Participated · Series B · May 2022

Pachama develops technology that harnesses satellite data and AI to deliver insights on how forests sequester carbon, protect wildlife, and support local livelihoods. The company provides tools that help companies identify and invest in high-quality reforestation and conservation projects and helps land stewards estimate carbon, start projects, and secure funding. Pachama has evaluated projects worldwide and developed Pachama Original projects in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, and has served clients such as Salesforce, Nespresso, Shopify, and Boston Consulting Group. In Q3 2023 the company reported 57% year‑over‑year growth in credits retired, underscoring increased demand for its rigorously vetted projects. The additional capital announced in the extension will fund R&D in AI applied to geospatial data and expand products and services for companies and project developers. Pachama also announced board appointment of Ebony Beckwith as an independent board member as it scales its nature-based climate solutions. Pachama is a San Francisco-based technology company that leverages satellite imagery, remote sensing and machine learning to measure the carbon stored in forests and monitor forest growth over time. Through its platform, responsible companies can confidently invest in high-quality forest conservation projects verified by Pachama’s evaluation process. The company says it has worked with 46 forest project developers in 14 countries, reviewed over 150 forest projects globally and counts more than 800 sustainably-minded organizations as customers, including Salesforce, Microsoft, Nespresso, Airbnb, Netflix, Softbank, Vuori, and Flexport. Pachama intends to use the Series B proceeds to continue building a scientifically rigorous, technology-based approach to forest carbon credit verification, acquire talent, expand efforts to reach corporate and forest developers, accelerate R&D, and scale the technology needed to transform carbon markets. Diego Saez Gil is CEO and co-founder and the company is based in San Francisco, CA. The new round brings Pachama’s total investment secured to $79M. Pachama operates a verified marketplace for forest carbon credits that combines satellite imagery and machine learning to improve transparency and verifiability. The company says its technology enables validation, monitoring and measurement of forest projects to support corporate carbon-offset purchases. Pachama launched in 2020 and has attracted paying customers including Mercado Libre, Microsoft, Shopify and SoftBank, and received a public shout-out from Jeff Bezos. The startup has recruited talent from companies such as Google, Facebook, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI, Microsoft, Impossible Foods and Orbital Insights. Pachama plans to use new funding for product development and continued expansion of its marketplace. Financially, the company raised $15 million in its latest financing and has amassed nearly $24 million in capital since its 2020 launch. Pachama provides remote verification and monitoring of forestry offset projects using satellite imagery and AI to measure carbon captured by forests. The company offers enterprise tools to onboard and monitor carbon removal projects, creating new levels of measurement, monitoring, and verification. Pachama said it will scale its forest restoration and conservation emissions‑reduction monitoring service. To support that effort it raised $5 million in fresh funding, bringing total capital raised to $9 million. The product is positioned as timely amid Western US wildfires and ongoing deforestation globally. Founder Diego Saez‑Gil lost his home in the California wildfires earlier this year, and investors cited growing corporate demand from businesses with ESG commitments. Pachama builds a marketplace to connect verified reforestation projects with buyers of carbon offsets and provides monitoring and management services using satellite imagery and sensors. The company verifies projects approved by existing certification bodies and seeks to bring trust and independent validation to carbon markets. Founder Diego Saez-Gil launched the effort after observing deforestation impacts firsthand and the company currently lists 23 forest projects in Brazil, Peru and multiple U.S. states (California, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maine). Pachama raised $4.1 million from a consortium of investors to create the marketplace and its monitoring software. Its business becomes profitable only if carbon prices exceed about $15 per ton; today only California and European markets have reached that level. The team sees regulatory demand (for example CORSIA for airlines) as a potential driver of future offset demand and plans to scale listings and verification to meet that demand.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2022

The Expert launched in 2021 to let anyone book one-hour video consultations with top interior designers. It began with 60 designers and now has over 140 designers advising thousands of clients across 50 countries, with more than 1,500 designers on the waitlist. Many experts average 147,000 Instagram followers, which drove 85% of the company’s organic traffic in 2021 and helped produce 35% repeat transactions. The company generated over $5 million in revenue in its first 12 months, and found that over 45% of clients had furnishing budgets above $50,000 (33% above $100,000). Buoyed by a $12 million Series A, The Expert is expanding into e-commerce with a Showroom launching this summer featuring over 60 home brands, and plans to test a "The Expert Vintage" site. The company will not warehouse goods and will use a drop-ship model, and it plans to deploy the new funds into hiring, technology development and marketing while roughly doubling headcount by year-end. The Expert provides a marketplace for 1:1 video consultations with leading interior designers, using the Zoom API and designer profiles where clients can book, view rates, and upload floor plans and inspiration. The platform currently features 85 designers and reports a 700-designer waitlist, targeting a high-end clientele willing to pay $300–$2,500 per hour. The company takes a 20% commission on transactions and says it will hit $1 million of bookings after its first quarter following an early February launch. Founders Jake Arnold, a celebrity interior designer, and Leo Seigal, a YC alumnus and serial founder, built the product after demand surged during pandemic lockdowns. The Expert positions itself above competitors like Modsy and Havenly by focusing on top-tier designers and a premium experience. The product aims to broaden designers’ reach and monetization by enabling remote consultations and streamlined booking and review flows.

Participated · Series B · Feb 2022

Founded in 2017 by Brian Verne and Ishaan Sutaria, Wave Sports + Entertainment owns and operates more than 100 social media channels that span every sport from basketball to cricket. Its flagship Instagram accounts—including WAVE.TV, Greatest Highlights, No Huddle, Best Goals, and Break Ankles Daily—each attract more than one million followers. Collectively, the company reaches 24 million followers, generates 725 million monthly content views, and drives 50 million monthly engagements. Content is produced through a decentralized newsroom model that allows dedicated sports fans to create and curate material tailored to their communities. The company focuses on delivering short-form, high-impact sports content on the platforms where fans already spend their time. Proceeds from its recent funding will be used to expand the network’s reach and invest in new original content initiatives.

Led · Seed · Jan 2022

Masters is an app that lets users train with world‑class athletes through four‑week guided, on‑demand training programs. Courses are cohort‑based, presented in high‑quality video, and the iOS app is live after a 2021 beta. The company has signed athletes including Shaun White, Emma Coburn, Kai Lenny, Ada Hegerberg and Petra Kvitova. Masters was founded in 2021 by Greg Drach and Christian Dorffer (the founders of Midnight Runners) and Daniel Taschik (former CTO/co‑founder of Dubsmash). The startup closed a $2.7M seed round and plans to use the capital to sign new athletes, launch an Android app and improve the product. Founders describe the product as a premium “interactive training documentary” format to translate elite athletes’ routines into actionable programs for consumers.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2021

Contact is a marketplace and back-end platform that lets creators showcase portfolios, take bookings, manage jobs and receive payments through the product. It launched in October 2020 focused on fashion models and has since onboarded almost 600 creatives and over 1,400 clients — including Depop, Farfetch, Nike, Vivienne Westwood and Vogue — with users growing 100% year‑over‑year. Creators can accept or reject bookings via the web (and soon a mobile app), while businesses can discover talent with filters, shortlist candidates, book jobs and pay creators through the platform. Contact does not take money from creators; it levies a 20% fee on transactions charged to booking companies. The company raised a $1.9M seed round led by Founders Fund and plans to use the financing to expand beyond modeling into photographers, stylists, videographers and other creative verticals. Founder and CEO Reuben Selby, a fashion designer who has worked with Nike, Thom Browne and JW Anderson, leads the company alongside CTO Josh McMillan; the stated vision is to become a scalable back-end solution across the $104.2B creator economy.