Participated · Seed · May 2020

Phaidra develops intelligent control systems that use reinforcement learning to orchestrate power, cooling, and workload management across AI factories—data centers purpose-built for AI workloads. By coordinating these historically separate systems, the company unlocks efficiency gains that reduce costs and environmental impact. Current products include AI agents for liquid cooling, chiller plants, and workload scheduling, all designed to operate beyond the limits of traditional controls logic or human intuition. Phaidra already collaborates closely with NVIDIA to design next-generation AI infrastructure and plans to deepen this partnership. Proceeds from its latest financing will accelerate agent ecosystem development and support expansion to additional global operators. The company was founded by Jim Gao, Vedavyas Panneershelvam, and Katherine Hoffman, who collectively bring experience from Google DeepMind, AlphaGo, Trane, and Raytheon. Headquartered in Seattle, Phaidra positions itself at the intersection of profitability and sustainability in an energy-constrained world. Its recent Series B raise of more than $50 million underscores investor confidence in its mission.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2015

C-SATS provides a cloud-based performance management system that uploads operating-room video to a secure server and uses an algorithm to match recordings with procedure-specific assessment tools. The platform dispatches vetted, trained experts (including non-surgeons) who are paid to review videos and assess surgical performance, completing reviews within two to three hours. C-SATS positions this workflow as faster, less biased, and far less costly than conventional peer review, arguing it can improve surgeon skill, productivity, compliance, and help reduce costs for hospitals. The company markets a software-as-a-service model and pays reviewers per assessment; customers named in the article include Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Toronto, University of Connecticut, Virginia Mason, Ford Health System, and Florida Hospital Nicholson Center. The startup spun out of the University of Washington, is headquartered in Seattle’s University District, and has been on the market for about nine months. Financially, C-SATS recently raised $2.5 million and has also received grant funding from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and the University of Washington.