Led · Equity · Mar 2022

Clean Origin is the largest U.S. retailer of purely lab-grown diamond jewelry and a wholly owned subsidiary brand of Great Heights Inc., selling lab-grown diamonds, engagement rings and jewelry direct-to-consumer online. The company emphasizes an environmentally conscious, conflict-free approach: each diamond is lab-grown, molecularly identical to mined stones, 100% real, 100% ethical and independently certified. Founded in 2017 by Alexander Weindling, Ryan Bonifacino and industry veterans, the team set out to disrupt how diamonds are developed, sourced and sold. Clean Origin plans to use new capital to scale operations, strengthen its supply chain, invest in omnichannel retail experiences, leverage cross-border Indian–American synergies, and build a fortress balance sheet to further dominate the lab-grown engagement ring market. Seed investors included Terry Burman and other early backers named in company disclosures. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

Participated · Series B · May 2019

KaiOS builds a lightweight operating system for advanced feature phones, enabling handset makers to ship low-cost, app-capable devices. The company currently lists 41 handset models running its OS, with the cheapest devices retailing for about $10. KaiOS began life in 2017 as a fork of Firefox OS and grew with strategic partners and OEMs such as Google, TCL and Nokia. To date the company says it has shipped over 170 million devices and has around 100 million active users, representing an estimated 0.07% share of the total mobile market. KaiOS faces declining feature-phone sales and strong competition from ever-cheaper Android smartphones. The startup plans to use new capital to build out its business in sub-Saharan Africa and expand into new markets. Its last disclosed outside funding was a $50 million round in 2019. KaiOS develops a lightweight operating system that powers "smart feature phones" used in devices from Nokia and Reliance Jio. The platform has been building native integrations of Google services such as Maps and Assistant and counts partners including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Orange, MTN, Qualcomm, and TCL. KaiOS targets first-time and upgrade buyers in emerging markets with long-battery, durable devices, while also addressing developed-market users seeking pared-down phones. Financially, KaiOS raised $50 million in its latest round led by Cathay Innovation, bringing total funding to $72 million after a prior $22 million strategic investment from Google. The company has shipped 100 million handsets across 100 countries. Valuation was not disclosed, though PitchBook estimated about $43.75 million last year and CEO Sebastien Codeville said the valuation is "definitely up." KaiOS builds an eponymous lightweight operating system for feature phones that supports native apps and smartphone-like services including search, maps, voice assistant and media apps. The project began in 2017 in the U.S. as a fork of Mozilla’s Firefox OS and maintains offices in North America, Europe and Asia. KaiOS powers devices from OEMs such as Nokia (HMD), Micromax and Alcatel and works with carriers including Sprint, AT&T and India’s Reliance Jio. The company has shipped more than 40 million KaiOS phones to date; Counterpoint reported 23 million shipments in Q1 2018 and an 11,400% year‑on‑year increase. Google invested $22 million to help fast‑track development and global deployment and to integrate Google Search, Maps, YouTube and the Google Voice Assistant across more KaiOS devices. KaiOS mixes dedicated apps and HTML5 web apps (Twitter and Facebook are already available and WhatsApp is said to be coming), targeting users in markets where feature phones remain prevalent.

Participated · Series B · May 2019

KaiOS Technologies develops KaiOS, a mobile operating system for smart feature phones, and is led by CEO Sebastien Codeville. Its flagship platform has shipped on more than 120 million devices across over 100 countries. KaiOS is built on HTML5 and open web technologies to deliver a rich app experience on devices with limited memory, requiring as little as 256MB RAM. The platform supports 3G and 4G/LTE, Wi‑Fi, GPS, and NFC, and works with chipsets from Qualcomm, Unisoc, and MediaTek. KaiOS partners with ODMs/OEMs and carriers such as AT&T, China Mobile, HMD, MTN, Orange, T-Mobile, and Transsion. The company says it will use the new funds to continue expanding operations and its business reach; it has raised $82.4M in total to date. KaiOS Technologies, based in San Diego, provides KaiOS, a mobile operating system for smart feature phones built on HTML5 and other open web technologies. The platform is optimized for low‑memory devices (running on as little as 256MB of RAM) and supports 3G, 4G/LTE, Wi‑Fi, GPS and NFC while working with Qualcomm, UNISOC, and MediaTek chipsets. It offers access to apps such as Google Assistant, YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, and Twitter and distributes apps via the KaiStore and a KaiOS Developer Portal. Using KaiAds, content owners can monetize apps and brands can reach a new user segment. The company has shipped more than 100 million devices in over 100 countries and employs over 260 people. It plans to use the funds to expand into new markets, invest in product portfolio R&D, and accelerate growth of the KaiOS developer community.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2016

Wonder Workshop makes small, programmable robots that children can control via mobile devices to learn computer science and collaborate. Its robots are used in about 12,000 elementary schools and the company runs a robotics competition to teach STEM concepts. The startup recently launched Cue, a $200 coding robot aimed at ages 11 and up with multiple sensors and customizable avatars. Leadership says the company is expanding product focus beyond core instruction for 8–10-year-olds to offerings that better engage pre-teens and teens. Wonder Workshop announced plans to use new funding to expand its global footprint and invest in development of future devices. The company is Bay Area–based and led by CEO Vikas Gupta. Wonder Workshop makes the Dash and Dot robots and companion apps to teach coding and computer science to kids as young as six. The company’s products include advanced sensors, lights and sounds that turn CS principles into hands-on learning and play. Wonder Workshop reports use in more than 7,000 elementary schools (4,000 in the U.S. and 3,000 internationally) and distribution in six major U.S. and Canadian retailers, with children in over 37 countries using its products. The company announced a $20 million Series B financing to fund international expansion, with a particular focus on China and Asia, plus product investment and management growth. Recent hires include CFO Monica Hushen as the company scales operations. Wonder Workshop was founded in 2012 and is based in San Mateo, California. Wonder Workshop builds Dash & Dot smart robots and companion apps that let children learn coding concepts while exploring creative play. The company offers four free apps tailored to different developmental stages and emphasizes problem solving and curiosity. Founded in 2012 by Vikas Gupta, Saurabh Gupta and Mikal Greaves and based in San Mateo, CA, Wonder Workshop launched in December 2014. Since launch the company reports over $3.5M robots have been delivered to 37 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Europe and several Asian markets. Financially, the company has raised $15.9M to date and recently secured an additional $6.9M. The new capital is earmarked to expand into new markets and to develop manufacturing and strategic business channels. Play-i builds Bo and Yana, educational interactive robots designed to teach children programming fundamentals via companion tablet and mobile apps. Founded in 2012 by Vikas Gupta, Saurabh Gupta and Mikal Graves, the company presents visual sequences of commands that introduce concepts like subroutines, functions and loops. Commands can be recorded in languages including Java and Python so users can increase complexity as they progress. Play-i has more than 11,000 pre-orders and has signed over 200 schools for pilot programs, and it is working with 100+ developers for early API access. The company is focused on improving its software and app interfaces for multiple age groups and plans a broad API release when it begins shipping Bo and Yana later this year. Play-i intends to pursue manufacturing and retail/eCommerce distribution partnerships and plans to double its 15-person team over the next year, prioritizing engineering hires. Play-i builds interactive, toy-like robots—Bo and Yana—controlled via a companion iPad app that presents visual sequences and simple commands to teach programming concepts through play, music and storytelling. The app records commands and can display them in programming languages such as Java and Python so learning scales with age. Founders include Vikas Gupta (former head of consumer payments at Google), Saurabh Gupta (led iPod software at Apple) and Mikal Greaves (led product design and manufacturing at Frog Design). The company has over 10,000 pre-orders and plans to ship the robots next summer; it will spend the next six months finalizing manufacturing and distribution partnerships. Play-i intends to sell through its website and via online and brick-and-mortar retailers, though retail deals are still in the works. The product enters an emerging education market alongside offerings like Cargo-Bot, Move the Turtle and Bee-Bot as STEM education demand grows.