Participated · Seed · Mar 2021

Grovara operates a proprietary B2B global marketplace that connects U.S. natural and organic consumer brands with vetted international retailers. The platform, launched in 2020 and built on a decade of exporting experience, provides pricing, brand and market insights and a modern B2C-style user experience for B2B commerce. Grovara connects brands such as GT’s Living Foods, Wholesome Sweeteners, Honey Stinger, True Citrus and That’s It with retailers including Walmart Mexico, Cencosud, Whole Foods U.K. and Costco Taiwan. The company announced a $5.5 million seed financing and plans to use the proceeds to expand sales and support resources in key regions, appoint leadership for brands, sales and business development, add supply-chain team members, roll out marketing initiatives, develop global partnerships, and continue product enhancements. Leadership changes accompany the fundraise: Abu Kamara moved to CEO, Peter Groverman to Chief Innovation Officer, and David Pottruck joined as lead investor and Executive Chairman. Grovara expects to onboard 200 new brands and 350 additional retailers in 2021 and positions itself to lower export barriers in a natural & organic products market the article values at $327 billion (U.S. brands $110 billion). Grovara is building a B2B e-commerce portal to make international trade easier for U.S. natural food and wellness manufacturers. Founded in 2010 by Peter Groverman and Abu Kamara, the company focuses on simplifying export sales for small and medium-sized food and beverage brands. Grovara has worked with a number of food and beverage companies since its founding and is developing its platform with help from Jon Zack’s agency EggZack and partner incubators. A late-2016 $100,000 investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania is being used to expedite development, with a beta launch planned for early 2018. The company counts seven employees and hired its first full-time employee in June; logistics are run from BFTP’s TechVentures in Bethlehem while sales and tech teams are housed at Dreamit Ventures in West Philadelphia. The founders plan to onboard more Pennsylvania-based natural food brands when the beta platform launches.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2019

Vengo Labs is a NYC-based retail tech company that builds digital kiosks serving consumer packaged goods and advertisements, combining online shopping with instant access to products. Its kiosks are deployed across college campuses, gyms, hotels and other venues, with more than 1,000 units in the field. The company plans to expand its network fourfold in 2019 to reach over 100 million consumers per month. Vengo will use its new capital to scale presence in colleges and gyms and to begin testing new applications, initially targeting the beauty industry. Led by co-founders Brian Shimmerlik and Steven Bofill, Vengo says bringing Arcade Beauty and SPINS on board provides strategic CPG expertise to accelerate growth. Financially, the company completed a $7M Series B which will support its planned expansion and product testing. Vengo (Vengo Labs) develops compact, touchscreen digital vending machines deployed in hotels, gyms, college campuses and other venues nationwide. The units sell convenience items like phone chargers and snacks while providing advertising and data-collection capabilities. The founders trace the concept to 2012 and grew the business from a NYC Next Idea prize into a funded startup. The company has about 12 employees and plans to use new funding to scale production—building roughly 550 machines this year with demand likely to push that higher. Earlier strategic investors include Gary Vaynerchuk, Tony Hsieh, David Tisch, Brad Feld and Nas. Currently the founders are working with Shark Tank investors on a deal to finance further production. Vengo Labs builds glass-front mini vending machines that sell consumer items while serving digital advertisements on the machine face. The company reports revenues split approximately 50/50 between product sales and advertising and records about 280,000 active consumer engagements per month across roughly 60 machines in NYC. Brands including Uber and Mondelez have run promotions on Vengo’s platform, which it positions as an interactive point-of-purchase media channel. Vengo manages design, software and remote operation, and has partnered with CC Vending to handle logistics and fulfillment. The product began as an ancillary project to TaxiTreats; the team is pursuing expansion into new cities and product verticals, testing ideas like Bitcoin ATMs and planned installs in buses and taxis, and is seeking international partners (including a Berlin pop-up). Vengo makes compact touchscreen vending machines that dispense convenience products such as gum, mints, hand sanitizer, lotions, body spray and condoms; each machine holds six SKUs and up to 100 items. Machines accept credit-card payments only and are designed for installation in bars' bathrooms, hallways near restrooms, office buildings by elevators and similar indoor locations; two units are already live in FunBars locations. The company began as TaxiTreats, testing vehicle-mounted units in NYC taxis, but those remain in mobility testing due to engineering challenges, prompting a shift to slightly larger, stationary machines. Vengo provides and installs machines for free at select locations and splits revenue with location partners, though it declined to disclose specific revenue numbers or manufacturing costs. Machines are built in the tri-state area, and the new investor group includes partners with consumer manufacturing, distribution and brand relationships to aid scaling. Future plans include experimenting with additional beauty or tech products and deploying TaxiTreats units with transportation partners once mobility testing is complete.