- VCinsights.co
- Posts
- đź“ť VC Memos (Week of May 8 - May 14)
đź“ť VC Memos (Week of May 8 - May 14)
New memos last week from Madrona, General Catalyst, TEN13, and Sapphire Ventures
The Memos...
🤖A12 Incubator (AI/ML)
A12 Incubator brings together world-class engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs to come up with ideas, find co-founders, engage pilot customers, define their product, incorporate the latest A.I. techniques into their technology.
Raise: Growth Equity | $30M
Investor Memo: Madrona Venture Group by Matt McIlwain
"We believe AI-driven startups with world-class product teams will have a strategic advantage in positively transforming the world around us. The AI2 Incubator and fund have the ability to attract these entrepreneurial teams, support their growth through a proven and tailored approach to company building, and fund their early progress."
đź’ł Tristero (web3/crypto)
Tristero is working on building a truly “dark” dark pool by using cryptography to make it impossible for even operators to see inside.
Raise: Seed | $4.8M
Investor Memo: General Catalyst by Niko Bonatsos, Nick van Eck
"Currently, financial markets are optimized around moving individual shares. Large trades will always get front run as markets will move in response to traders intentions. Dark pools try to solve this… however, historically dark pools have not been dark to dark pool operators (i.e. relied on trust). Tristero is working on building a truly “dark” dark pool by using cryptography…"
đź–Ą Mercu (enterprise)
Mercu helps businesses boost workforce productivity and retention by automating communication, development, and engagement at scale via the chat apps deskless workers already use, such as Whatsapp or iMessage.
Raise: Seed | $1.6M
Investor Memo: TEN13 by Seamus Crawford
"Globally, disengaged workforces cost employers upwards of $7.8 trillion in lost productivity. However, it has been shown that an actively engaged workforce can materially improve profitability for businesses by upwards of ~23%... Mercu is building the first communication Operating System (OS) for the deskless workforce."
🤼 Simpplr (HRtech)
Simpplr user-friendly employee portal brings siloed employees together by providing one location for easy access to real-time company updates, employee contact information, company policies, workplace applications and much more.
Raise: Series D+ | $70M
Investor Memo: Sapphire Ventures by Jai Das, Demi Obayomi, Aditya Reddy, Shatakshi Mohan
"…customers repeatedly told us that the monthly employee engagement increased dramatically–typically 5x industry adoption rates after migrating to Simpplr. In fact, after onboarding Simpplr, a trucking and transportation customer saw a 253% increase in employee engagement and another customer in the finance and banking sector achieved 100% weekly active users on the platform.