A-Grade Investments

ResearchGate GmbH is an online professional network platform designed for scientific researchers globally, founded in 2008 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany. The platform facilitates the sharing and discovery of scientific knowledge, enabling over 20 million researchers to connect, collaborate, and advance their careers. Users can access and share publications, publish data, track citation metrics, and utilize research-focused job boards. Additionally, ResearchGate allows users to pose questions and receive answers related to their research challenges, fostering a collaborative environment among peers and specialists. The company aims to make research accessible and promote connections within the scientific community through its web and mobile applications.

Kopari Beauty is a brand focused on creating a diverse range of beauty products that harness the benefits of 100% pure organic coconut oil. The company emphasizes a healthy and mindful lifestyle, offering products that enhance natural beauty and promote vitality. Kopari's product line includes deodorants, face cleansers, and body moisturizers, all formulated without harmful ingredients such as sulfates, silicones, and parabens. By using coconut oil as a key ingredient, Kopari aims to provide effective solutions that nourish and regenerate hair and skin, celebrating the natural radiance within each individual.

Willing is an online legal service that simplifies the process of end-of-life planning, making it accessible and affordable for all. The platform provides users with tools to create wills and living wills quickly, allowing them to secure their estate plans in just minutes. Additionally, Willing assists users in comparing costs for funeral homes and cemeteries, facilitating informed decisions regarding their end-of-life arrangements. By focusing on user-friendly solutions, Willing helps individuals protect their families and assets while saving time and money.

IfOnly operates an online marketplace that offers a curated selection of unique experiences and trips designed as gifts, allowing members to engage with various luminaries, including athletes, artists, and chefs. The platform focuses on providing access to extraordinary experiences that not only foster shared interests and lasting memories but also support worthy causes globally. By connecting members with influential figures, IfOnly creates opportunities for personal engagement while promoting philanthropic initiatives. The marketplace serves as a trusted environment for luminaries to showcase their talents and build their brands, all while contributing to impactful causes. Through its offerings, IfOnly emphasizes the value of memorable experiences over material possessions.

Angel.ai, founded in February 2015, operates as a free, text message-based personal concierge service that connects users with trained operators to fulfill various requests around the clock. Utilizing Human Assisted Artificial Intelligence, the service allows clients to make requests via SMS for a wide range of tasks, including ordering food, making travel bookings, and securing restaurant reservations, all without any hidden fees or markups. Angel.ai is designed to save users time and simplify everyday tasks by providing efficient and convenient assistance whenever needed. Despite rumors of an acquisition by Amazon in 2016, the company has continued to operate independently.

Duolingo, Inc. is a language-learning platform founded in 2011 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company offers a wide array of educational resources, including 98 courses across nearly 40 languages, accessible for free or through a premium subscription model. With around 30 million active users, Duolingo has become a leading educational app globally, known for its engaging and gamified learning experience. Its offerings include the Duolingo Language Learning App, Super Duolingo, and the Duolingo English Test, which provides AI-driven language assessments. Additionally, Duolingo for Schools enables teachers to monitor their students' progress. The company's technology leverages advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance the learning process, while its revenue is primarily generated through subscriptions, in-app purchases, and business services.

Rover Group Inc is a leading online marketplace that connects pet parents with a vast network of pet care providers, including dog walkers and pet sitters. The platform facilitates a range of services, such as overnight boarding, in-home pet sitting, doggy daycare, and drop-in visits, operating across the U.S., Canada, and several European countries. Rover empowers its community of pet care providers by offering them tools to manage their businesses effectively, including scheduling, communication with pet parents, and payment processing. In addition to its marketplace services, Rover also produces and retails high-quality pet accessories, such as durable PVC pet products, including beds, crates, and gates. These products are designed for longevity and safety, employing environmentally-friendly manufacturing methods. Rover's commitment to enhancing the lives of pets and their owners drives its business model, ensuring that both pet parents and caregivers can experience reliable and trustworthy care solutions.

Wit.ai, Inc. is a company based in Palo Alto, California, that specializes in natural language processing solutions. Founded in 2013, it offers an application programming interface (API) that allows developers to integrate natural language interfaces into their applications and devices, facilitating interactions through speech or text. Wit.ai enables the creation of voice interfaces that learn from user interactions, continuously improving their understanding of human language. As of January 2015, Wit.ai operates as a subsidiary of Facebook, Inc. The platform empowers developers to build conversational applications, leveraging community contributions to enhance its capabilities.

Our mission is to power the world’s best restaurants, using technology to imagine the future of hospitality. We serve 5,000 restaurants globally. Our customers discover the amazing world of restaurants thanks to our content-rich website and innovative mobile app. Our diners are insiders, and we love having them at the table.

Timeful Inc. is a technology company based in Mountain View, California, focused on transforming time management through an innovative application. Established in 2012, it operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Timeful's platform employs machine learning and behavioral science to assist users in managing their time effectively. By tracking commitments and categorizing tasks, the application generates personalized schedules that align with individual preferences and previous behaviors. Co-founded by experts in artificial intelligence, data mining, and behavioral science, Timeful aims to help users prioritize what matters most in their lives and cultivate better lifestyle habits.

ShopTap industries operated The Hunt. The Hunt has been recapitalized and bought out by one of the founders in 2016.

Airbnb, Inc. operates a global online platform that connects hosts with guests seeking short-term accommodations and unique experiences. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company was initially named AirBed & Breakfast before rebranding in 2010. Airbnb facilitates bookings for various types of lodging, including private rooms, luxury villas, and boutique hotels, offering over 8 million active listings from more than 5 million hosts worldwide. The platform enables both hosts and guests to manage their transactions effectively through online and mobile tools. As of 2023, a significant portion of Airbnb's revenue, derived entirely from transaction fees on bookings, comes from the North American market. With a presence in nearly every country, Airbnb has established itself as the world's largest online alternative accommodation travel agency.

Muse has developed brainwave-controlled computing technology and applications that converts brainwaves into digital signals. They have created a hardware and software platform technology that converts brainwaves into digital signals that are fed into a computer. InteraXon then provides consumers with applications that use these brainwaves to perform activities such as meditation, gaming, ADHD assistance, and many others to come. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

Citymaps is a social mapping platform that provides users with personalized maps reflecting their preferences and experiences. The platform features a purpose-built, patent-protected map interface that focuses on points of interest, making it an ideal tool for travelers. Citymaps allows users to create and share itineraries and map collections, enhancing their travel planning experience. It can be accessed both online and offline, enabling users to navigate without a data connection. As part of TripAdvisor, Citymaps combines innovative mapping technology with social features to assist travelers in exploring and organizing their journeys.

Tapstack, originally founded as Taptalk in 2014, has developed an innovative application that facilitates deeper connections among users by enabling them to share personalized short videos and photos with a simple tap. The app merges elements of messaging and social media, allowing individuals to maintain a consistent presence in the lives of their contacts. Users can send messages, locations, and multimedia content, including videos and photos of up to ten seconds in duration, directly by tapping on a friend's or family member's profile picture. This approach encourages the sharing of everyday moments that might otherwise go unnoticed, enhancing interpersonal communication in a user-friendly manner.

Invi Labs is a technology company based in Palo Alto, California, established in 2012. It focuses on developing a smart messaging application designed to replace the default texting app on Android devices. The application enhances traditional SMS and MMS capabilities by enabling users to send images, videos, GIFs, memes, and stickers to their contacts. Invi's app also features real-time messaging, group messaging, and the integration of various media types within chats, allowing users to watch YouTube videos while texting and providing previews for web links. This innovative approach aims to elevate the overall text messaging experience on mobile devices.

YPlan is a mobile application that simplifies the process of discovering and booking events. Founded in London in February 2012, it offers users a curated list of local events, allowing them to select, pay, and attend activities on the same day. The platform collaborates with over 3,500 event partners globally, providing a diverse range of options for users to explore and enjoy their city. YPlan has garnered more than 1.5 million users and received extensive positive feedback, including over 1,000 five-star reviews on the App Store. The application also integrates with Apple's PassBook for seamless mobile ticketing, enhancing the user experience.

ShopTap industries operated The Hunt. The Hunt has been recapitalized and bought out by one of the founders in 2016.

Signal360 Inc. is a company based in New York that specializes in proximity marketing solutions for mobile devices, specifically for iOS and Android platforms. Founded in 2011 and originally known as Sonic Notify, Inc., the company rebranded in August 2014. Signal360's primary offering is a mobile notification platform that facilitates real-time user engagement within retail environments. The platform utilizes patented inaudible sound technology and supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standards, including iBeacon, to enable businesses to interact with customers through existing or custom mobile applications. By delivering targeted and personalized marketing messages, Signal360 helps enterprises create meaningful connections with their customers in physical locations.

Votizen is a consumer technology company that harnesses social networks to create a connected electorate of voters. Votizen provides a new way to focus, measure, and exercise political influence by bringing voters together. As opposed to existing tools that help elected officials campaign, Votizen empowers its users to leverage their own networks to self-organize in voting blocks and advance their causes and interests, redefining the political system with the voter at the center -- not the politician. The company has engineered an entirely new database of voting record rolls across the United States, taking public voting information and normalizing that data to the district level. Then, by mapping those rolls to a user's online identity (through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+), Votizen is able to create the first graphical representation of a voter's network, across states, political parties, and frequency of voting. Votizen was cofounded by David Binetti, Jason Putorti, and Matt Snider. The company is nonpartisan, for-profit, venture-backed, and based in Mountain View, CA: www.votizen.com

Airbnb, Inc. operates a global online platform that connects hosts with guests seeking short-term accommodations and unique experiences. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company was initially named AirBed & Breakfast before rebranding in 2010. Airbnb facilitates bookings for various types of lodging, including private rooms, luxury villas, and boutique hotels, offering over 8 million active listings from more than 5 million hosts worldwide. The platform enables both hosts and guests to manage their transactions effectively through online and mobile tools. As of 2023, a significant portion of Airbnb's revenue, derived entirely from transaction fees on bookings, comes from the North American market. With a presence in nearly every country, Airbnb has established itself as the world's largest online alternative accommodation travel agency.

Flipboard, Inc. is a company that develops a mobile social magazine application, allowing users to collect and share news articles, videos, and photos from a variety of sources. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with additional offices in New York and Beijing, Flipboard's platform enables users to aggregate web content based on their personal interests and present it in a digital magazine format. This personalized magazine can be easily shared and followed through social media, facilitating an engaging way for users to stay updated on news and discover stories from around the world. Additionally, Flipboard offers custom branded layout solutions for publishers and provides native and display advertising services to advertisers.

Amen provides a way for users to voice strong opinions. Amen is available as an iOS app and on the web. Investors include A-Grade and Index Ventures.

SeatGeek, Inc. is a mobile ticketing marketplace and ticket search engine that facilitates the buying and selling of tickets for sports, concerts, and theater events. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York, the company also maintains offices in the United Kingdom, Israel, the Netherlands, Australia, and Italy. SeatGeek's platform aggregates ticket listings from various sources, presenting users with a comprehensive view of available options. It employs a unique feature called 'Deal Score,' which rates tickets on a scale from 0 to 100, helping consumers identify the best value for their purchases. Additionally, SeatGeek offers an event discovery tool that utilizes user preferences to suggest local events that align with individual tastes. By streamlining the ticketing process and providing detailed information about venues and pricing, SeatGeek aims to enhance the overall experience for fans.

TinyChat is a web-based platform that offers a straightforward video, audio, and desktop chat system. Users can access the service without the need for downloads or plugins, apart from Flash, making it compatible with all browsers and operating systems. The platform focuses on providing a simple and user-friendly experience for individuals seeking to engage in online communication.

Fashism, Inc. is an online and mobile platform that allows users to receive feedback on their fashion choices by posting pictures of themselves. Founded in 2008 and based in New York, the service enables individuals to share images of their outfits and solicit opinions from the community. Users can upload photos, provide context, and ask specific questions regarding their looks. The community then offers insights, rating the submissions with up or down votes, which contributes to a leaderboard that ranks users based on the feedback received. This interactive approach to fashion assessment creates a social experience centered around personal style and peer evaluation.