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The Venture Codex

The Graduate Syndicate

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Overview

The Graduate Syndicate is led by Jeff Bussgang, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School (HBS) and co-founder and general partner, Flybridge Capital Partners. They invest in pre-seed and seed stage startups led by recent graduates of Harvard, primarily HBS. In recent years, entrepreneurship has grown tremendously on campus and many valuable companies have been created by recent graduates. Their goal is to bring investors, students, graduates, and friends of Harvard together to build successful, impactful and sustainable companies

Total investments
4
Lead investments
0
Investments · 12mo
1
Active investors
1

Sector focus

  • Education
  • Funding Platform
  • Venture Capital
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Investment portfolio

  • Fazeshift

    Participated · Series A · May 2026

    Fazeshift develops an AI platform that automates accounts receivable tasks, claiming to handle over 90% of manual AR work for finance teams. The company was founded in 2023 by Caitlin Leksana and Timmy Galvin and has rapidly scaled its customer base to dozens of enterprises, including eight unicorns. Fazeshift reported 12x revenue growth in a single year, reflecting strong early commercial traction. Its platform aims to reduce operational overhead and accelerate collections by operating workflows directly with AI. The company is positioning itself as an alternative to legacy, rule-based AR software by leveraging LLM and agent capabilities to automate context-aware financial actions.

  • Hive Health

    Participated · Series A · Jul 2024

    Founded at Harvard and Stanford Universities in 2021 by Camille Ang and Jiawen Tang, Hive Health is a full-stack digital health insurer serving SMEs and startups. The company offers comprehensive HMO plans covering outpatient, inpatient, emergency, dental care, mental health, medicines, and LGBTQIA+ partner coverage through a nationwide network of 1,700 hospitals and clinics and over 60,000 doctors. Hive Health operates a vertically integrated digital platform including telehealth, care coordination, an HR dashboard for employers, an Electronic Medical Records system, and an integrated provider portal for claims management and faster payouts. Prior to this raise the company acquired Health Plan Philippines, Inc. (HPPI), securing a full insurance license and a 37-year nationwide provider network. The company plans to use the funds to grow its team, invest in its technology platform and operations, elevate patient and employer experience, and expand its network to more providers including in remote areas.

  • Boxbot

    Participated · Seed · May 2017

    Boxbot develops a three-dimensional conveyor system designed to increase storage density for parcels inside a significantly smaller footprint. The product shares DNA with systems like Attabotics and Autostore but is tailored specifically for parcel handling. The company pivoted from autonomous last-mile delivery (including a branded van) to warehouse-focused parcel storage after strong customer interest in its package retrieval technology. Boxbot has piloted the system with customers and identified multiple sites for testing across last-mile delivery centers, bonded storage warehouses, and customer pickup locations. Its roadmap for the next year includes deploying production-level systems into real-world operating environments and then scaling across multiple facilities and additional customers. The Alameda-based startup has about 20 employees, is hiring, and will use recent funding to accelerate go-to-market efforts. Boxbot is developing self-driving delivery vehicles that combine robotics and autonomous systems to tackle last-mile logistics. The company was co-founded in 2016 by Austin Oehlerking and Mark Godwin and is based in Oakland, CA. Its team includes engineers with experience at Tesla, Uber, Amazon, Getaround and Northrop Grumman. Boxbot raised $7.5M in a seed round led by Artiman Ventures. With this round the company has raised a total of $9.0M to date. The company previously raised $1.5M in pre-seed funding from Pear Ventures, Afore Capital, The House Fund, The Graduate Syndicate and angel investors. Boxbot is a stealth startup building a last-mile delivery solution that the founders suggest could combine aspects of autonomy and drones. The company was founded by Austin Oehlerking and Mark Godwin, who have backgrounds at Tesla, Uber and in academic robotics research. Boxbot won the Pear Berkeley Challenge and received a $250,000 equity commitment from Pear VC. At the same time it secured seed investments from House Capital, Afore Capital and The Graduate Syndicate. Pear’s $250,000 award includes a provision gifting 10% of Pear’s equity stake back to UC Berkeley. Beyond the prize and seed backers, Boxbot has not disclosed additional product details or financial metrics while remaining in stealth.

  • Baroo

    Participated · Seed · Oct 2016

    Baroo is a full-service pet concierge that operates in urban, luxury multifamily properties across premier U.S. cities. It provides customizable, on-demand services including dog walk/run programs, in-home pet sitting, feeding, vet visits and training, and hosts events such as Yappy Hours and themed holiday parties. Led by co-founder and CEO Lindsay Hyde, the company launched in Boston in 2014 and has since expanded to Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Baroo reports it offers services to more than 50,000 residents nationwide. The company raised funds to grow its presence in existing markets and expand into new cities.

Team

  • Jeff Bussgang

    Managing Partner & Founder

    LinkedIn