Participated · Seed · Jan 2020

dot.LA is a news and events company dedicated to covering L.A.’s startup and tech ecosystem. The company, launching in 2020 and co‑founded by Spencer Rascoff, will report on new companies, funding rounds and other aspects of the local startup community and will host events to bring the community together. At launch its newsroom will have at least five journalists and it is actively hiring additional reporters and editors. Its editor‑in‑chief is Joe Bel Bruno; other journalists named include Tami Abdollah, Ben Bergman, Rachel Uranga and Eric Zassenhaus. dot.LA closed a $4M seed funding round to support its launch.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2018

AppOnboard operates Buildbox, a no-code game engine that enables creators to build and publish 2D and 3D games to platforms including the App Store, Google Play, Steam, PC, and Apple TV. The company has seen rapid creator adoption, adding thousands of new users per week and reporting a 550% increase in global market share over the past three months. Nine games built on Buildbox reached the Top 100 most popular games globally in the last three months, and a Buildbox-made mobile game, Vegan Run, briefly reached number two in the app store charts. AppOnboard plans to use new capital to scale operations and expand headcount across product, engineering, marketing, and support to serve its growing creator community. It will also pursue creator-focused initiatives such as closing the user feedback loop, implementing user-centered design processes, and releasing more frequent product updates. The company shifted into game development after acquiring Buildbox in June 2019 and has recently appointed Mike Seavers as CEO, who has reoriented the business toward a more user-centric, product-focused approach. AppOnboard is a Los Angeles, CA-based mobile technology platform that enables developers to preview apps and games in high-end experiences served inside other mobile apps and games. Its Full-Fidelity Demos and Chronological Heat Maps visualize user engagement to deliver actionable insights during testing. The platform helps developers acquire high-quality users and optimize onboarding experiences and monetization funnels post-install. The company intends to use the Series A proceeds to further accelerate development and adoption of its app demo technology. Financially, AppOnboard raised $15M in this Series A and has raised $20M in total since its founding. Led by CEO/co‑founder Jonathan Zweig and COO Bryan Buskas, the company also maintains offices in San Francisco and Seattle. AppOnboard develops interactive, patent-pending Full-Fidelity Demos that let users experience mobile apps before choosing to download. Its technology reproduces core loops and onboarding, carries demo progress into the downloaded app, and includes anti-fraud vetting plus chronological heat-map, sight/sound/motion and touch analytics for developers. The company works with major game publishers including Zynga, Glu, Jam City, Scopely and Pocket Gems to drive higher-quality user acquisition and reports engagement and tutorial-completion rates at or above actual games. AppOnboard's demos also serve as an R&D and concept-evaluation tool that can facilitate updates without App Store resubmission. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Los Angeles, AppOnboard was co-founded by Jonathan Zweig and Adam Piechowicz; Zweig previously founded and sold AdColony to Opera in 2014. The company has raised a $4M seed round to scale its product and commercial partnerships.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2018

Beauty By Design operates a marketplace that delivers skincare solutions based on over 10,000 personalized combinations tailored to a user’s unique skin. The platform combines esthetician expertise with an ingredient-matching algorithm to recommend a cleanser, moisturizer and a treatment (such as a serum, toner, eye cream or exfoliator). Product sets are curated to produce accurate skincare matches across varied skin profiles. The company said it will use the new funding to continue to expand operations and broaden its business reach. The raise supports growth of its marketplace and product-matching capabilities. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2017

Rollick provides a marketing platform enabling retailers and manufacturers to deliver individualized online and in-store experiences. The company focuses on the powersports, RV and marine industries and aims to drive loyal buyers into a retail-established network. Rollick raised $5.6M in seed funding to support growth and expansion. The firm plans to hire additional sales and support employees in Austin and to fund a national rollout in Q1 2018. It launched pilots in central Texas through the rest of 2017. Leadership includes CEO Bernie Brenner, President Amit Maheshwari and COO Mike Timmons.