Participated · Equity · Mar 2026

Founded by Sandra Velasquez and launched in 2020, Nopalera describes itself as a modern Mexican lifestyle and beauty brand built for the "modern beauty explorer." Its product lineup includes signature fragrances, hair care, bath and body products, and candles. Nopalera sells through Ulta.com, Ulta Mexico, Ulta Middle East, Credo Beauty, Mecca, Amazon, hundreds of independent retailers nationwide, and its own website. The founder began the brand in 2019 while in New York City and has positioned the company around Latino cultural representation in beauty. The company recently raised $4 million in growth capital led by Morgan Stanley's Next Level Fund to accelerate retail expansion and product development. The new financing also added Morgan Stanley to Nopalera's board of directors.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2024

Bump is a creator-focused platform that helps creators track income, market value, and manage business finances to negotiate better deals and see owed payments. The company was launched in 2020 by James Jones and Anton Kovalyov, who serves as CTO. In 2022 Bump launched the Bump Creator credit card in partnership with Mastercard, marketed with no monthly or hidden fees and available without a credit check. Bump also works with a banking institution to offer direct deposit accounts that let creators earn interest on cash placed in a money market account. The company says it will use the latest fundraise to expand and refine its infrastructure. To date Bump has raised $3.5 million, including the newly announced seed round.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2023

PredictionStrike, founded in 2019 by Deven Hurt and Brad Chabra, operates an online marketplace where users buy virtual shares of athletes across the NFL, NBA, MLB and UFC. Share prices are set by an in-house algorithm that incorporates player performance and trading demand, and the product is modeled after a stock market. The company has processed $60 million in transactions and reports more than 175,000 users, up from $15 million in transactions and 100,000 users a year earlier. PredictionStrike generates most revenue via a 2.5% transaction fee and offers a subscription tier with lower fees and additional perks; it also aims to sell aggregated data on athlete popularity and trading patterns in the future. The team has been investing raised capital into product development and outside hires, and Hurt has led the company while completing Harvard Law School. PredictionStrike is available in about 40 states but has faced regulatory scrutiny, including an Ohio investigation and a cease-and-desist letter from New Jersey; the company says it operates as a “game of skill” and will apply for licenses where required. PredictionStrike operates a live marketplace that lets fans buy and sell virtual shares of athletes, with prices driven by real-world performance and user demand. The platform functions like a stock market—each game acts like an earnings report—and supports portfolios, trading, and social engagement features. The company plans to launch a premium membership in fall 2022 that will add social features (friends, leaderboards, reward-based referrals) and advanced trading tools. PredictionStrike is adding new sports ahead of major seasons, starting with soccer and followed by women’s basketball, tennis, and golf. The team has partnered with athletes and agencies (notably VaynerSports for MMA) to produce content and drive engagement. Since the return of sports after 2020 the company has processed over $15M in transactions and grown to more than 100K users. PredictionStrike operates a performance-based sports trading platform that lets users buy, sell, and trade virtual shares of professional athletes using real money. The platform functions like a live stock market, enabling users to build portfolios and trade in a live market where share prices react to players' real-world performance and fan demand. Prices update with each game or match, which the company compares to earnings reports. PredictionStrike also plans to leverage its data analytics to provide real-time fan-intelligence insights to athletes, agents, retailers, ticket sellers, and others in the sports business. The company intends to use new funding to expand its team, further build out its technology, and increase marketing to attract new users. Since the return of sports after the 2020 COVID-19 hiatus, PredictionStrike has completed over $3M in transactions. The platform was co-founded by Deven Hurt and Brad Chabra and is based in New York City.

Participated · Equity · May 2023

Qualifi provides an audio-based, on-demand asynchronous phone interview platform that lets recruiters send, share, and track interviews at scale. The product is designed to speed up hiring, mitigate bias, and preserve a human touch while enabling recruiters to interview hundreds of candidates in minutes. The company was founded in 2019 by Darrian Mikell, Devyn Mikell, DeSean Prentice, and Keenan Jaenicke and is based in Indianapolis, IN. Its founding team are alums of the Techstars Anywhere Class of ’21. Qualifi recently raised growth funding and intends to use the proceeds to expand operations and further develop the platform. Qualifi provides an audio-based platform that enables recruiters to phone-screen multiple candidates simultaneously using pre-recorded questions over a standard phone call. Because there’s no need for scheduling or phone tag, recruiters can vet seven times more candidates per day on average. The platform captures rich, actionable data to help recruiters make better, less biased hiring decisions and integrates with more than 30 top Applicant Tracking Systems. Companies across industries — from small businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises in healthcare, call centers, warehouse, logistics, construction and hospitality — used the platform to qualify tens of thousands of candidates in 2021. Led by CEO Darrian Mikell and based in Indianapolis, Qualifi plans to use new funding to add AI, ML and NLP capabilities and to expand go-to-market efforts with additional marketing and sales resources. Founded in 2019 by Darrian Mikell, Qualifi provides a platform that enables recruiters to create one-way interview experiences using audio and voice over standard phone calls. The product is designed to eliminate scheduling, reduce communication times with candidates, and capture data to help recruiters scale screening efforts. The company completed accelerator programs including Be Nimble’s Pitch Pardi and TechStars Anywhere as part of its early growth. Qualifi plans to use recent funding to grow its business through sales and marketing and to further optimize the platform. The team emphasizes phone-based audio responses to streamline early-stage recruiting workflows.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2021

WorkTorch operates a service-industry career platform that offers job postings, candidate screenings, scheduling features, candidate matching, and talent-management tools. The company is led by Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall and is based in Wichita, Kansas. WorkTorch reports a roster of over 40,000 service-industry applicants actively looking for jobs and more than 60 paying corporate clients, including mid-size and national service companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Homewood Suites by Hilton. The platform is used by employers for hiring and talent management across the service sector. The company plans to expand its city footprint using new funding to enter multiple new markets. QuickHire is a career discovery platform focused on connecting service workers with job and advancement opportunities. The company officially launched in April 2021 and is run by co-founders Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall. QuickHire serves over 60 paying clients, including Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and Homewood Suites by Hilton, and has more than 11,000 job seekers on the platform. The business is growing amid a prolonged tight labor market in the service industry and currently targets the Wichita and Kansas City metro areas. Management plans to expand across the Midwest and add skilled-labor verticals in 2022. QuickHire recently raised financing to invest in technology and expand its team.