Participated · Series A · Oct 2021

CarbonBuilt's core product is the Reversa™ platform, a capital-light technology that embeds CO2 from industrial sources or direct air capture into low-cost, low-carbon concrete formulations. Reversa alters mixture design and curing to permanently sequester CO2 as calcium carbonate while reducing Portland cement use and enabling higher use of low-cost materials. The technology delivers 10–30% reductions in raw material costs and 60–90% reductions in CO2 emissions versus conventional concrete, and a single concrete block produced with Reversa can store roughly 3/4 of a pound of CO2. CarbonBuilt won the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE for this approach and is initially focused on the concrete masonry market, with product development underway for a broader array of precast products. The company intends to scale commercially and pursue gigatonne-scale carbon removal and large emissions reductions through adoption of its process.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2016

Discord operates a community-focused communications platform built around user-created servers that enable real-time voice, video and text conversations. The company has added server video, templates to create servers, and increased voice and video capacity by 200% as part of a broader product push. It launched a Safety Center to define rules and give users tools to monitor and manage hate speech and abuse. Discord says the new $100 million funding will help it monitor its user base and promote a broader image beyond gaming. The service reports more than 100 million active users who spend 4 billion minutes in conversation on 6.7 million active servers, and the article also cites that more than 200 million people use the service. Founders Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy framed the shift as moving from a gaming-first product to a place to “hang out and talk” with communities and friends. The company is using product and safety investments to try to erase legacy perceptions tied to extremist users and to court new users and investors. Discord is a gaming chat startup whose bread-and-butter is a voice and text communications service used by more than 200 million active users. The company has pulled in more than $280 million in funding to date after announcing a $150 million round at a $2.05 billion valuation. The new capital was led by Greenoaks Capital with participation from Firstmark, Tencent, IVP, Index Ventures and Technology Opportunity Partners. Discord is also pursuing a bigger play in digital game distribution, launching a global beta of the Discord Store and positioning itself against Valve's Steam. Starting in 2019 the company said it will offer a 90/10 revenue split for self-publishing developers on the store, more favorable than Steam's 70/30. CEO Jason Citron discussed the company's opportunities and challenges at Disrupt SF. Founded in 2012 and pivoting to voice and text chat for gaming in 2015, Discord provides free core chat services to gaming communities while offering a paid Nitro subscription for cosmetic perks. The platform reported rapid user growth with about 45 million registered users and roughly 9 million daily active users. Discord has said it will keep its core product free forever, while exploring additional monetization such as improved subscriptions, video chat, or ecommerce integrations. The company faces competition from TeamSpeak, Skype, Twitch/Curse, and large consumer chat players like Facebook, and must also manage moderation challenges on public servers. Financially, Discord has a history of prior fundraising (around $29 million in confirmed raises plus undisclosed funding) and recently completed a new financing that adds capital for growth. The company aims to use the fresh capital to beef up marketing, grow its audience, and support operations as it scales. Hammer & Chisel’s Discord is a San Francisco–based app that provides free voice and text chat for gamers on both desktop and phone. The product is designed to change how the world’s roughly 270 million gamers communicate while playing online games. Led by founder and CEO Jason Citron, Discord has seen early traction: over three million people have already tried the app. The company plans to use recent funding to grow the team and continue developing the product, with new features planned in the coming months. Financially, it completed a substantial fundraising round (described below) to support those plans.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2012

Flit is a shopping app for the iPad that aggregates products across about 1,000 stores into a single interface. The app automatically searches hundreds of shops in its database using patent-pending technology to eliminate switching between browser tabs. Users can label items as “Cute” to save or share, compare up to three items side-by-side, and buy items within the app (Flit collects an affiliate fee). Flit also offers a Lookbook feature that lets retailers, brands, and partners showcase curated sets of products for an immersive shopping experience. Since its mid-October launch, the company reports searches have grown 100% month over month and monthly store visits have increased 113%. The company raised $750,000 from a group of investors including Crosslink Capital, YouWeb Startup Incubator, Spencer Trask, and Correlation Ventures.

Participated · Equity · May 2012

Crowdstar builds social and mobile games, with a history of fashion-focused titles like Top Girl and Social Girl. The company has shifted its entire focus from Facebook to mobile platforms (iOS and Android) and is placing renewed emphasis on tablets. Crowdstar plans to bring two mobile products to market later this year, one of which will be fashion-focused while the other will be a different genre. The company disclosed an additional $12M from existing investors and has more than $46.5M in total funding to date. Crowdstar employs about 70 people. The article notes rising mobile marketing costs and higher platform fidelity expectations, with new-game launch costs reaching into the millions—context for the new capital raise. Crowdstar is a games developer known for titles like Top Girl and Social Girl that has pivoted from Facebook to mobile. Its mobile versions have attracted 25 million users, with revenue split roughly 80% iOS and 20% Android; Google Play and Amazon's appstore are even in monthly revenue, though Amazon users are more lucrative. The company targets young women ages 13–30 and is pursuing "profitable growth" under CEO Peter Relan. Crowdstar raised $11.5 million in a recent round to double down on mobile, bringing total funding to $35 million. It is moving off Facebook due to reduced profitability there and has laid off about 25 people from its Facebook studios. Management cited broader market dynamics—Facebook's clampdown on viral channels and 30% revenue share, and Apple's larger payments ecosystem—as factors in the pivot. The article notes increasing competition and pressure on profit margins in mobile gaming and suggests recent sector exits have set benchmark valuations that may constrain upside for later investors. CrowdStar is a social gaming company best known for Facebook games Happy Aquarium, It Girl, Happy Pets and Mighty Pirates and is the fifth-largest Facebook social gaming app developer with 29 million monthly active users. The company recently reported its largest quarter of revenue in Q1 2011. Under new CEO Peter Relan (creator of incubator YouWeb), CrowdStar is shifting from being Facebook-dependent toward becoming an independent social gaming platform. It plans to expand internationally (about 50% of traffic is already international), push into mobile with iOS-first releases incorporating location and push notifications, and pursue talent and small studio acquisitions. CrowdStar currently has about 100 employees and says it will use part of the new funding to roughly double headcount, hiring developers, artists, producers, analysts and content managers. The company previously started with only $100,000 in funding from YouWeb; new investors and partnerships are expected to help with mobile expansion and China/Japan market entry.

Led · Seed · Dec 2011

Pluto Games offers an educational iPad game that combines scrolling gameplay dynamics with musical notes to introduce children to piano. The app, described in the article as Pluto Leans Piano (also referred to as Pluto Plays Piano), follows a penguin named Pluto learning songs and awards stars for level performance. Children can learn simple tunes like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and classical pieces such as The Magic Flute, Ode to Joy, and Swan Lake. The game is free to download and uses star-based progression to unlock new songs. The company plans to expand with music and education tablet games in other verticals soon. Pluto Games was founded by Luis Sampedro and recently completed a seed financing, which impacts its current funding runway.