Participated · Seed · Nov 2023

Handraise provides an AI platform that helps PR and communications professionals deliver business impact through insights and amplification. The company leverages large language models to surface insights without manual effort. Its NewsAmp product enables users to publish assets derived from press coverage to targeted audiences without the complexity typically associated with building audiences in digital marketing. Handraise was founded in 2023 by Matt Allison and is based in Austin, TX. The company recently closed a $6.4M seed round and intends to use the funds to develop its platform. Founder Matt Allison previously started and built TrendKite, which was acquired by Cision in 2019 for $225 million.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2021

DocSpace is a digital health commerce platform that helps clinicians start, manage, and grow tech-enabled private practices. Its HIPAA-compliant infrastructure provides digital storefronts, custom themes, and back-office tools including scheduling, video conferencing, banking, payroll, and bookkeeping. The platform automates business-formation tasks such as entity formation, licensing, credentialing, and banking to streamline practice launch. Since launching in March 2020, DocSpace has helped hundreds of clinicians build and launch practices and aims to serve more than 4.5 million therapists, dentists, physicians, and optometrists. The company is building DocSpace Pay, an integrated one-click checkout payments experience, to improve payment workflows for patients and clinicians. Founders include CEO Dr. Mario Amaro and CPO Miles Montes.

Led · Equity · Mar 2021

FuelGems produces a nanoparticle fuel additive sold as microdoses (1–5 grams treats 260 gallons) that the company says reduces carbon emissions by 9%, carbon monoxide by 15%, and unburnt hydrocarbons/particulate matter by up to 50% while improving fuel efficiency up to 9%. The additive is low-cost, adding about $0.02 per gallon of gasoline according to the company. FuelGems reports commercial interest from multi-billion-dollar oil and gas companies including BP, Suncor, and Marubeni, as well as from the Australian Department of Defense. The company projects more than $400 million in revenue by year six of operations. Founder and CEO Kirill Gichunts is a serial entrepreneur and investor with prior exits, has invested in over 15 startups, and discovered clean-technology interest while studying at UC Berkeley.

Participated · Seed · May 2019

Backtracks is a B2B monetization and analytics platform for audio that helps podcast publishers, listening apps, aggregators, and ad networks extract value from spoken-word content. Its Open Podcast Analytics (OPA) based platform collects behavioral and performance metrics that podcasters and advertisers need to make informed decisions. The company offers tools for analytics and monetization across the podcast ecosystem. Backtracks was co-founded by Jonathan Gill and Kevin Wright and is based in Austin, Texas. It recently closed a $2.1M seed round to fund product innovation and hiring for key positions to drive growth. As part of the round, Kelly Perdew of Moonshots Capital will join Backtracks' board.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2018

Newchip is an Austin, Texas-based investment marketplace led by founder and CEO Ryan Rafols and co-founder/CFO Judd Hollas. The platform lets new and experienced investors discover opportunities, start investing with as little as $100, and build diversified portfolios while enabling entrepreneurs to raise up to $50 million. The company has opened its marketplace to blockchain and securitized tokens and continually adds new sectors, categories, and hundreds of investment opportunities each month. In 2017, more than 800 listed companies sought about $300 million in investment capital through the platform. Newchip intends to use the funds to expand its operations and broaden its business reach. Backers in the reported round include JadeValue Fintech, Yeoman’s Capital, Spunik ATX, Youbi Capital and Polymath.