Participated · Seed · Mar 2023

Tiamat Sciences reinvents recombinant proteins by producing animal-free proteins in plants, aiming to accelerate the next generation of biotech across cellular agriculture, regenerative medicine, vaccine production, and more. The company supplies growth factors and other recombinant proteins at a fraction of conventional cost with a reduced carbon footprint. Led by Founder and CEO France-Emmanuelle Adil, Tiamat targets customers and partners in cellular agriculture and regenerative medicine. The new funds will accelerate product validation in those markets and help establish strategic industry partnerships. Tiamat is preparing for production in March 2023 to commercialize its products and is planning site expansion in North Carolina and Belgium. Financially, the company has now raised a total of $5.4M after the recent seed extension. Tiamat Sciences develops animal-free growth factors and recombinant proteins using a proprietary plant molecular farming approach that combines biotechnology, vertical farming and computational design. CEO France-Emmanuelle Adil founded the company in 2019. The company aims to drastically reduce the cost of growth factors used in cellular meat media—Adil estimates current costs at $2 million per gram and says Tiamat could make them 10× cheaper and ultimately 1,000× cheaper by 2025. Tiamat plans to release its first product by the end of the year, send samples to customers for testing, and pursue partnerships in 2022. It relocated from Belgium to North Carolina in May and is building a pilot production facility in Durham, targeting carbon-neutral production. The company says its approach could also be applied to regenerative medicine and vaccine production.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2023

Quell is a London-based startup that sells resistance-band hardware combined with gamified software to make home workouts more engaging. The system launched with the fighting game Shardfall and the company plans to develop at least two additional titles. Quell is taking preorders at $249 with plans to ship this year. The company does not currently offer a subscription but is exploring that avenue. Management says the Series A will fund software expansion and a headcount increase from about 30 to over 50, with hires focused on game and core platform development. Quell has discussed VR as a possible future avenue but has no specific plan to add VR functionality at this time. Quell develops a hardware-plus-software fitness system centered on the Gauntlet, a harness with built-in sensors and customizable resistance bands that translate punches, dodges and other movements into game controls. Its games and hardware are initially targeted at PC, Mac and mobile platforms, with console support listed on the roadmap but deferred due to hardware-approval complexity. The company is building an in-house game studio and has hired industry talent such as Peter Cornelius as Game Production director to create immersive experiences that encourage natural movement. Quell expects its first hardware to ship by the end of 2021 and is working on transitioning prototypes to production, improving adjustability and expanding the set of exercises its sensors can detect. Financially, Quell closed a $3 million seed round and ran a successful Kickstarter that raised £501,341 (about $670,000) from nearly 3,000 backers; its valuation increased from an initial $10 million target to $15 million by the final close.

Participated · Seed · May 2022

Optivolt is a San Francisco-based provider of shade-tolerant, full-stack solar technology that enables self-powered IoT devices, 5G infrastructure, military equipment, robotics and electric vehicles. The company has developed a full-stack shade-tolerant solar platform designed to keep machines and critical infrastructure powered through adverse conditions. Optivolt intends to use the financing to expand operations and broaden its business reach. Leadership includes founder & CEO Rohit Kalyanpur, co-founder & CTO Daniel Kofman, and COO Bobby Ram. In May 2022 Optivolt closed an $8.2M seed round, bringing total funding to date to $10.1M. Optivolt Labs has developed a scalable technology stack for solar integration that includes efficient power-transfer systems, solar developer and simulation tools, and cloud-based APIs to enable fleets to self-charge in ambient light. The company positions its tools as retrofit-friendly, able to integrate with existing batteries and device designs without major changes. Optivolt is early-stage and four people strong; founders Rohit Kalyanpur and Paul Couston dropped out of University of Illinois to start the company and entered Techstars Chicago. The team plans near-term field testing with several enterprise fleets that have signed on for pilot programs. Growth priorities include hiring additional engineering talent and validating performance in the field before broader commercialization. Founder Kalyanpur has also received mentorship and connections through a Thiel Fellowship and expects to relocate to the Bay Area soon.

Participated · Series A · May 2022

Voyage Foods formulates cocoa‑free chocolate and peanut‑/hazelnut‑free spreads using ingredients like grape seeds and sunflower kernels to provide sustainable, scalable alternatives to cocoa and nuts. The company operates a 25,000 sq ft factory in Oakland and plans to open a 300,000 sq ft factory in the Midwest to meet growing demand. Voyage sells both B2B ingredients and a consumer branded lineup (peanut‑free and hazelnut‑free spreads) and has launched peanut‑free spreads nationwide at Walmart. It has an exclusive global B2B distribution deal with Cargill for nut‑free spreads and cocoa‑free chocolate, which management cites as validation of scale and applications expertise. Management says some of the funding for the Midwest factory was deployed from the balance sheet prior to the latest round, and new capital will help fill out that facility and capacity. The company holds eight patents at various stages and is positioning its products as price‑competitive with compound chocolate while addressing cocoa supply volatility and sustainability issues. Voyage Foods develops proprietary technology to recreate non-fibrous foods using whole, natural, sustainably produced ingredients while preserving familiar flavor and experience. The company has finalized three products to date: cacao-free chocolate, a peanut-free spread, and coffee made without coffee beans. Its products are free of the top nine major allergens. The peanut-free spread is slated to launch in select in-store and online retailers in Q2, and the cacao-free chocolate will launch as an ingredient with a commercial partner in Q3. Led by CEO Adam Maxwell, the company plans to use new capital to accelerate growth and expand operations and business reach. Financially, the Series A brings its total funding to date to $41.7M.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2022

Aether Diamonds produces diamonds from atmospheric carbon via a proprietary production process that yields stones atomically identical to mined diamonds. The company uses clean energy throughout its supply chain and says its process has a net-negative carbon footprint. Aether is a certified B‑Corporation focused on transforming air pollution into valuable goods and materials and has committed to removing 20 metric tonnes of CO2 from the air for every carat sold, which it says offsets the average American’s carbon footprint by more than a year. Founded in 2018 by CEO Ryan Shearman and COO Daniel Wojno, the company is based in New York. Aether intends to use the new funding to scale its carbon utilization technology.