Participated · Seed · Dec 2023

Letterhead is a software platform that automates creation, distribution, and monetization of email newsletters for publishers and marketing teams. It uses AI to let users manage multiple newsletters with the workflow of one while preserving personalized and bespoke content. The product integrates with a customer's existing content management system and email service provider to minimize switching costs. Letterhead is trusted by publishers of more than 1,800 newsletters and counts customers such as Techstars and Salon. The company aims to streamline audience engagement and help teams create targeted content products at scale. Following the new funding, Letterhead plans to further develop its platform, expand its team, and accelerate growth. Letterhead is a product spinout of Miami community publisher WhereBy.Us and offers a hosted software solution that combines ad systems, paid-subscription features and newsletter content tools in one product. Its core features include a self-service ad/payment system, paywalled subsections for subscriptions, text editing and template formatting, with analytics and additional ESP options planned next. The product is modular so customers can use parts of it alongside other email service providers and existing tech stacks. Since soft-launching earlier this year, Letterhead has signed a range of customers including startups, nonprofits, political groups and local news publishers, and is a partner in WordPress’ News Pack program. WhereBy.Us’s five city newsletters are described as comfortably profitable via ads overall (having recovered from a pandemic dip earlier this year), and the team is leveraging that operational experience to sell Letterhead.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2018

Stringr began as a marketplace connecting news organizations with videographers and has expanded into a broader cloud-based video production platform. The company reports a network of more than 100,000 videographers and has added tools for live streaming, transcription, and editing to streamline production. Some customers use Stringr just for footage, while others rely on it as a purely cloud-based solution for producing news programming when staff cannot come into the office. Stringr also launched Embed Studios, a division that uses its videographer network to create branded content for clients including Corcoran, Zillow, HBO Max, Amazon, TikTok, Mastercard, United Way and MGM. The company says demand has increased amid COVID-19 as media companies seek more cost-effective production workflows. Financially, Stringr has raised new funding and says its total capital raised is $7.25 million. Stringr operates a comprehensive video marketplace that enables media organizations to source custom footage, edit and publish under tight deadlines. The company leverages a nationwide network of more than 60,000 responsive videographers who provide broadcast-quality video in every major U.S. market. Stringr collaborates with The Associated Press by providing a selection of daily video stories for syndication through AP’s VideoHub marketplace. The company was founded in 2014 by Lindsay Stewart and Brian McNeill, who met at The Wharton School, and is based in New York City. Stringr raised more than $1M in the latest funding and has raised $4.6M to date. It intends to use the new funds to accelerate growth, including integration of its service into partners’ products. Stringr operates a marketplace that lets media customers post requests for footage and receive submissions, often in under an hour. The platform is open to professional videographers and casual contributors, but emphasizes quality through a curation team that works with both newsrooms and shooters. CEO and co-founder Lindsay Stewart previously worked as a TV news producer for ABC, Bloomberg and Fox News, and says the service was born from newsroom needs. Stringr currently hosts 10,000 videographers on its platform. The company's present focus is editorial footage for breaking news and evergreen stories, with potential to expand to other businesses that need video. Stringr plans to apply learnings from pilot markets toward a nationwide push.

Led · Equity · Jun 2015

Moonlighting operates a mobile, on-demand marketplace that helps freelancers and small businesses hire or be hired directly from mobile devices. The platform includes tools such as proposals, invoices, mobile payments and CRM to help users run personal small businesses. The company plans to integrate blockchain into its product by transporting over 700,000 profiles onto the EOSIO protocol, making profiles portable and including hiring data like reviews, referrals, recommendations and job verifications. Moonlighting says it will embed its mobile management toolset and job verifications into users' blockchain profiles and supports its platform with its own token. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Jeff Tennery, the company positions itself to empower millions of independent workers worldwide. The article does not disclose specific revenue or user-count metrics beyond the planned profile migration. Moonlighting is a Charlottesville, VA–based mobile, on-demand application that creates a virtual marketplace enabling communication between those needing tasks done and those capable of fulfilling them. Led by CEO and co-founder Jeff Tennery, the app allows people to earn extra money and get tasks done instantly. The company plans product expansion and market development to grow its nationwide footprint. The recent financing will support continued expansion and nationwide growth to more than 2,000 communities. McClatchy’s planned integration into its print and digital properties across 28 U.S. markets and 14 states should broaden Moonlighting’s reach. Moonlighting closed $1.9M in funding to pursue these plans.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2014

Watchup, founded in 2012 and led by CEO Adriano Farano, delivers personalized newscasts compiled from trusted global news sources to tablets, smartphones and other devices. The service curates content from outlets including PBS NewsHour, CNET, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Univision. Its app is available on Apple’s App Store, Google Play, Google Glass and the Amazon App Store. The company is based in Stanford, CA and is currently hiring. Financially, Watchup has raised $4.25M to date. The product focus is on assembling a tailored TV‑style news experience across multiple consumer platforms. Watchup offers an iPad app that aggregates short video news segments into user-assembled playlists sourced from outlets such as the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, and Univision. Version 2.0 automated playlist assembly based on user preferences so segments start when the app opens. Co-founder Adriano Farano, a former journalist, says the company has validated its assumptions and is ready to expand to new platforms; it previously released an app for Google Glass. The product aims to create a new version of the daily newscast with an effortless, personalized video experience. Financially, Watchup announced $1 million in additional funding and previously raised $500,000 in angel funding in 2012; the company says the new money is not a Series A. Watchup is a StartX-incubated iPad video app that lets users select segments from a curated set of news channels and assemble them into automated playlists. The app currently aggregates content from 35 channels and offers premium placement partnerships with The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, and The I-Files. Founders position the product as a modern ‘‘time for news’’ experience, aimed at delivering high-quality, professional news in a compact, viewable playlist. Future product plans include more personalization and automation so Watchup can surface news with minimal user effort. Live coverage is not currently planned, as the team views the live space as crowded. Financially, the company has just closed a $500,000 angel round to support its development and growth.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2014

Wanderful Media aggregates newspaper circulars, coupons and local retail advertising for delivery on mobile devices and in shopping tabs on newspapers' websites. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company launched in 2013 with an iOS app and has since released its Find&Save app for Android while rolling out location-based services for both platforms. It was formed with a $22 million investment in 2012 and has attracted additional funding from large media owners. The company manages national retail advertising relationships while regional newspapers handle local and regional retailer relationships and placement. Since launch Wanderful has generated less than $10 million in revenue but places content in front of about 100 million monthly uniques. CEO Ben Smith says the company focused on mobile and tablet to reach audiences and modernize the circulars experience. Wanderful Media’s core product is Find&Save, a local deal service that aggregates offers from newspaper circulars, retailers, and other data sources. The company recently relaunched Find&Save with added personalization and social features, including shopping lists and the ability to follow retailers and other users. The relaunch followed Wanderful’s acquisition of Travidia, the print-to-digital conversion company that started Find&Save. Find&Save integrates with newspaper sites (for example the San Francisco Chronicle) and the company says its network reaches 100 million unique visitors each month. Executives report positive response to the relaunch and plan to use new funding to increase distribution and to launch mobile and tablet apps as a next step. Financially, Wanderful has raised an additional $9 million in the latest round, bringing total funding to $36 million. Wanderful Media digitizes newspaper circulars and local retailers' coupons via its Find n Save platform. Find n Save powers deals and shopping sections on newspaper websites in more than 250 markets and the company planned to expand to 600 sites in 2013. Wanderful acquired Travidia to convert print coupons to digital and operates a conversion center in Chico, Calif. The company raised $22 million from 12 newspaper publishers, who also serve as key distribution partners. CEO Ben T. Smith IV said retailer adoption drove publisher partnerships and that tablet and smartphone apps were imminent, with the tablet positioned as the core discovery-shopping experience and phones for in-store alerts. Management plans to extend the underlying technology beyond Find n Save into other industries over time.