Participated · Series A · Dec 2020

BoxCast is a live-streaming platform founded in 2013 in Cleveland that aims to make it easy to stream any event. Its core product includes video encoder devices (including a "small box") and an end-to-end platform supporting 1080p broadcasting, streaming to Facebook Live, YouTube and websites, analytics, and add-ons like automatic scoreboard displays and event ticketing. Pricing starts at $99 per month for the essential streaming plan, with the BoxCast encoder sold for about $399; users can also stream from an iOS device. The company reports live streaming millions of events per year and saw peak usage increases of up to 10x from pre-pandemic levels in 2020. Headcount grew from fewer than 40 before the pandemic to 56 and is expected to likely double within the next 12 months. BoxCast positions live streams as a continued tool to reach remote audiences and promote organizations even as in-person events return. BoxCast builds video broadcasting solutions that let anyone with a camera stream standard- and high-definition live video to its cloud-based service for retrieval at any time and from any location. Its platform supports live streaming and subsequent access to broadcasts. Initial customers include churches using the service to expand outreach and high school and college athletic departments broadcasting sporting events. The company is led by founder Gordon Daily and is based in Cleveland, Ohio. Financially, BoxCast raised $250,000 from JumpStart Inc. and has previously received funding from the Cuyahoga County North Coast Opportunities Fund and the Innovation Fund, and was awarded a MAGNET Product Acceleration & Technical Assistance (MPAcT) grant. The articles do not disclose revenue, user metrics, or specific product roadmaps.

Led · Series B · Jul 2019

Landr provides a cloud-hosted mastering dashboard that uses AI trained on data from over 10 million tracks to generate bespoke audio post-production processors and make real-time tweaks. The platform also includes collaboration tools for sharing and commenting, plus a distribution program that lets artists publish to major services without surrendering a cut of earnings. The company reports 2.5 million artists in 160 countries have mastered and promoted over 12 million tracks with its tools, and it now releases thousands of tracks weekly on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Recent product updates include multiple mastering styles, volume matching for playback, and other quality-of-life improvements. Landr has attracted backers and supporters from prominent producers and artists such as Hans Zimmer, Nas, Richie Hawtin, Pete Tong, and Tiga. The company has raised over $30 million to date and intends to use its new funding to expand its music-technology capabilities and pursue new market-shifting directions. LANDR applies big data analytics and artificial intelligence to automated music mastering through an online engine. The company offers subscription tiers ranging from $6 to $39 per month and says it has analyzed tens of thousands of files to model mastering engineers' decisions. LANDR serves about 250,000 users, many of them amateur artists who otherwise would not pay for mastering, while some professionals use the service for quick reference masters. The company has brought on roughly 50 audio and mastering professionals to refine its technology and today launched Ionian 1.0, the latest iteration of its mastering engine. CEO Pascal Pilon says LANDR aims to partner with streaming platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud to raise online audio mastering standards, and the company plans to expand its technology to tackle video as well.

Participated · Series B · May 2018

Vesper is a Boston, MA-based advanced sensor company led by CEO Matt Crowley that develops proprietary piezoelectric MEMS technology. Its core products include MEMS microphones (notably the VM1010 with ZeroPower Listening) that bring voice activation to battery-powered consumer devices while drawing nearly zero power, as well as acoustic event-detection products. The company closed a $23M Series B round, bringing total funding to date to $40M. The financing was led by American Family Ventures with participation from Accomplice, Amazon Alexa Fund, Baidu, Bose Ventures, Hyperplane, Sands Capital, Shure, Synaptics, ZZ Capital and other undisclosed investors. Vesper intends to use the funds to scale mass production of its microphones and to support expanded research and development, hiring, international sales offices, and growth of customer support. Vesper develops the VM1010 piezoelectric MEMS microphone that harvests energy from sound waves to enable always-on voice detection with very low power draw. The VM1010 listens for human-voice frequencies and wakes a device to keyword detection within milliseconds, reducing standby battery consumption by a factor of 100. Its piezoelectric design is intrinsically water- and dust-proof, enabling rugged and portable outdoor use cases. Vesper’s tech originated in part from the University of Michigan and the company is based in Boston. Target applications include mobile devices, hearables, Internet of Things products, and connected-car systems. The company recently closed a financing round to support product development and commercialization.