The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Aug 2026

Stability AI develops and offers a variety of generative AI models for image, music, and video creation, best known for Stable Diffusion. The company has pursued partnerships with major entertainment and gaming firms—such as Universal Music, Warner Music, and EA—to integrate and co-develop AI tools for creative workflows. Founded in 2019, Stability has raised $232 million in total capital following its $76 million Series B. Leadership changes include CEO Prem Akkaraju joining the company in 2024. Stability plans to use the latest funding to expand its creative production product suite and grow its professional services business. The company has also been active in litigation: it largely prevailed in a UK copyright case brought by Getty Images while a related U.S. lawsuit is ongoing, and it faced a 2023 legal dispute with a co-founder.

Led · Series A · Mar 2017

Founded in 1996 as a graffiti magazine, Mass Appeal has grown into a multi-platform media and content company focused on urban culture. Led by CEO Peter Bittenbender, the company produces and develops TV, film and commercial content, provides creative services for blue-chip brands, operates an urban alternative record label and maintains owned media channels across social, web and print. Its work includes the feature documentary Fresh Dressed, directed by Chief Creative Officer Sacha Jenkins and produced in partnership with CNN Films, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. In July 2016 Mass Appeal announced a content partnership with TBS and TNT that includes the digital animated series Storyville and Think B.I.G., a scripted series based loosely on the life and lyrics of the late Notorious B.I.G. The company raised $6M in a Series A led by Universal Music Group. In conjunction with the funding, UMG Executive Vice President Michele Anthony joined Mass Appeal’s board of directors. Mass Appeal is a joint venture reviving the Brooklyn-based, graffiti-focused magazine that was founded in 1996 and shut down in 2008. The current team revived the title earlier this year and is expanding into online content, including web video, photography, social, print, and live experiences. Its site and YouTube channel feature behind-the-scenes content and series such as the "Time Pieces" shorts from Jason Goldwatch. The company frames its work around the core ethics of hip-hop culture but says it goes beyond hip-hop to embrace street art, fashion, and creative instigation. Mass Appeal raised $1.2 million in funding from a mix of traditional firms and figures in the hip-hop world. Rapper Nas (who invested a six-figure sum and serves as associate publisher), DECON, Pusha T, and White Owl Capital are named investors; publisher Peter Bittenbender is co-founder and CEO of DECON.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2016

StreetTeam provides a SaaS platform that onboards and manages decentralized brand ambassadors, capturing engagement data to help brands sell more through word-of-mouth. The product focuses on live events today, and the company claims responsibility for selling over 200,000 tickets to major festivals. Over time StreetTeam has facilitated roughly £15 million worth of goods, and it charges no upfront fees—making money only via commissions when tickets sell. The platform emphasizes non-monetary rewards and fan advocacy rather than paid spammy promotions. The team is positioning the product to bolster sales in live entertainment and to explore adjacent verticals such as gadgets and gaming. Founder Callum Negus-Fancey built the company from earlier promoter work and rebranded as StreetTeam while formalizing the onboarding and analytics tools.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2015

Doppler Labs builds in-ear AR audio products, progressing from mechanical earplugs (Dubs) to the Here Active Listening System and the Here One headphones. The Here Active Listening System lets users live-tune ambient audio (volume, highs/lows, effects) and sold around 15,000 units, serving as a bridge product. Here One adds smarter live audio tuning plus Bluetooth music streaming, turning the headphone into a small in-ear computer. The company has been operating since 2013 and the team is about 70 people. Doppler says the new capital will support the mass-market launch of Here One and continued team buildout. Funding to date totals $50 million. Doppler Labs develops consumer audio hardware and software that lets users curate real-world sound. Its initial product, the mechanical Dubs earplugs, launched in 2014 and has sold nearly 250,000 units. The company introduced the Here Active Listening System, a tiny earbud containing a computer, microphone and speaker that applies EQ and effects to ambient sound. Doppler launched Here on Kickstarter, pulling in more than $600,000 from backers for the first run. The company has added senior product and audio talent from Nike, Amazon, Google, Apple and other firms to advance its technology. Management highlights technical challenges around combining sophisticated software and hardware and developing adaptive filtering and compression engines in a consumer-friendly size and price point. Doppler Labs is focused on wearable tech and aims to “change the way you hear the world.” The company plans to launch an entire product line in September, with its first offering centered on hearing protection. Doppler operates with roughly 30 employees. It has raised a seven-figure seed round from investors including Kal Vepuri, Adrian Aoun and Hank Vigil, among others. Fritz Lanman is guiding Doppler as part of a company‑builder effort alongside a second startup, DWNLD; Lanman previously sold Livestar to Pinterest and remains an active angel investor.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2015

Jelli provides a programmatic ad platform that digitizes how radio broadcasters fill airtime, described as an "AdWords for audio". Its core product enables programmatic audio ad buying across broadcast radio and is being positioned to extend to streamed music and other audio services. The company is working with iHeartRadio (the article notes the company owns 858 radio stations) to build an ad-buying platform for those properties, and Katz Media Group will use Jelli to power Expressway, a programmatic exchange for multiple broadcast radio owners. Jelli raised a $21M Series B to grow the business and expand beyond radio into digital music streaming opportunities. The article cites the broader audio-ad market as a $17.5 billion U.S. business in 2014, underlining the size of the opportunity. The company has raised $37.6 million to date. Jelli is a crowdsourced social radio platform that enables listeners to vote tracks up or down to collaboratively program stations. Launched in 2009, the service delivers user-curated music in apps and through partnerships with terrestrial radio affiliates, now spanning 70 stations across U.S. markets. The application is available on desktop/web, iPhone, and Android, with Android accounting for roughly 50% of usage, iPhone 30%, and web/desktop 20%. The company reported a 250% user-base increase to reach 2 million listeners per month and said it is running about 60 million terrestrial radio spot impressions per month—up 500% year over year. Many partner stations have seen increases in ratings, revenue, online traffic, and Facebook Page likes after adopting the service. Jelli plans to continue product development—particularly its Ad Platform focused on engagement, targeting, and analytics—while hiring sales and marketing staff and preparing to expand internationally. Jelli operates a web-based, user-controlled radio platform that enables listeners to vote songs up or down and dynamically determine what plays on air. The company launched in 2009 and has built support from local radio communities, signing significant syndication deals. In March 2010 Jelli partnered with Triton Media to expand its service across the U.S., including Boston and Philadelphia. Today the service is live in 17 markets across the U.S. and Australia. Jelli closed a Series A to fund market expansion, new product development and team growth. The company is based in San Mateo, CA.