• Shiru

  Participated · Series A · Oct 2021

  Shiru operates ProteinDiscovery.ai, an AI-driven ingredient discovery platform that hosts a database of 33 million natural molecules from plants and microbes and connects corporate partners to novel, high-performance ingredients. The platform is designed to shorten R&D timelines, reduce development costs, and accelerate time to market for flavor, skincare, agricultural, and advanced-materials applications. Shiru has commercial partnerships with companies such as Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition and Griffith Foods and has launched patented products including OleoPro™ and its active protein, uPro™. The company says it powers discovery across multiple molecular classes and plans to expand its ingredient portfolio and commercial offerings beyond proteins. Shiru is based in Berkeley, California, and is led by Founder and CEO Dr. Jasmin Hume. As of the announced round, the company has raised a total of $36 million. Shiru, founded in 2019 by Dr. Jasmin Hume, develops plant-based ingredients using precision fermentation to replicate the taste, texture and functionality of animal-derived proteins. The company offers a catalog of six colorless, flavorless ingredients that can be added to baked goods, sauces, burgers and yogurt. Its targets include replacing common animal proteins and functional additives such as methyl cellulose. Shiru says its ingredients achieve similar cost and versatility at scale to animal analogs and aims to have ingredients ready for customers by early next year. The company forecasts first commercial products containing its ingredients could appear on grocery shelves as early as 2023. Shiru is Emeryville-based, currently employs 22 people and plans to double headcount while moving into new Alameda headquarters and scaling manufacturing. Shiru is a computational biology company that produces novel, functional proteins for food applications leveraging molecular design. Led by Jasmin Hume and based in San Francisco, the company uses computational approaches to create ingredients aimed at reducing reliance on animal-based foods. Their core products are designed proteins intended to be sustainable and nutritious alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. Shiru raised $3.5m in seed funding to support its growth. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations. Investors in the round include Lux Capital, Y Combinator, S2G, CPT Capital and others.

• Jumbotail

  Participated · Series B · Jan 2021

  Jumbotail is a full-stack B2B marketplace and retail platform for food and grocery that serves small and medium kirana stores across India. Its offering combines internal warehousing, a last-mile delivery network that provides next-day storefront deliveries, and a fintech platform for financial services, credit solutions, and payments. The company says its revenue is driven by organic, unassisted digital orders placed by kirana stores via its app. Jumbotail plans to invest the new proceeds in expanding its suite of go-to-market products and services to help new and emerging brands reach mass-market consumers through its nationwide kirana network and to develop AI-driven technologies to increase customer wallet share. It also intends to hire across sourcing, technology, category management, product management, and marketing teams. Co-founders S. Kartik Venkateswaran and Ashish Jhina say the company aims to achieve operational profitability across its network by the end of 2024. Jumbotail operates a B2B wholesale marketplace and built its own supply‑chain network to enable last‑mile delivery and two‑day shipping to neighborhood stores. The startup supplies point‑of‑sale devices and integrates kiranas with hyperlocal delivery partners such as Dunzo and Swiggy, and it provides working capital via partnerships with financial institutions. Jumbotail also runs a private‑label portfolio to standardize product quality and ensure year‑round supply. The company serves more than 30,000 neighborhood stores across India and says it has been operationally profitable for nearly three quarters. It plans to use fresh capital to broaden its private‑label catalog, hire talent, and expand into more regions, especially several cities in South India. Jumbotail operates a wholesale marketplace that connects tens of thousands of kirana stores with brands and traders, offering supply-chain logistics, a mobile ordering app, POS integration, and credit solutions. The company currently operates only in the Bangalore area and provides its app and support in four languages (English, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada). Management says it is on track to clock $100 million in GMV in Bangalore by year-end. The startup employs about 140 people and an additional 400 staff working in its supply-chain network. Jumbotail plans to invest the fresh capital in developing AI solutions to improve its supply chain network and to make it easier for brands to join the marketplace. It faces competition from larger players including Amazon India, Flipkart, Reliance Retail, BigBasket, Grofers, Udaan and ShopX. Jumbotail operates an online wholesale marketplace for groceries. The Bengaluru-headquartered company began operations in the southern city of Bengaluru and plans to gradually expand across the country. Founded in 2015, the company initially raised $2 million from Nexus. Jumbotail has raised $8.5 million in a funding round led by Kalaari Capital with participation from Nexus Venture Partners. The company said it will use the new funds to enhance technology and operational capabilities. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

• Slice Labs

  Participated · Series A · Sep 2018

  Slice Labs provides Insurance Cloud Services (ICS), a subscription, API-based platform powered by machine learning, advanced data analytics and Ph.D.-level behavioral science that enables insurers to quickly ideate, experiment, test and deploy on-demand digital insurance products. ICS includes API-based pricing, rating, licensing, claims processing and automated underwriting, and the platform has been used to launch products across the U.S. and seen significant global demand. Slice launched in 2016, introduced ICS to market in January 2018, and rolled its digital on-demand platform out to all 50 states last year. Top insurers including XL Catlin, Legal & General and The Co-operators have launched or are developing on-demand offerings on ICS. The company recently hired Chief Growth Officer Philippe Lafreniere in August to support global expansion and insurer adoption. Slice will use new financing to continue expanding its ICS offering on a global scale to meet higher-than-planned demand. Slice Labs built an On-Demand Digital Insurance Platform that enables pay-per-use insurance for homesharing and ridesharing, and offers a turnkey solution for carriers including pricing, underwriting, servicing, and capacity. The company leverages cloud infrastructure, algorithms, and data to lower issuance costs, increase claims automation, and reduce fraud and loss. Since launching in 2016, Slice has focused on direct insurance of sharing-economy assets and on selling its platform to large carriers globally. Slice launched its first homeshare product in October 2016 and has seen double-digit monthly revenue growth while expanding homeshare coverage to 26 states, reaching over 70% of the U.S. population and 82% of the homeshare market. The company plans to have homeshare coverage in all 50 states by the end of 2017, and its rideshare product is in testing and slated for launch soon. The platform is intended to let insurers quickly deploy products for new-economy assets with deeper customer engagement and a turnkey digital experience. Slice Labs builds an on-demand, pay-per-use insurance platform aimed at workers in the sharing and on-demand economy. The company is preparing to launch what it describes as the world’s first on-demand insurance platform, with an initial product rollout planned in the U.S. Slice positions its product as cost-effective, easy to acquire via a tap, and tailored to emerging risks faced by on-demand workers. Since incorporation in October 2015, Slice secured seed funding from Horizons Ventures and XL Innovate and has now received additional funding and a strategic partnership with Munich Re / HSB Ventures. Munich Re’s Digital Partners group is also working with Slice to provide backing for its on-demand insurance products globally to support faster expansion. The article does not disclose revenue, user metrics, deal size, or specific financial instruments. Slice Labs offers insurance products for on-demand workers and providers, starting with rideshare drivers and then homeshare hosts. Its products are transactional so workers pay only for coverage during the time they are working. Slice handles pricing, issuance, billing and claims management but does not hold underwriting risk, writing policies on another insurer's paper. CEO Tim Attia says the company is addressing insurance and liability gaps in the on-demand economy. Slice plans to launch its first products in June and is deciding where to offer coverage first. The company is based in New York City and hopes to integrate insurance offerings with on-demand services' sign-up processes.

No current team members are available.