Participated · Series A · Sep 2024

AmpUp provides a smart EV charging platform and energy management solutions aimed at simplifying charging and balancing energy usage. The company operates a network of thousands of EV charging stations deployed for customers across North America, including JLL, CBRE, Domino’s Pizza, Goodyear, Under Armour, and Hilton. Led by CEO Tom Sun, AmpUp focuses on technology that supports a cleaner, smarter grid through intelligent charging and energy management. With the completion of its Series A, the company plans to accelerate market expansion and continue innovating within the EV charging sector. The round reinforces AmpUp's position in the commercial charging market and supports its ongoing product and go-to-market initiatives. AmpUp, founded in 2018 and based in Santa Clara, California, provides comprehensive EV charging services in North America. The company operates a platform and services for electric-vehicle charging deployment and management. In December last year Hyundai Motor acquired a minority equity stake in AmpUp, reflecting strategic investor interest. AmpUp previously received an investment from Hyundai's Cradle team in 2020 (amount undisclosed). Beyond those disclosed investments, the article provides no revenue, user, or other operating metrics. No explicit future product plans for AmpUp were detailed in the article. AmpUp is a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of an electric vehicle (EV) charging operating system. Its platform manages a network of Level 2 and DC Fast chargers deployed across North America for customers including JLL, CBRE, Domino’s Pizza, Goodyear, Under Armour, and Hilton. The company reports its network represents over 30% of all networked Level 2 charging stations in Connecticut and over 94% of all private chargers in the state. AmpUp also reports a 96.4% charge session success rate and nearly 100% system uptime across its integrated network. Led by CEO Tom Sun, AmpUp plans to deepen its presence in Connecticut by opening a new office in East Hartford in early 2024. In December 2023 the company received a $1.7M grant from the State of Connecticut’s Public Utility Regulatory Authority to support EV charging demand flexibility. AmpUp offers a proprietary EV charging operating system that centralizes management of multiple charge stations and locations, simplifies charge scheduling, and optimizes energy use. The platform provides increased visibility into key charging metrics and infrastructure control for organizations and drivers. AmpUp's software has been deployed across North America and Europe and serves customers including JLL, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Citizens Bank, Hilton Garden Inn, and Holiday Inn. The company plans to accelerate fleet electrification by making smart charging solutions easier to scale and implement. A strategic investment and collaboration with Holman is intended to integrate AmpUp's charging data with Holman's vehicle operating data to reduce data fragmentation, mitigate fraud, and eliminate visibility blind spots for fleet operators. AmpUp is a Cupertino, CA-based software company and network provider that builds EV charging solutions for drivers, hosts and fleets. Its platform enables businesses and property owners to efficiently manage multiple charge stations and locations from a single interface. AmpUp operates across North America, including all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The company's network and software have been deployed for customers such as JLL, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn. The business is led by CEO and co-founder Thomas Sun and combines network services with charging management software. The article does not disclose revenue, user counts, or other financial metrics.

Participated · Series A · Aug 2024

H3X designs unusually compact, efficient electric motors that deliver high power density for aerospace, marine and heavy-industrial use. Its motors are reversible (can act as motor or generator), include integrated power electronics, and are stackable to scale to higher power levels. The company has demonstrated kilowatt-class products and is working to complete development of megawatt-scale units aimed at hybrid-electric aircraft and marine applications. H3X has customers and contracts across aerospace, marine and the military, including two commercial aviation customers targeting 19‑ and 30‑seat aircraft. The team has grown from the founding group (CEO Jason Sylvestre, CTO Max Liben, COO Eric Maciolek) to about 33 employees. Financially, H3X generated “in the millions” in revenue last year, expects 5x growth this year, and is targeting profitability in 2026. H3X develops advanced electric motors and integrated motor drives (the HPDM family) aimed at enabling sustainable aviation and other high-performance markets. Its product line includes the HPDM-30, HPDM-250, and HPDM-3000, covering 30 kW to 3 MW using the same core scalable technology. The company emphasizes continuous specific power above 10 kW/kg, high efficiency, and vertical integration of electromagnetics, power electronics, additive manufacturing, motor control, and thermal systems. H3X performs design, manufacturing, and testing in-house at its new headquarters and production facility in Louisville, Colorado. It targets fully-electric and hybrid-electric aircraft while also pursuing defense, marine, specialized ground vehicles, and power-generation markets. Founded in 2020, the company aims to become a leading supplier of aviation-grade electric propulsion systems by 2030; its latest funding brings total capital raised to $9M to accelerate technology development and scale production.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2024

Hoodie Analytics is a Chicago-based cannabis data and technology company that offers a market insights and product data management platform. Led by CEO Wes Shepherd, the platform tracks daily movements of the cannabis market and gives users access to people, processes, and data aimed at building winning brands. The company recently launched its new platform and plans to use the financing to accelerate market expansion. Hoodie strengthened its leadership and governance with the appointment of David Navama and the addition of Timur Sultanov to the board, alongside observers Andy Sturner and John Campbell. The business is focused on scaling its product and commercial reach within the cannabis sector. Hoodie Analytics operates a cannabis data and technology platform that tracks over 3.5 million daily unique offers across more than 8,000 dispensaries in the U.S. and Canada, capturing pricing, promotion, stocking status, distribution, and share-of-shelf metrics. It delivers next-day insights, enabling businesses to access market trends and data within hours. The company combines massive-volume data processing with application development and an easy-to-use interface intended for roles from brand salespeople to dispensary inventory managers. Hoodie aims to track every product in every dispensary every day and to build a product graph that connects industry participants. The executive team includes alumni from IRI, Nielsen, NPD, and Numerator. Hoodie says the recent fundraising will allow it to massively scale product and sales efforts and has added strategic advisory board members to support growth.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2024

Letter AI is an AI-first platform that unifies content, coaching, learning and buyer engagement to help go-to-market teams close deals more effectively. Instead of relying on static playbooks, the software ingests live CRM data and customer interactions to generate personalized guidance in the flow of a deal. Enterprises such as Lenovo, Adobe, Novo Nordisk, Plaid, Zip, RingCentral, Kong and SolarWinds use the system across more than 30 countries. The company was recently named G2’s Highest Momentum Leader in Sales Enablement and earned 21 badges in the G2 Winter Reports, underscoring strong customer adoption and satisfaction. Headquartered in Chicago, Letter AI was co-founded by CEO Ali Akhtar and CTO Armen Forget. With its latest capital infusion, the firm plans to scale product development, grow its global team and accelerate go-to-market efforts as it positions itself as an AI-native alternative to fragmented legacy tools.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2024

UpSmith is a technology company addressing labor shortages with an initial focus on serving skilled trades companies across the United States. Its core product, Boost, is a rewards software platform that empowers workers to prioritize a company’s most pressing needs by awarding points for business- and client-critical efforts. Boost integrates with an employer’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to automate productivity tracking and coaching with no app download and no logins. Through the platform, skilled trades companies deploying HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services can expand revenue, improve output, and lower costs. Led by founder and CEO Wyatt Smith and based in Dallas, TX, UpSmith recently raised $5M in Seed funding. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and broaden its business reach.