• HEN Nozzles

  Participated · Seed · Oct 2024

  Founded in 2020, HEN Technologies has engineered fire-suppression nozzles that boost suppression rates up to 300 % while cutting water use by 67 %. The firm has expanded its line to monitors, valves, overhead sprinklers, pressure devices and the forthcoming Stream IQ flow-control and discharge-control systems, all containing custom circuit boards and, in some cases, Nvidia Orion Nano processors. These devices stream real-time data—such as flow, pressure, GPS location and weather—into HEN’s cloud platform, giving incident commanders granular insight into water usage and operational conditions. The company has filed 20 patent applications (with six granted) and employs about 50 people drawn from Adobe, NASA, Tesla, Apple and Microsoft. Commercial traction includes 1,500 fire-department customers, sales to the Marine Corps, US Army bases, NASA and Abu Dhabi Civil Defense, distribution through 120 resellers and shipments to 22 countries. After launching products in Q2 2023, HEN generated $200 k that year, grew to $1.6 m in 2024 and $5.2 m last year, and is projecting $20 m in revenue this year. The rapidly expanding installed base is building a unique data lake that the company plans to monetize via predictive-analytics applications beginning next year.

• Nalu Bio

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2023

  Nalu Bio is a biotech company creating chemistry-based cannabinoids for the consumer and pharmaceutical markets. Its platform generates molecularly identical versions of naturally occurring cannabinoids (CBD, THCV, CBN, CBC, CBG) that are sustainable and free from contaminants found in hemp-extracted cannabinoids. The company intends to use recent funding to accelerate growth and scale production of cannabinoids for consumer products and therapeutics. Nalu Bio was founded in 2019 and is led by CEO Caitlyn Krebs. It is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. The company's technology targets both consumer product and therapeutic applications. Nalu Bio develops next-generation cannabinoid ingredients via a chemistry-based proprietary synthesis platform that produces ultra-pure, consistently performing cannabinoids without contamination risks associated with hemp extraction. The platform is scalable and designed to meet anticipated market expansion, supplying global retail and pharmaceutical markets. The company emphasizes research- and evidence-based cannabinoids and operates with a team of chemists and scientists focused on transparency and quality. Nalu Bio positions its products as free from THC, heavy metals, and pesticides, aiming for wide accessibility and high quality. Leadership highlights a commitment to rigorous standards when partnering with investors and scaling operations.

• Revolights

  Led · Series A · May 2014

  Revolights makes a bike lighting system of smart LED rings that attach to a bike’s wheels and synchronize to speed to provide forward path illumination, increased 360-degree visibility, and a functional brake light. The company was originally launched in 2011 by Kent Frankovich and Adam Pettler. After building prototypes, Revolights launched via Kickstarter, raising $215,000 in September 2011 and $95,000 in April 2013. It also received a $300k investment from Robert Herjavec on ABC’s Shark Tank, which was rolled into the current financing. Revolights raised $1M in a Series A and intends to use the funds to scale up the team and expand distribution of the product family. The business is based in Emeryville, CA.

• Glue Networks

  Participated · Series A · Mar 2011

  Glue Networks builds Gluware, an intelligent automation engine and suite of networking applications that automate configuration and management of SD-WAN deployments. Gluware is application-aware, designed for Branch WANs, and is deployed in production networks worldwide to enable rapid provisioning, synchronization of changes, and improved security and stability. The company says it pioneered the industry’s first intelligent automation engine for SD-WAN, has shipped generally available product since 2011, and was founded in September 2007 in Sacramento, Calif. Glue Networks was named a Gartner Cool Vendor for Communications Service Provider Infrastructure in April 2013. Management plans to use the latest funding to scale the business and is hiring in engineering, sales, and service delivery. The company targets the $120B WAN market with a focus on delivering agility, automation, and lifecycle management for carrier and enterprise WANs. Glue Networks develops Glue Virtual Office, a subscription-based enterprise cloud networking service powered by the company’s patent-pending GLUWARE technology. Glue Virtual Office extends corporate networks to remote offices and teleworkers, aiming to deliver high-security, high-bandwidth, real-time applications at low cost. The company positions itself as the world’s only provider of an enterprise-grade cloud networking service and distributes through partnerships with service providers and value-added resellers. Founded in 2007 and based in Sacramento, Glue says its platform is ready to deploy thousands of end users per day. The company announced a $4.5 million Series A to ramp up sales and customer-support capabilities and accelerate adoption of its platform. CEO Jeff Gray said interest from industry veterans within top angel groups helped the company rapidly close the round amid a competitive Series A environment.

• Reframe It

  Led · Equity · Jan 2010

  Reframe It offers a browser plug-in and bookmarklet that lets users highlight passages on any web page and add comments in a side pane. The product supports private, public, or group-visible comments and a white‑label publisher option to embed branded community annotation on sites. Social features include following other users' comments, group comment streams, and RSS feeds; users can import contacts from Gmail and Facebook (LinkedIn support was noted as coming soon). The company is preparing version 2.0, which adds a social, real-time feed of friends' comments in addition to RSS. Reframe It reports recent funding activity, having raised $2.3 million in a round disclosed via an SEC filing and previously $700,000 from AD Gilhart & Co. Its advisory board includes Esther Dyson, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Howard Rheingold. Reframe It is a browser plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer that lets users highlight text on web pages and add comments that appear in a collapsible side pane. Comments can be private, public, or restricted to specific groups, and the product includes a Twitter‑like social feature for following others’ comments. Users can follow comment streams via RSS and import contacts from Gmail and Facebook, with LinkedIn and other services planned soon. The company officially launched publicly and has raised $700,000 from AD Gilhart & Co. to support development and growth. The side‑pane comments are only visible to other users with the Reframe It plug‑in, and the article notes comments are sometimes slow to load. The writeup questions how Reframe It will differentiate itself from prior web‑annotation services and whether it can attract enough users to make the side pane broadly useful.

No current team members are available.