Participated · Equity · Aug 2017

Emoov, part of Mashroom proptech, offers a data-driven instant buyout (instant-buyer) service that provides guaranteed offers to speed up property flipping and tackle transaction chains. The core product delivers guaranteed offers intended to reduce the roughly 30% of UK transactions that fall through and the fees associated with chain delays. To underwrite the guaranteed-offer flow, Emoov has arranged capital via a multi-million-pound credit facility in partnership with Selina Finance. Selina Finance is backed by GFC and Picus Capital, who therefore indirectly support Emoov's funding arrangement. Emoov plans to pilot the instant-buyer model across select UK areas before a nationwide rollout. The company estimates an addressable market of up to 50% of transactions, worth as much as £100bn a year. eMoov is an online real estate agent in the U.K. that now describes itself as a “hybrid estate agent,” combining automated processes with real people on the ground. The company offers a full estate agency service including valuations, floor plans, EPCs and photography alongside its tech platform. eMoov says new capital will be used to further enhance its technology platform and to increase marketing spend via a newly engaged marketing team. The startup previously raised £3 million and has picked up £9 million in new backing in the disclosed round. The disclosed round is still open and the company says it could add a further £3 million in the coming weeks. Founder Russell Quirk has commented on consolidation in the sector but indicated he does not think mergers or roll‑ups make much sense for the business model. eMoov is an online estate agency led by CEO and founder Russell Quirk, based in Brentwood, UK. The company sells residential properties for home sellers using a fixed, lower-fee approach. It leverages technology intended to make the selling and buying process transparent. The business attracted both retail and venture investors in its recent fundraising. Management has indicated plans for a further round in early 2016. An IPO or private sale is anticipated in the next few years. eMoov operates as an online estate agent that handles house sales rather than rentals. Founder and CEO Russell Quirk launched the business in 2010 after selling his family estate agency. The company aims to move property-sale transactions online to reduce the administrative fees charged by traditional agents. eMoov competes in a heated UK proptech market alongside rivals such as EasyProperty, OpenRent and Purplebricks. The article states the online estate-agent sector takes roughly 5% of the UK home-selling market and is doubling in size each year, indicating room for growth. eMoov recently raised £1.5m in a new funding round led by London VC firm Episode 1.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2015

Ardusat, based in Salt Lake City, UT, offers a platform and curriculum that enables K-12 students and teachers to conduct multidisciplinary experiments in space. Its core product lets users remotely upload and control experiments on small satellites (cubesats) that contain sensors to collect educational data. The company is led by President Sunny Washington. Ardusat plans to use the seed proceeds to expand its platform. In the six months since launching, the company has won nearly 50 customers across 12 U.S. states and six countries. The business had secured $1M in seed funding at the time of the report.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2010

Tonchidot develops augmented-reality products centered on Sekai Camera, an app available on iPhone, Android, iPad and the web. The company introduced an OpenAir API to allow third parties to deliver content within Sekai Camera and has built a Sekai Apps platform for third-party social, location-based and AR games. Its SoLAR initiative (Social, Location, Augmented Reality) hosts titles such as third-party action game Kaboom and the Twitter/AR hybrid CooKoo. Tonchidot says it will add more SoLAR titles and roll out mobile payment solutions, Facebook and Twitter connectivity and other features. The company was presented at TechCrunch50 and uses its platform strategy to expand third-party game distribution and engagement. Tonchidot operates Sekai Camera, an augmented-reality service that overlays virtual items and tags on the real world using the device as a viewfinder. The app adds a social layer, allowing users to add virtual items and see tags as they hold the device up to their face. Sekai Camera launched in Japan a few months before the article and quickly became the top app on the Japanese iPhone App Store. The company says that within four days 10% of all iPhones in Japan had the app installed. Major companies have formed partnerships to insert sponsored tags into Sekai Camera's virtual world. Tonchidot closed a $4 million Series A led by DCM, with existing investor ITOCHU Technology Ventures participating.