Participated · Series B · Apr 2021

Replica builds a data platform and simulation tools that give urban planners, policymakers and private-sector customers access to insights about how people live and move across communities. Its core technology uses large-scale simulations powered by AI and machine learning, leveraging proprietary synthetic populations and behavior models to produce high-fidelity “replicas” of transportation and economic patterns. The methodology enables use of new data sources such as mobile location data while protecting individual privacy. Replica’s customers use the platform to assess current needs, develop solutions and forecast future impacts. The company said it plans to expand its suite of product solutions in 2021, including a new forecasting and scenario modeling tool called Scenario. Replica is led by CEO and co-founder Nick Bowden and is based in Overland Park, Kansas. Replica is a data-gathering and modeling tool that uses de-identified mobile location data matched to a synthetic population to show how, when and why people travel in cities. The tool grew out of Model Lab at Sidewalk Labs and the company remains connected to Sidewalk Labs. Replica is headed by Nick Bowden and has a 13-person staff. It is headquartered in Kansas City with an engineering office in San Francisco. Replica is already working with Kansas City, Portland, Chicago and Sacramento and plans to expand to several new regions this year. The company emphasizes privacy, stating it starts only with de-identified data and is not interested in tracking individuals.

Led · Equity · Nov 2019

VoltServer commercializes Fault Managed Power (FMP), a transmission technology that sends electricity in small, safety-checked packets embedded with data and sold under the brand Digital Electricity. The company manufactures FMP transmission products and supplies systems with extensive monitoring and control software that augment the hardware. VoltServer reports circuits installed in buildings including NFL stadiums, smart hotels, and indoor vertical farms. Led by CEO Steve Eaves and based in East Greenwich, RI, the company plans to use new funding to hire talent to accelerate product development. It intends to expand further into Communications, Intelligent Buildings, Indoor Agriculture, EV Charging, Data Centers, and other applications where rapid, lower-cost, data-enabled electricity distribution can benefit customers. The company raised new capital in 2023 to support those product and go-to-market efforts. VoltServer develops a packetized power-transmission system that overlays digital control and data onto electricity distribution, using a transmitter that breaks AC or DC into packets and a receiver that reassembles them. Its architecture incorporates digital signal processing and a semiconductor gateway similar to solar power converters to stop transmission when faults occur. The company combines hardware and software: customers buy transmitter/receiver boxes, third parties install them, and software applications track energy usage and manage outage responses. Roughly 700 stadiums, large offices and indoor grow facilities have deployed its technology; typical installations run from $30,000 to $1 million, and the largest installation is a lettuce farm in Florida. VoltServer is targeting intelligent building infrastructure, communications and indoor agriculture as core markets and says its technology can cut traditional power-transmission costs from about $36 per linear foot to less than $10. The company recently attracted a $7.4 million financing led by Sidewalk Labs and has raised $18 million to date from a group of energy-focused investors. VoltServer provides patented solutions that deliver electricity in a natively digital format by combining energy and data into energy packets transmitted from a VoltServer transmitter to a receiver. The transmitter verifies each packet and halts transmission if there is improper wiring, a short circuit, or a person touching the transmission lines. The company began shipping in early 2015 and currently powers 4G/LTE mobile services in many large sports stadiums, office towers, hotels, condominiums and medical buildings. VoltServer intends to use recent funding to support ongoing mobility deployments and trials worldwide and to expand its remote powering solutions into adjacent markets such as converged fiber optic communications (FTTx, POL), smart LED lighting, centralized battery-backed/critical power/UPS, data center and alternative energy applications. The company is led by founder and CEO Steve Eaves.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2019

Ori develops architectural robotics that transform urban living by creating multi-functional, expandable apartments and living spaces. The company positions its products as more flexible, sustainable and affordable alternatives to conventional apartments. Ori was born out of the MIT Media Lab and is led by CEO Hasier Larrea. The startup recently closed an equity financing round. Investors in the round include Presidio Ventures (a Sumitomo Corporation of Americas group company) alongside existing backers. Ori plans to use the financing to expand in the APAC market. Ori designs robotic interior products and systems that transform space at the touch of a button or via voice command. Its product collection includes the Studio Suite, the Pocket Closet, and the Cloud Bed, slated for commercial availability in 2020. Ori’s solutions are already installed in more than 30 projects across major U.S. cities. The company announced a $20 million Series B to expand its focus beyond products to partnering with architects and builders on flexible, intelligent, sustainable, and affordable urban housing. The funding will support broader strategy and execution as Ori scales deployment of its responsive interior systems. Ori also hired Edwin Hendriksen as president and a board member to lead the expanded strategy. Ori develops programmable, responsive systems that enable interior spaces to transform intelligently and effortlessly. Its first family of systems is designed to improve the functionality and livability of small urban residential spaces and is available exclusively to real estate developers. Ori’s Full and Queen systems provide division of space, a proper living area and increased storage, and are installed in select modern apartment buildings across 10 cities in the United States and Canada. The company combines robotics, architecture and design and says its platforms are interactive, connected and adaptable to everyday life. Ori is exploring additional applications of its systems in hospitality, office and college settings. The company also derives its name from origami, reflecting its focus on folding and adaptable form.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2019

Umbrella operates a membership marketplace that connects older adults with local community members — called “neighbors” — who perform tasks like moving boxes, shoveling snow, painting, and home cleaning. Members pay $199 per year for access; neighbors typically charge about $20 per hour, of which Umbrella takes a $4 cut, and neighbors can opt to accept lower pay to subsidize discounted work for lower-income seniors. The company vets neighbors via background and reference checks and provides access to licensed professionals for more complex jobs. Umbrella offers separate apps for neighbors and members for booking, job tracking, profiles, and features like a neighbor leaderboard; the company says more than half of its neighbors are recent retirees. Founded in 2017 by former Sidewalk Labs principals Lindsay Ullman and Sam Gerstenzang and based in Brooklyn, Umbrella currently serves New Jersey and Long Island and plans to expand nationwide this year. The startup emphasizes building local, intergenerational community connections and has drawn interest from Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2019

Cityblock is a health-equity focused startup spun out of Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs in 2017 that provides coordinated primary care, behavioral health, and social services. It built a technology platform called Commons to enable collaboration between care providers, centralize medical records, pharmacy claims, community health sources, and care-team interactions, and to provide clinical decision support for individualized care plans. The company pairs the Commons platform with Community Health Partners (CHPs) hired from local communities who act as the point person for patients, and with neighborhood hubs where patients can meet care teams and attend classes. Cityblock positions its mission on combating racially driven health disparities by rebuilding trust and eliminating disparities for underserved communities. The company raised $53.5 million in a Series B+ and plans to use the funds to build out services and technology, further develop Commons and virtual-first service modalities, and begin serving new communities. Cityblock is a startup spun out of Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs that aims to reduce socio-economic health disparities through technology. Its core product, Commons, is a web-based platform designed to link patient care teams and place Community Health Partners (CHPs) at the center of care. CHPs are hired from the community and trained in empathy and relationship-building to act as the primary point person for patients and to surface cultural context within care teams. The company launched in October 2017 and previously closed a $23.2M Series A in January 2018. Cityblock plans to use the new $65M Series B to expand the team, grow into existing and new markets, invest in technical product capabilities, and add new services. Founder and CEO Iyah Romm has framed the approach as bridging technology with trusting, person-to-person relationships to deliver care in neighborhoods where the healthcare system has fallen short.