The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Feb 2026

Hook operates an artist-first, AI-driven platform that turns passive listeners into active creators by enabling one-tap remixes and social sharing of licensed music. Launched in 2025, the company works directly with rights holders so that artists keep control and earn from every fan-generated remix. Hook has partnered with major labels such as Universal Music Group and secured catalog access to more than 20 million licensed tracks through deals with Downtown Music’s FUGA, Too Lost, Primary Wave and Avex. Campaigns on the platform have amassed over 250 million social views, and the active user base grew more than 45× in the past year. The open API integrates with leading social and streaming services to maximize distribution while tracking attribution and royalties. Newly raised funds will fuel user-growth initiatives, brand building, and an expanded product roadmap that includes an Android app, richer creation formats, native video recording, and deeper ecosystem integrations. Simmi Singh, formerly Spotify’s podcast strategy lead, has been promoted to COO and CPO to support this expansion. To date, Hook has secured $16 million in total funding.

Participated · Series C · Jul 2024

Volley builds voice-controlled games that players operate by speaking to microphone-enabled devices such as smart TV voice remotes, smartphones, and smart speakers. The company develops AI voice interfaces rather than traditional touch or controller inputs to make games accessible to casual players. Volley creates games for the Amazon Alexa platform and in 2023 launched a gaming hub on Roku plus a mobile app for iOS and Android. Earlier this year it released an LLM-powered 20 Questions voice game and announced partnerships with Amazon and LG Electronics at CES to build new AI-powered games. Led by CEO Max Child and James Wilsterman, Volley intends to use its latest funding to expand operations and development efforts. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Volley develops voice-controlled entertainment experiences and games for smart speakers, with a suite of titles on Amazon Alexa and a few on Google Assistant. In less than a year the company has amassed north of 500,000 monthly active users and reports user growth of 50–70% month-over-month. The startup has more than a dozen live titles, with seven to eight in active development. Its breakout hits include Song Quiz (five-star rating across 8,842 reviews) and Yes Sire (five-star rating across 1,031 reviews). Volley currently earns in the five-figure range monthly from Amazon’s developer rewards program and is preparing to add subscriptions and in-app purchases. The company was co-founded by Max Child and James Wilsterman and operates with a team of six in San Francisco.

Led · Seed · Apr 2024

Lil Snack is a new studio founded by Eric Berman and Travis Chen that is building an AI-powered pop culture trivia game platform. The company intends to combine games with the cultural zeitgeist to create an entertainment experience where consumers play rather than just watch. Its AI development tools use generative art for visual puzzles and custom general-purpose technologies for game modes and engineering. Lil Snack raised $3.1 million in funding to support product development. The founders say the investment will be used to develop the AI-powered pop culture trivia platform. Investors in the round included a16z Games Speedrun, Powerhouse Capital, Lerer Hippeau, and Waverley Capital.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2022

Antenna provides market intelligence and analytics that report KPIs and reveal subscriber behavior across the streaming ecosystem and broader subscription economy. Its product helps subscription brands evaluate performance against peers and surface competitor subscriber activity. The company says it was originally conceived to serve streaming but has expanded to cover recurring direct relationships across many categories. In 2021 Antenna more than doubled its client base, tripled its team, and quadrupled its revenue. Looking ahead, Antenna plans to model its market-level data onto clients’ CRM records to enable more personalized, privacy-compliant experiences. The company also plans to ramp up hiring to support product and commercial expansion.

Participated · Series A · Aug 2022

9count builds and cross-promotes multiple consumer social apps, including video chat app Wink and dating app Summer. Summer (formerly Spark) uses a grid-based interface to mimic real-life crowded spaces, targets users 18+, and hit No. 1 in the App Store in two markets after launch. The company reports Summer has over 500,000 downloads, more than one million registered users, and over 300,000 monthly active users; Wink reportedly has over 2 million monthly active users and 15 million+ lifetime downloads. 9count says its app portfolio reaches over 10 million users, while Sensor Tower data indicates 16M+ downloads across its products. The startup plans to use the new funding largely for marketing Summer (including an upcoming Android launch and in-person events in L.A.) and to expand its 35-person team. Founded in January 2019 by Alex Hofmann and Joe Viola, 9count follows a multi-product development model of testing, iterating, and cross-promoting apps. 9count is a multi-product mobile apps company founded by former musical.ly president Alex Hofmann that builds social and dating apps including Wink and the newly launched Spark. Wink is 9count’s most successful app, with millions of users and a 15-person content moderation team that operates 24/7. Spark is a dating app that soft-launched in hundreds of countries and climbed to No. 1 on the iOS App Store in Ireland and the Netherlands within a day. Spark presents people in a grid (rather than swiping), limits messaging to mutual likes, uses 24-hour request windows, and offers a subscription ($19.99/month with discounts for three- and 12-month plans). Both Wink and Spark employ safety measures including Hive AI moderation, a 24/7 trust and safety team, and Spark has hired a security expert to find bugs and vulnerabilities. The company was founded in 2018 and has raised $21.5 million in funding led by Redpoint and GGV Capital.