Participated · Equity · May 2023

Glass operates Glass Commerce, an e-commerce marketplace that enables compliant transactions between government buyers and verified vendors, including small businesses, without bids or paperwork. The platform simplifies procurement workflows and focuses on streamlining every single transaction, beginning with small purchases. Led by Founder and CEO Paola Santana, the company targets government agencies and leverages procurement data to speed adoption. Since 2020, Glass has supported government agencies to procure over 5.8 million items from verified businesses across 31 federal, state and local agencies, including the State of Illinois and the City of Seattle. The company plans to use recent funding to accelerate adoption of Glass Commerce and expand its footprint among public-sector buyers.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2018

Haystack TV provides a free, aggregated OTT news stream that personalizes content using big data to tailor news to each user's interests. Launched in 2015 by CEO Daniel Barreto and based in Redwood City, CA, the service aggregates local, national, and international news. Its personalization and big data technology powers experiences across web, iOS, Android, Roku, Android TV, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Vizio TVs. Haystack currently delivers local news coverage to over 80% of the U.S. through partnerships with content providers including CBS Local, Cox Media Group, Gray, Hearst, Meredith, Scripps and weather specialist Praedictix. The company intends to use the new funds to accelerate partnerships and customer growth in the U.S. and Europe. The article reports a $2M funding round from strategic backers. Haystack TV provides a personalized, aggregated video news service that curates 3–5 minute clips into a continuous, lean-back stream for cord cutters and viewers who want more depth than micro-news. It pulls content from over 150 news organizations that publish to YouTube and uses personalization technology that analyzes millions of data points, including social signals, to classify and surface trending and interest-based stories. The app launched on Android tablets and expanded to iPad, iPhone, Android phones and Android TV, supports Apple TV via AirPlay and Chromecast, and plans support for Roku and Amazon Fire TV. The company is pursuing partnerships with publishers and local stations, piloting local news in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, and is testing advertising options such as pre-roll or native ads. Haystack plans to use new funding to double its team from four to eight and to continue improving its personalization technology. It does not disclose user count but reports users have watched millions of videos, with average engagement of 15 minutes per session and 80 minutes per week.