The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Nov 2024

IOTA Software develops industrial and business data visualization software and offers an enterprise-scale, cloud-native visualization platform. The platform provides access to all sources of critical and dynamic business and process information to support data-driven decision-making. It delivers situational awareness capabilities for executives, production managers, and operators. IOTA's software serves customers across pharmaceutical, energy, chemical, utility, green energy, and other industries. The company is led by CEO Ivan Datskov and is based in Denver, CO. It intends to use the new funding to expand operations and accelerate development efforts.

Participated · Series D · Aug 2024

Seeq delivers a self-service, enterprise SaaS platform that applies advanced analytics and AI to historically unused industrial data to accelerate insights and action. The company targets verticals including energy, pharmaceutical, specialty chemical, materials, mining, and utilities to help optimize yield, margins, quality, and sustainability. Led by CEO Dr. Lisa Graham, Seeq offers solutions and services for enterprise monitoring and industrial analytics. The company has employees across the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and South America. Seeq raised $50M in a Series D that increased its total capital raised to $165M and intends to use the funds to expand operations and development efforts. Nari Ansari of Sixth Street Growth will join Seeq’s board as part of the round. Seeq develops software applications for analyzing and sharing insights on process manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) data. Its application suite includes time-series data visualization tools that enable stakeholders to rapidly investigate, collaborate and distribute insights. The company is described as a privately held virtual company headquartered in Seattle. Seeq's products are aimed at improving operations and business outcomes for process manufacturers. Phillips 66's investment is described as providing a pathway to help Seeq grow and continue to improve its products. The article does not disclose revenue, user counts, or other operating metrics. Seeq develops advanced analytics applications that enable engineers and scientists in process manufacturing organizations to analyze, predict, collaborate, and share insights to improve production and business outcomes. Its product suite includes Workbench for advanced analytics, Organizer for publishing reports and dashboards, Data Lab for accessing Python libraries, and Cortex for IT governance, data connectivity, and calculation features. The company serves customers across oil and gas, pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, mining, food and beverage, and other process industries. Seeq sells worldwide through a global partner network of system integrators (supporting resale and training in over 25 countries) alongside direct sales in North America and Europe. It also maintains sales representation offices in Asia, Canada, Europe, and South America. Led by CEO and co-founder Steve Sliwa, Seeq plans to use new funding to accelerate development, sales, and marketing and to expand its international presence. Seeq develops analytics software for industrial manufacturers to collect and analyze data from sensors and instrument systems. It serves customers across industries including oil and gas, food and beverage, and metals and mining, enabling queries about operational conditions. The software runs both on-premise and in the cloud, and Seeq has close partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Founded in 2012 and led by CEO Steve Sliwa, the company has about 130 employees. Seeq raised an additional $28 million in a Series B expansion, bringing total funding to date to $65 million. Cisco Investments and prior backers including Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Altira Group, Chevron Technology Ventures, Next47, and Siemens’ venture arm participated in the round. Seeq develops advanced analytics and visualization software used by engineers and scientists in process manufacturing and IIoT industries to rapidly analyze, predict, and share operational insights. Its core product, Seeq Workbench, connects to on‑premise systems and cloud data including AWS and Microsoft Azure, and the company offers SaaS and on‑premise deployments. Seeq integrates with numerous automation and historian vendors and lists customers across oil & gas, pharma, chemicals, energy, mining, and food & beverage. The company says its customer base spans more than 40 countries and deployments have been as large as 5,000 users within a single company. Seeq plans to use the new funding to accelerate development, expand sales and marketing, and increase its international presence. Recent product work includes release R22 with expanded structured data support and enhanced machine‑learning integration.

Participated · Series C · Feb 2022

FitOn operates a smartphone-first fitness and wellness app that provides personalized fitness and wellness programs, partnered workouts, and celebrity-led content. The app reached 10 million users last year and has seen significant increases in workouts, signups, and friends working out together. FitOn plans to continue innovating on premium content, create more personalized experiences, expand internationally, and grow its enterprise product for employers and Medicare recipients. The company acquired Tampa-based corporate wellness platform Peerfit to combine at-home and in-gym offerings; Peerfit has more than 13,000 employer customers and its founder Ed Buckley will remain CEO. FitOn will use part of the new funding to execute the Peerfit transaction, expand its team, and fuel consumer and corporate wellness growth. Founded in 2019 by Lindsay and Russell Cook and based in Los Angeles, FitOn has a stated goal of getting 100 million members working out each week and its total funding now stands at $70 million. FitOn is a Los Angeles–based freemium digital fitness and wellness app offering 15- and 20-minute personalized workouts across cardio, strength, yoga, stretch and meditation. The app, launched two years ago by husband-and-wife founders Lindsay and Russell Cook, combines free workouts with a Pro subscription that adds music tracks, device integration, offline downloads, meal plans and recipes. FitOn also includes a social platform with chat, programs, challenges, and content from trainers and celebrity ambassadors. The company reports 10 million members, over 1 billion workout minutes, most members working out three to four times per week, and more than 300,000 five-star reviews; it consistently ranks in the top 20 of the health and fitness category. Since its Series A, subscription revenue is up 500% year over year, downloads outpace Peloton by 285% and Beachbody by 588%, and the product team has released more than 78 products in two years. FitOn plans to use new funding to grow its team, fill key positions, continue rapid product releases and expand internationally, targeting 25 million members by the end of next year. FitOn is a Century City-based at-home fitness app co-founded in 2018 by former Fitbit executive Lindsay Cook. The platform provides on-demand classes led by celebrity trainers (including Gabrielle Union) and influencer instructors across yoga, pilates, dance and varied time lengths. Cook built the product to deliver high-quality, practical exercise options for busy users and working parents. According to SEC filings, the startup raised nearly $7 million in a recent funding round, its second disclosed financing. That round brought FitOn's total disclosed funding to about $11.6 million since founding. The company is positioned as a lower-cost, equipment-free alternative to Peloton and other venture-backed at-home fitness startups, part of a broader shift toward streamed workouts and away from brick-and-mortar gyms.

Led · Series A · Nov 2021

Knack is a modern gift‑giving e-commerce platform that enables individuals and companies to curate values-based gift sets for personal, professional, and corporate occasions. The platform pairs hundreds of selectable items with tech-enabled experiences such as video messages, emailed delivery, and custom gift web pages accessible via QR code. Knack recently launched Knest by Knack, an immersive page format that embeds videos, photos, custom messages, PDFs, and weblinks alongside curated gifts. Each order is custom packaged, shipped to the recipient’s door, and can include a printed card and optional video message. Founder and CEO Laura Jennings, an ex-VC and software executive, bootstrapped the company to over $20M in annual revenue and reports triple-digit year-over-year growth since its 2015 launch in Seattle. The company says the new capital will be used for infrastructure investments to support and multiply its rapid growth.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2021

Knock provides a SaaS platform that consolidates front-office operations for property managers, acting as a sales inbox (chat, SMS, phone, email), sales calendar and CRM in one interface. The product automates outreach and appointment scheduling and surfaces sales opportunities for both new leases and renewals, while enabling virtual, self-guided and live video tours. Its software is used by hundreds of the largest property management firms across the United States and Canada and powers more than 1.5 million apartment units. The company has quadrupled revenue over the past two years and had a record year in 2020 for new customers, revenue growth and retention, aided by demand for remote leasing tools during the pandemic. Knock plans to expand its product portfolio into AI communications, fraud prevention, applicant screening and leasing, and intelligent forecasting. It also expects to grow headcount 40–50% before year-end, hiring across product, engineering, sales, marketing, customer success, finance and HR. Knock offers a sales and marketing SaaS platform for residential property management, with early products for scheduling, messaging and workflow organization. The platform is used by hundreds of North America’s leading multifamily portfolios, including Pinnacle, FPI, Highmark and ZRS, and manages more than 1 million apartment units. The company more than doubled revenue in 2019, demonstrating rapid commercial traction. Knock plans to use new funding to grow its go-to-market and product teams and to advance its front-office product roadmap. Product plans include a suite of productivity and business-intelligence tools aimed at improving occupancy and renewal rates. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Tom Petry, Knock serves residential property management companies in the U.S. and Canada. Knock provides a CRM and communications platform that helps multifamily property management companies organize communications across every channel, coordinate and schedule tours, and track marketing and leasing effectiveness. Its system is used by thousands of apartment buildings across the United States and Canada, with customers including Milestone, FPI, ZRS and The Carroll Organization. The company was founded in 2014 and is led by CEO Tom Petry. Knock intends to use recent funding to scale its go-to-market organization and accelerate investments in product, engineering, and data science. The platform focuses on improving marketing and sales performance for apartment buildings through data-driven tools and coordinated communications. The company has raised capital previously, bringing its total funding to date to $15.5M.