Participated · Seed · Jun 2022

Babbly is a speech and language development platform for infants that uses AI to analyze audio and video recordings collected from parents. Its machine-learning models can classify up to three kinds of babbling and detect other vocalizations such as cooing or crying, and the platform recognizes back-and-forth interactions (Turn-Taking) between a child and an adult. Babbly offers activities and tips for parents and is backed by a scientific advisory team of speech and language pathologists and pediatricians. Founded in 2018 and based in Toronto, the company collects recordings to feed its models and aims to help children develop language and social skills at any age. With the CAD 3.2M (USD $2.5M) seed raise closed in March, Babbly plans to bolster its offering to touch on more stages of child development. Esplanade Ventures’ Sheldon Elman will join Babbly’s board as part of the financing.

Participated · Seed · May 2022

Hostfully offers a Property Management Platform and Digital Guidebooks that let professional managers centralize booking calendars, adjust pricing, distribute inventory, automate guest communications, and collect payments. Its platform is used for more than 40,000 properties in 80 countries, and its digital guidebooks (available in 15 languages) are viewed more than two million times each month. The company plans to add capabilities including a native mobile app and multi-unit inventory handling. It also intends to expand its team with hires focused on sales and customer success. Hostfully will use the new funding to accelerate those product and go-to-market initiatives. The company has raised a total of $7.0M to date. Hostfully builds an end-to-end property management platform aimed at helping vacation rental property managers increase bookings and boost revenue. The company was founded in 2015 by Margot Schmorak and is based in San Francisco. Hostfully’s product is positioned for property managers seeking recurring revenue streams from vacation rentals. According to investors cited in the article, the company has a proven model and is generating real recurring revenue. The article does not disclose user counts or exact revenue figures. Recent financing activity indicates continued investor interest in its market and product.

Participated · Seed · May 2022

Claira leverages machine learning to map workforce capabilities and create a dynamic digital twin of an organization’s human capital. The platform helps leaders improve diversity, identify and close resource gaps, provide learning and upskilling opportunities, predict future workforce needs, and hire talent on demand. The company is led by CEO Katie Hall. Claira has more than 10,000 users who added thousands of competencies to their profiles in its first year of activity. The startup will use the new funding to advance its machine learning capabilities and accelerate rollout to key customer segments. Since launching to the public in November 2020, Claira has raised $4.4M in total and was supported by Varnum LLP in Michigan.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2021

Localized operates a career-tech platform that enables employers to recruit from schools without attending in-person career fairs and gives students industry insights from professionals who share their language and roots. The company was founded in 2017 by Ronit Avni and has operations in MENA. Localized focuses on unlocking educated talent for global companies and improving the student-to-employer hiring pipeline. The startup says traction was accelerated by COVID as companies seek diverse, remote talent sourcing channels. Financially, Localized has just secured a $2.2M Seed investment round. The funding is positioned to help the team scale its platform and expand its reach among employers and university programs. Localized uses technology to bring career guidance to college students in emerging markets, connecting them with mentors and associations as they seek employment after graduation. The platform is multilingual and operates in Arabic and English. Localized is live in the Middle East and North Africa across more than 65 career centers, universities and student organizations. The service targets students transitioning from college to the workforce. The company announced plans to expand to India this year. It recently closed a $1.2 million funding round.

Participated · Series C · Sep 2020

Veem is a San Francisco, CA–based global payments network built for businesses that simplifies how companies send and receive funds globally. The platform offers a suite of payment services with trackable transactions and integrates with QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite. Veem is licensed and regulated in each country and state it serves. It is used by more than 225,000 businesses in over 100 countries and focuses on establishing and strengthening partner and supplier relationships. Led by CEO Marwan Forzley, the company aims to save time and money for customers while mitigating risks associated with international transfers. Veem plans to use the new funding to develop a channel partner program to widen its geographic presence. Veem is a San Francisco-based global payments platform built for small businesses. It enables small businesses to send and receive payments in local currencies using multi-rail and blockchain technology and provides integrations with QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite. The company serves 80,000 customers who use the platform to send and receive money in 96 countries. Led by CEO and founder Marwan Forzley, Veem aims to expand its distribution and form strategic partnerships. In September 2018 the company completed a $25M strategic financing round to support accelerated growth in the global payments space. Veem, formerly Align Commerce, is a San Francisco, CA–based provider of global payments solutions for small businesses. Led by founder and CEO Marwan Forzley, the company enables small businesses to pay and get paid globally by intelligently routing payments across different rails, including the blockchain. Veem connects disparate parts of the international payment process to simplify cross-border transactions between business partners. The company closed a $24M Series B and said it will use the funds to expand into more countries and enable payments in additional currencies. Investors in the round include National Australia Bank (NAB) Ventures, GV, SBI Investment, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Silicon Valley Bank, and NAB Ventures’ Melissa Widner will join the board.