Participated · Series A · Aug 2024

Efficient Capital Labs provides revenue-based, non-dilutive financing to B2B SaaS companies that operate across the South Asia–U.S. corridor, evaluating revenue across geographies rather than locally. The firm deploys capital from its own balance sheet and offers loans in USD and INR, with plans to add Singapore-dollar loans by the end of 2024. ECL has originated more than $70 million in financing and tripled to serve over 100 companies from Q1 2023 to Q2 2024. Its accounts receivable outstanding grew sixfold from 2022 to 2023 and doubled again in the first half of 2024, supported by default rates reported as well below industry standards and a 70% repeat financing rate. The company plans expansion into Singapore and other Southeast Asia markets and expects headcount to grow from 25 employees to 30–35 by year-end, hiring for commercial and engineering roles. ECL was co-founded in 2022 and is headquartered in New York. Efficient Capital Labs is a New York–headquartered fintech founded in 2022 that provides 100% non-dilutive, revenue-based financing to B2B SaaS companies operating in the South Asia–U.S. corridor. It advances a percentage of customers' ARR as upfront capital and funds customers through its own balance sheet to offer lower cost and greater predictability than marketplace or investor-dependent solutions. Since starting lending operations in June 2022, ECL has provided funding to more than 50 SaaS businesses and expects to serve over 150 customers by the end of 2023. The company will use the new capital to invest in greater automation and expand its engineering, product, underwriting, sales and operations teams to achieve better unit economics. ECL’s value proposition emphasizes enabling border-agnostic access to capital for companies that earn U.S. revenues while maintaining significant technology and operations in South Asia. Total capital raised to date includes both equity and debt components.

Participated · Series C · Jul 2024

Volley builds voice-controlled games that players operate by speaking to microphone-enabled devices such as smart TV voice remotes, smartphones, and smart speakers. The company develops AI voice interfaces rather than traditional touch or controller inputs to make games accessible to casual players. Volley creates games for the Amazon Alexa platform and in 2023 launched a gaming hub on Roku plus a mobile app for iOS and Android. Earlier this year it released an LLM-powered 20 Questions voice game and announced partnerships with Amazon and LG Electronics at CES to build new AI-powered games. Led by CEO Max Child and James Wilsterman, Volley intends to use its latest funding to expand operations and development efforts. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Volley develops voice-controlled entertainment experiences and games for smart speakers, with a suite of titles on Amazon Alexa and a few on Google Assistant. In less than a year the company has amassed north of 500,000 monthly active users and reports user growth of 50–70% month-over-month. The startup has more than a dozen live titles, with seven to eight in active development. Its breakout hits include Song Quiz (five-star rating across 8,842 reviews) and Yes Sire (five-star rating across 1,031 reviews). Volley currently earns in the five-figure range monthly from Amazon’s developer rewards program and is preparing to add subscriptions and in-app purchases. The company was co-founded by Max Child and James Wilsterman and operates with a team of six in San Francisco.

Participated · Series A · May 2024

Loopit builds mobility management software that enables automakers, dealers and rental car companies to offer vehicle usage models such as car subscriptions and micro-leasing. Its platform is used by customers including Porsche, Subaru, Polestar and SIXT and supports a network of more than 55,000 vehicles. The company has raised $3.95 million in a pre-Series A round to fund expansion into the U.S. market. The round includes existing investors Upswell, Common Sense Ventures and Luxem, plus new backers AeroCorp and RAC venture arm BetterLabs. Co-founder Michael Higgins said consumers are increasingly attracted to vehicle access rather than ownership and that flexible ownership alternatives will become the default. Higgins also highlighted industry shifts from electric and autonomous vehicle technology and said the next significant breakthrough will be transforming the car ownership experience as vehicles incorporate advanced technology. Loopit (Blinker Subscription Pty Ltd) is a Software-as-a-Service platform and professional services company that provides end-to-end car subscription management and billing solutions for automakers, dealerships and startups. Its platform handles both customer-facing touchpoints and the back-office management required to offer car subscriptions. Founded by brothers Michael and Paul Higgins and launched in early 2019, Loopit has expanded into New Zealand (2021) and the United Kingdom (2022). The company currently powers the majority of car subscription providers across Australia and New Zealand and reported a 320% increase in new car subscriptions over the past six months versus the preceding period. Loopit plans to continue developing its proprietary technology while scaling headcount and accelerating revenue growth as it expands globally.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2021

Statespace's core product is Aim Lab, a free-to-play virtual shooting range platform that lets first-person shooter players warm up and practice skills before competitive matches. The platform includes training and coaching tools and match postmortem features that allow players to review footage and identify improvement areas. CEO Wayne Mackey said Statespace plans to bring Aim Lab to mobile platforms imminently, possibly as soon as next month. Riot Games has taken a minority stake in Statespace as a strategic investment to accelerate that mobile transition; Riot did not disclose the terms of the investment. Riot intends to integrate Aim Lab with titles such as Valorant and League of Legends: Wild Rift to support weapon-specific warmups and postgame analysis for esports players. The article did not report revenue, user metrics, prior funding rounds, or a valuation for the company. Statespace’s core product is Aim Lab, a performance-training platform for shooters that teaches aiming and controller skills; Aim Lab now has about 5 million monthly active users and 20 million total players. The company also develops Playerbase, a matchmaking and coaching product, and is pursuing digital health products that use gameplay tests for diagnostics and rehabilitation. Statespace has partnerships with Riot Games, Ubisoft, HyperX and is conducting clinical studies with Mount Sinai, the University of Indiana, the University of Delaware, and Kernel. The company plans console expansions in the fourth quarter and a mobile launch on iOS and Android in 2022, plus broader training for other game genres. Statespace has nearly 100 employees and will use the new funding to expand its coaching programs, analytics, platform support, publisher offerings and digital-health initiatives; to date it has raised over $98 million. Statespace operates Aim Lab, a training platform that replicates popular game physics to give users a practice environment and measure visual acuity and other skills. Aim Lab launched out of stealth in 2017, runs on Steam, and was developed by neuroscientists. The company plans to launch The Academy, a paid course product taught by top streamers and players including KingGeorge, SypherPK, Valkia, Drift0r, and Launders. Its technology is being applied beyond consumer training, including a “Cognitive Combine” with the Pro Football Hall of Fame and grant applications with universities for stroke and cerebral palsy rehabilitation. Statespace has rapidly grown from 2 million registered users and 500,000 monthly active users in May to 5 million registered users and 1.5 million monthly active users today, and the team has grown to more than 40 people. Aim Lab is free to use, the company has not settled on a primary revenue channel, and it is experimenting with streamer/team skins for sale while prioritizing growth. Statespace launched out of stealth in 2017 with Aim Lab, a product that recreates the physics of popular FPS games to help players practice aim while measuring broader cognitive and perceptual metrics. The company was founded by neuroscientists from New York University and its technology analyzes factors beyond kill:death, such as visual acuity across screen quadrants and reaction time. Aim Lab is used by casual players and professionals; Statespace also builds custom dashboards and products for esports teams like 100 Thieves and Philadelphia Fusion. The firm is building an Academy (launching in Q3) with top streamers for advanced tutorials and has partnered with the Pro Football Hall of Fame to create a game‑agnostic “Cognitive Combine.” Statespace is expanding availability with a mobile Aim Lab, Xbox support, planned PlayStation support, and intends to add support for 400 games next month. The company has explored non‑gaming applications, applying for a grant with universities to pursue a commercial stroke‑rehabilitation application. Operating metrics reported by the CEO show about 2 million registered users and roughly 500,000 monthly active users (up 400% since January). Statespace operates Klutch and its flagship product Aim Lab, a practice platform that mimics game physics to help players improve and identify specific weaknesses in visual acuity, aiming and spatial skills. Aim Lab analyzes players’ performance to highlight weaknesses and provide targeted training. The product is on track to soon reach 1 million users. The company is partnering with esports and educational partners — including the National Championship Series as an official FPS training partner and the Pro Football Hall of Fame on a "Cognitive Combine" — and is building an Academy with top streamers for advanced tutorials. Statespace is also researching medical applications of its technology, including an Aim Lab product for stroke rehabilitation. The company has raised $2.5M in a seed round and has $4M in total funding.

Led · Series C · May 2018

Soothe operates a massage-on-demand booking service that connects users to a network of more than 11,000 massage therapists. The company claims a presence in roughly 60 cities worldwide and competes with players such as Zeel. In Q1 it closed a $31 million Series C to support growth and improve economic terms for therapists on the platform. Leadership is changing as founder and CEO Merlin Kauffman moves to executive chairman and former CFO Simon Heyrick becomes CEO. Soothe recently relocated from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and is expanding into new markets including Manchester (U.K.), Australia’s Gold Coast, Pittsburgh, and Hartford, Conn. The company says the financing will help keep therapists in its network by offering pricing that can be up to three times what those therapists would make in their local markets. Soothe is an on-demand massage and wellness company based in Hollywood, California, led by founder and CEO Merlin Kauffman. Its core product is an app and service that lets users schedule same-day massages with licensed, vetted therapists in the privacy of their home or hotel. The service offers a variety of massage options, including Swedish, deep tissue and couples massages, and allows clients to book a customized experience. As of the article, Soothe serves numerous markets including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Indianapolis, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Scottsdale, Seattle, Vancouver (British Columbia) and Washington D.C. In October 2016 the company raised $35M in growth financing led by previous investor The Riverside Company, bringing total funding to $47.7M. The company intends to use the capital to expand into every major U.S. market. Soothe operates an on-demand in-home massage marketplace that lets users book a massage in as little as an hour. The company is available in 12 cities and doubled its roster of cities over the past six months while adding 600 massage therapists to its network. Soothe says it serves “tens of thousands” of clients and is beta testing in New York City with a launch planned in October. Therapists earn about 70% of the billed amount (3.8× the industry standard), and Soothe screens applicants stringently, rejecting roughly 30% of applicants. Management reports 2015 revenue is growing more than 20% month-over-month and plans to launch three new cities per quarter. Over the next two years the company plans to expand into 16 additional U.S. cities and enter international markets. Soothe operates an on-demand booking platform (app and website) that dispatches licensed massage therapists to customers’ homes, with therapists bringing their own equipment. Customers can choose therapist gender and massage types (Swedish, deep tissue, couples); pricing is listed at $99 for one hour, $139 for 90 minutes, and $169 for two hours. The company matches the nearest, highest-rated professional and vets therapists for certifications and credentials, with local liaisons in each market to recruit providers. Soothe reports more than 1,000 massage therapists across six U.S. cities (Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Austin, Phoenix, and Miami) and plans expansion into San Francisco, San Jose, and Washington, D.C. The founder distinguishes the service from pure logistics players by emphasizing service quality, and the company sees opportunities to extend its logistics platform into complementary professional services. Soothe was founded in May 2013, was self-funded for about 13 months, and reported revenue growing roughly 20% month-over-month.