lower heart rate and reduce stress and anxiety. The company plans to continue investing in innovation across hardware, software, services (including Reset), and digital content. Therabody commercialized the Theragun percussive massage device and has since expanded into an ecosystem of recovery and wellness products, including a Smart Percussive Therapy line, a Therabody app, and a USDA-certified CBD line (TheraOne). The company says it has been profitable since its first fully operational year in 2017, grew its profits more than 30x since 2017, and tripled overall revenue in 2020 versus the prior year. Therabody has expanded internationally to more than 60 countries and maintains offices in Shanghai, London, and Dublin, and has increased retail distribution from 40 U.S. stores to roughly 10,000 retail doors globally. The company has been active on product and IP development (126 patents issued, 138 pending) and in M&A, acquiring RP Sports and its RecoveryPump pneumatic compression technology in November 2020. With the new capital the company intends to accelerate research and development of new products and services and to continue heavy investment in international expansion, with plans to enter 10 new countries by 2022. Therabody positions its products for use by professional teams, medical professionals, and consumers for training, recovery, injury prevention, and treatment of pain and chronic ailments.

Participated · Series D · Mar 2022

Hydrow sells a connected home rowing machine and subscription-based fitness experience, positioning itself in the connected-fitness market. The company is Boston-based and emphasizes a “hybrid” approach to fitness, according to founder and CEO Bruce Smith. Hydrow grew revenue 3x between 2020 and 2021 and now reports north of 200,000 users. The company plans to invest in its product offering and drive innovation to retain and grow its member base. Management intends to use new funding to ramp up production and expand Hydrow’s international footprint. Hydrow expects its product to benefit from renewed interest in at-home equipment that requires relatively little storage space compared with treadmills. Hydrow produces a fitness player that delivers patent-protected Live Outdoor Reality™ (LOR) with instruction from athletes streaming live on the water. Its programming features live rowing from cities such as Miami, London, and San Francisco. The company intends to use newly raised funds for content expansion and increased marketing outreach. Hydrow raised a $25M financing extension that brings its total capital raised to $52M. The company was founded by Bruce Smith, who serves as CEO, and is based in Cambridge, Mass. Investors mentioned in the articles include L Catterton and existing backer Rx3 Ventures. Hydrow builds a Live Outdoor Reality™ (LOR) connected rowing machine that simulates the sights, sounds and sensations of rowing outdoors to deliver a superior in-home workout. The system includes hundreds of live and on-demand rowing workouts, supplemented with yoga and functional strength training. Hydrow sells the rower on its website for $2,199 and charges a monthly content subscription of $38. Led by CEO and founder Bruce Smith, the company leverages design and technology to provide both physical and emotional benefits of being on the water. Hydrow plans to use new funding to accelerate growth as it begins nationwide shipping, starting with nearly 1,000 early backers who purchased through Indiegogo. The company is based in Cambridge, Mass. Hydrow builds a connected fitness rower that delivers a live on‑river outdoor rowing experience at home. The platform includes hundreds of live and on‑demand rowing workouts, supplemented with yoga and functional strength training. Workouts are led by world‑class trainers, many of whom compete at the Rowing World Championships, creating an immersive fitness experience. Hydrow was founded in 2017 by U.S. National Team Rowing Coach Bruce Smith and is based in Boston, MA. The company plans to use new capital to bring its connected rower to consumers across the country. Financially, Hydrow received a more than $20m growth equity investment. CREW by True Rowing has developed a connected indoor rowing machine (CREW) that streams live, on-water instruction and content to a 22-inch screen using a proprietary, patent-pending broadcast-and-delivery system. The machine is described as sleek, nearly noiseless, and designed to evoke the water while delivering real-time feedback, music, and daily stories from instructors. CREW daily broadcasts live content from the Charles River in Boston and leverages a team of National Team rowing instructors and coaches for programming. The company emphasizes rowing’s whole-body benefits and claims its workouts deliver a more complete experience in less time. True Rowing says it will begin accepting orders for the CREW machines in the coming weeks and aims to expand rowing access to millions of users. The company is based in Cambridge, Mass., and highlights market reach estimates of 175,000–250,000 rowers in the U.S. and roughly 4.3 million people who use indoor rowing machines daily.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2021

Ant Money was founded in March 2020 by serial fintech founders Walter Cruttenden and Mike Gleason; Gleason serves as CEO. The company operates a platform built around three apps — ATM, Blast and Learn & Earn — that let users earn micro-income, learn about investing, and open investment accounts via SEC-licensed advisors and embedded finance tools. ATM lets users earn what Ant Money says can amount to $100–$1,000 or more per year based on engagement; the platform routes rewards and advertising income into investment accounts and offers a hybrid portfolio model (ETFs plus up to 50% allocation to curated individual stocks). Prior to merging with Blast, Ant Money’s apps had acquired more than 500,000 users in the past 12 months, of whom about 100,000 held investment accounts; the company aims for 1 million investment accounts and over 3 million users by the end of next year. The startup employs about 55 people and plans to use new capital to grow headcount and continue customer acquisition. Its revenue mix combines adtech, monthly subscription fees for educational content, and corporate or nonprofit-sponsored content and courses.

Led · Equity · Apr 2021

Hydrant is a science-backed consumer wellness brand that sells single-use powder packets designed to maintain optimal hydration, offering up to 3x the electrolytes of sports drinks with roughly 70% less sugar and no artificial ingredients. Products mix quickly in water and target hydration, daily performance, and mental wellbeing; the company has expanded its lineup from HYDRATE and ENERGY to include SLEEP and IMMUNITY. Hydrant launched direct-to-consumer online and has rapidly grown its retail presence, expanding from 47 doors in September 2020 to around 10,000 doors seven months later. The brand emphasizes efficacy, simplicity, and an elevated experience, using fewer effective ingredients and real fruit juice powder instead of artificial sweeteners. Hydrant has raised capital to support growth and retail expansion and reports total funding of more than $17M. Near-term plans include raising nationwide profile, continuing product-line expansion, and focusing on growth with an expanded team following the recent financing. Hydrant, founded in 2018 and based in New York, makes Rapid Hydration and Rapid Hydration + Caffeine—powder packets that are added to water to speed bodily hydration. The mixes use a specific electrolyte-to-sugar ratio (with sugar from powdered fruit juice) to leverage the sodium–glucose co-transport mechanism for faster absorption. The company sells direct-to-consumer via its website and through retail partners including Whole Foods and Amazon; pandemic-related delays have prompted a renewed focus on e-commerce. All manufacturing is done in the U.S. Hydrant offers both subscriptions and a la carte purchases; subscriptions account for roughly 50% of the company’s business. A 30-pack is priced at $37.50 for Rapid Hydration and $43.75 for the caffeinated mix, with subscription buyers receiving a 20% discount. The company plans to use new funding to invest in talent, drive product innovation, and build analytics capabilities.