Participated · Seed · Oct 2025

Dialogue AI offers a vertically-integrated platform that automates the entire customer-research workflow—from study design and participant recruitment to live AI-moderated interviews and instant analysis. Its conversational AI conducts dynamic, probing interviews that combine the depth of qualitative research with the speed and scale typically associated with surveys. The system links directly to existing business tools, builds longitudinal context, and produces enterprise-grade reporting through a consumer-simple interface. Founded in 2025 by Benjamin Lo, Justin Hoang, and Hubert Chen—alumni of Apple, Reddit, Snapchat, Twitter, and Nextdoor—the Los Angeles-based company already counts Wayfair, Square, Nextdoor, and Suno among its customers. Dialogue AI positions itself as a solution for marketers, designers, engineers, and creators who need rapid insights without traditional research bottlenecks. With its recent seed financing, the startup plans to accelerate product development and expand go-to-market efforts so that any organization can access high-quality customer feedback instantly. To date, the company has raised $6 million and has not disclosed additional financial or user metrics beyond its initial customer list.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2023

Believer is a stealth game studio founded by ex-Riot execs Michael Chow and Steven Snow that aims to build large multiplayer open-world games and original IP where player choices matter. The studio says it will pursue technology development only when necessary to realize its vision and also intends to build franchises across broader entertainment like film and TV. Believer favors platform parity — aiming to make experiences available across many platforms rather than pursuing exclusivity. The company explicitly rejects NFTs while expressing interest in generative AI and responsible application of AI to enhance tools and gameplay without replacing human creators. Believer is in stealth, has made several senior hires from Riot, Bungie, Microsoft and others, and will use funding primarily to expand its team. The founders expect a three- to five-year timeline before a first product launch and emphasize maintaining player- and product-focus during that period.

Led · Equity · Mar 2022

Creatively is a New York-based job platform for creatives that enables users to showcase portfolios, find work, and receive payments. The platform launched in May 2020 and has attracted more than 275,000 creatives and 2,000+ brands. Last year the company introduced CreativelyPay, developed in partnership with fintech startup Orum, which speeds bank payments to same-day and removes net 30 payment terms for eligible creatives. Following an $8M funding round, Creatively plans to expand its product and engineering teams, ramp up growth marketing and data capabilities, and accelerate rollout of its exclusive payment feature. Leadership includes co-founder Stacey Bendet and Chief Product Officer Joe Indriolo; the company is led by CEO Gregory Gittrich. Creatively operates a portfolio and recruitment platform for designers, photographers, illustrators and other creative professionals, offering highly customizable portfolios. Employers post creative jobs on the platform and completed work can become pieces in an artist’s portfolio. The company also runs Creatively Classes, a popular free monthly series taught by experienced creatives to provide skills, mentorship and inspiration. Creatively says it has more than 125,000 creatives on the platform and that 650 companies — including HBO, Tom Ford, SKIMS, Nickelodeon, Ro, CNN and The Gap — have used it to recruit. The startup launched last May and was founded by Stacey Bendet and Joe Indriolo; Greg Gittrich is cited as CEO. Link Ventures’ involvement includes a connection to its incubator Cogo Labs, which is intended to help grow revenue and lower customer acquisition costs.

Participated · Series A · Jul 2015

Omaze operates a social‑impact fundraising platform that offers participants the chance to win high‑value experiences and prizes in order to raise grants for nonprofits. The company gained notoriety for celebrity experiences and has expanded offerings to include one‑of‑a‑kind cars, travel, and multi‑million‑dollar homes. Omaze expanded into the UK and reports sustained 30%+ month‑over‑month growth there after piloting a talent‑driven model of high‑value prizes and weekly car offerings. The company plans to use new capital to replicate the UK model across Europe, scale into new markets, and offer even larger prizes. Financially, Omaze has generated over $150M in grants to charities in its first nine years, has raised over $160M supporting more than 400 charities, and projects generating more than $300M in the next two years. Launched in 2012, Omaze attributes three consecutive years of over 100% growth to its expanded prize offerings beginning in 2019. Omaze operates a prize-driven fundraising platform that initially built its user base through celebrity-centric campaigns and has shifted toward organizing its own prize campaigns such as cars, luxury vacations, and recently luxury homes. The company still runs talent campaigns but views in-house prizes as more scalable and better aligned with causes it wants to support. Omaze has expanded geographically, recently launching in the United Kingdom with plans to move into Western Europe and Asia. Performance of the average campaign has quadrupled over the past 18 months, and company revenue has increased by 500%. To date Omaze has raised more than $130 million for charity and has set an ambitious goal to become the first for‑profit company to donate $1 billion in a single year. It plans to use new funding to expand luxury home campaigns and introduce additional campaign categories. Omaze partners with celebrities and nonprofits to create online fundraising experiences, replacing traditional charity auctions with raffle-style entries. Users can buy one entry for $10 (and multiple entries) with tiered perks for larger contributions. The company produces campaign videos and handles analytics, social distribution, and transactions for partner charities. Since launch it has offered more than 150 experiences that have impacted over 100 charities and received donations from 160+ countries; a recent Star Trek campaign generated over 300 million media impressions and donations from more than 68 countries. The founders, Matt Pohlson and Ryan Cummins, started Omaze after being inspired by a traditional charity auction. The new funding will support expansion beyond headline campaigns toward a self-serve model that allows any charity, school, or individual to raise funds on the platform.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2011

TaskRabbit operates an online labor marketplace that matches pre-screened 'Runners' with people who need tasks completed. The platform exposes an API that third parties use to outsource tasks (examples cited include Astrid and Producteev). TaskRabbit has expanded from its Boston origins to outposts in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orange County, New York City, Portland, San Antonio, Seattle and San Francisco and grown from two to 53 employees over four years. The company recently launched Deliver Now to offer anytime delivery and compete with Postmates, and is planning to tailor the platform around verticals such as household chores. Reinstated CEO Leah Busque says the company will use new funding for aggressive expansion, including international entry into London. Financially, TaskRabbit has raised a total of $38M following the new $13M C-round. TaskRabbit operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for real-world labor where people post tasks and local contractors (“Runners”) bid to complete them. The service is live in five U.S. cities (Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles) with over 2,000 Runners and sees about 9,000 tasks per month. The company monetizes by taking a 13%–30% fee on completed tasks and has tripled net revenue since its Series A in May. TaskRabbit is investing its new capital in mobile: building an Android app and refining its iOS experience. The team is roughly 35 people and plans to hire 25–30 more in product, engineering and design. Management is pursuing aggressive U.S. expansion (Seattle, Portland, Austin, Atlanta) and has stated intentions to expand internationally. TaskRabbit is a two-way online marketplace that connects people who need tasks done with vetted task "runners" through a posting, bidding and payment platform. Runners undergo a three-step background check and the platform includes messaging, alerts, payments, reputations, gamification (points, leaderboards), meetups and text notifications to keep participants engaged. The service has a community of over 1,500 task runners and handles thousands of tasks posted monthly, with an average task response time of 10 minutes. It monetizes by taking a 15% fee on tasks and has raised $1.8M in seed/angel funding plus a $5M Series A. Founder Leah Busque plans to use the new financing to expand beyond San Francisco and Boston and to double the company's 13-person team, hiring engineers and sales. Shasta Ventures led the Series A and its partner Sean Flynn will join TaskRabbit's board. TaskRabbit operates a marketplace that pairs users with part-time personal assistants (called runners) who complete errands and a growing set of virtual tasks. The service has more than 300 runners and accepts tasks from thousands of users in Boston and San Francisco, with San Francisco matching Boston in task volume. TaskRabbit takes a 12–28% cut of each paid task; the average task pays $20–$25 and top runners can earn more than $20,000 a year. Runners undergo background checks, are classified as independent laborers, and are paid only after users confirm task completion; over 80% of customers are repeat users. The company, founded in Boston, has expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area and plans further expansion to cities such as Chicago, Austin, and Portland. Product experiments include group buying and a potential “panic button”; the company is not yet profitable.