Led · Series A · Oct 2023

Felo develops multilingual AI search and agent technology aimed at enabling users to "search the world in their own language." The company spent months iterating on its product in close collaboration with customers prior to the Series A. Felo raised about ¥1.5 billion (US$10 million) in its Series A, led by Peak XV Partners with participation from Mirae Asset's venture capital arm. The startup plans to deploy the new capital to accelerate enterprise-focused product development. It also intends to expand its presence in Japan and more broadly across Asia. The articles do not disclose revenue, user counts, or a company valuation.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2017

Paragon Genomics, based in Hayward, Calif., develops targeted Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) assays and technologies centered on its CleanPlex™ platform. CleanPlex has demonstrated advantages with low DNA input and degraded samples and has been adopted by more than 50 NGS labs globally. Notable adopters include groups at the University of California, USDA, CDC, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Annoroad Gene Technology. The company intends to use the Series A proceeds to develop additional NGS assay products, particularly in oncology and precision medicine. It also plans to expand its U.S. commercial team and grow its presence into Europe, Asia and South America via partnerships and distributorships. The $8M Series A provides capital to support these product and commercial expansion plans.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2017

WiBotic develops advanced wireless charging and power-optimization solutions for aerial, mobile and marine robots. Its hardware and software products aim to maximize robot fleet uptime and serve as integral components of fully autonomous robotic operations. The company works with customers across a variety of industries to optimize robot operations. WiBotic is based in Seattle, WA, and is led by CEO Ben Waters. It raised $5.7M in a Series A and plans to use the proceeds to accelerate growth, expand its sales team, advance hardware and software engineering, and meet increased customer demand. Following the raise, Mark Rogers joined WiBotic’s board of directors. Wibotic is a Seattle-based provider of wireless power and battery intelligence solutions for the robotic industry. Its core product automatically detects approaching robots or landing drones and wirelessly charges their batteries via a charging platform. The technology targets aerial, mobile and aquatic robot fleets, helping companies optimize fleet uptime and enabling fully autonomous operations. Founded in 2015 by CEO Ben Waters, the company positions its solutions as integral components of autonomous robotic systems. The new $2.5m seed funding will be used primarily to enhance product development and increase sales and marketing activities. WiBotic offers a wireless charging solution for drones and robots that combines a transmitter/receiver system with battery-management tools and fleet-level power optimization. The company says its adaptive near-field wireless charging is more efficient than standard inductive and resonant systems, can charge at the same or faster rates than plug-in chargers, and reduces maintenance costs. Its system enables autonomous charging to remove the need for human intervention and to extend battery lifetime, and it is reported to work in varying weather conditions and underwater. Customers span industries including agriculture, medical, security, videography, and marine biology, and the company expects to add more clients. WiBotic was founded within UW’s electrical engineering and computer science departments by Ben Waters and professor Joshua Smith and has support from UW’s CoMotion. The company is about a year old and operates with a roughly 10-person team.

Participated · Seed · May 2016

Bloomz offers a free mobile and web app that connects educators with parents in a secure, social, private environment. The platform includes real-time updates, photo-sharing, event and volunteer coordination, parent-teacher conference signups and other community-building tools. It is already in use by teachers and parents in more than 10,000 schools. Bloomz is positioned to serve PTAs, church groups, Girl/Boy Scouts and daycares as well as classroom communities. The company is led by CEO Chaks Appalabattula. Bloomz secured $2.3M in venture capital to expand its user base.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2015

MetricStory builds machine-learning software that automatically mines web analytics (starting with Google Analytics) and generates plain-English reports and recommendations for marketers. The product is designed to make analytics accessible to non-experts and to eliminate data silos across engineers, analysts, marketers, and consultants. Founders Joshua Gebhardt and Brandon Nutter previously worked at Analytics Pros and launched the company after graduating Techstars Austin. The two-person company operates out of Galvanize in Seattle and counts early customers including FloSports and Frontier Airlines. MetricStory plans to add support for other platforms such as Omniture, Marketo, Salesforce, and Optimizely. Financially, the company recently closed a $1.45 million seed round.