PROBLEM: Brand sustainability is now a decisive criterion for 65% of consumers, employees & investors, worldwide. Nonetheless, info on companies' sustainability is still so hard to find/showcase, compare/differentiate and trust/prove let alone engage with - that at least 39% of sustainable consumers give up without a sustainable company match - to everyone's loss. SOLUTION: ‘hoodHeroes is a sustainable market hub that is making sustainability everybody's everyday business. We exist because it’s truly a new dawn today with unignorable demand, supply (& need) for sustainability. By now, the market opportunity is simply so great that it speaks for itself. Therefore, it is quite a problem that the market still is disconnected, since 39% of all people whom look for the right sustainable brand to support ultimately give up, due to a lack of awareness, trust and confusion. But what if the sustainability of companies was profiled, rated, and validated - all in one place – powered by gamified crowdsourcing? That kind of solution would generate the awareness, differentiation and trust needed to connect sustainable demand and supply in the hectic everyday market. Simply imagine an “IMDB for company sustainability”, that allows citizens to 1) look-up, 2) compare and 3) review the sustainability of any brand in the market (together with expert sources), while companies conversely can 1) Showcase their sustainability altogether, on the ‘hoodHeroes platform, their own website and marketplaces, 2) Collaborate with the ecosystem to prove and approve their sustainability and 3) Learn how to build resonating brand love via big data analytics. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE: When it comes to competition, there are undoubtedly a bunch of actors to keep an eye on, yet these are focused on either 1) a niche, 2) B2B-only or (at least not yet) sustainability, and all are less available* and involving** brand sustainability hubs than ‘hoodHeroes. The underlying magic at work here is our gamified crowdsourcing that, not only offers a very scalable content-creation system (profiling, rating & validating company sustainability), but also a uniquely meaningful (and potentially even patentable) rating system that triangulates the value-driven perspective of citizens with the fact-driven perspective of experts. *Availability: width, depth, comparability & presence of info) & **Involvement: impactability, credibility & incentivization of interaction with the sustainability of brands)
Liqui operates a labor marketplace designed to connect blue-collar workers with short- and long-term job opportunities in sectors such as retail, logistics, and manufacturing. The platform facilitates job searches for gig workers, allowing them to apply for flexible positions while also offering tools to manage their income records. By integrating financial technology features, Liqui enables recruiting companies to efficiently hire vetted independent workers who are prepared for immediate employment.
Bubbles is a contextual collaboration tool that enables users to communicate asynchronously by tagging content directly on their screens. The platform facilitates discussions in-context through screen, video, and audio messages, allowing team members to capture, comment, and share information without the need for account creation or installation. Bubbles promotes organic growth and viral engagement rather than relying on paid advertising. It is actively engaged on various social media platforms, including Medium, Twitter, and Product Hunt, to enhance its visibility and user interaction.
Moqups is a web-based visual collaboration tool that integrates whiteboard, diagram, and design capabilities into a single application. It enables users to create and collaborate in real time on a variety of visual materials, including wireframes, mockups, diagrams, mind maps, dashboards, and prototypes. The platform is utilized by over 1.5 million professionals, including product managers, business analysts, and UX designers, who engage in complex project work. Moqups is designed to facilitate contributions from all team members, regardless of their level of expertise, making it a versatile solution for diverse project needs.
Hirable is a platform that focuses on connecting companies with top freelance developers. It serves as a self-curated community where developers can showcase their skills and expertise. Hirable provides tools designed to help businesses identify and engage with the most suitable talent for their specific projects. By facilitating these connections, Hirable aims to streamline the hiring process for companies seeking high-quality freelance development services.
Lucy Survey is reinventing customer experience management by collecting customer feedback (in-store & online) through a series of short, automated conversations (produced by screenwriters) which incentivizes return visits. Businesses provide Lucy Survey with feedback questions and incentives, while Lucy develops the branded conversation. Once customer's engage with Lucy, Lucy Survey provides businesses with customer data along with actionable insights and the opportunity to market directly to customers with personalized offers.
PayBee is a user-friendly and multi-channel platform for fundraising management; creating more funds, donors and often. Online and offline, donors now never have to miss an opportunity when inspiration hits.
Convey (formerly Tweetsense) is a data analysis startup focused on listening to people rather than asking, disrupting.
My90 – Distrust between the public and the police is has rarely been more strained than it is today. Solving this problem is a $21B opportunity. Enter My90, which is tackling this issue by collecting data about interactions between the police and the public—think traffic stops, service calls, etc.—and turning these into actionable intelligence via an online analytics dashboard. Users text My90 anonymously about their interactions, and My90’s dashboard analyzes the results using natural language processing and machine learning. The company has done 9 paid pilots to date, including major city police departments like the San Jose Police Department and the world’s largest community policing program. Next up they're taking on entire cities to leverage big data to improve interactions with residents, public safety, and city services.
Visage Inc operates visage.jobs, a hiring platform designed to help employers identify and engage underrepresented talent. Founded in 2014 and based in San Francisco, the company utilizes a crowdsourcing recruitment model that allows users to source, upload, and submit candidate profiles. The platform automates the search for passive candidates, significantly reducing the time spent on manual tasks such as Boolean searches and resume reviews. By submitting job requirements, employers receive 50 pre-filtered candidate profiles within 48 hours, sourced from a community of over 3,500 freelancers. The vetting process combines human insights and artificial intelligence, ensuring high-quality candidates. Additionally, Visage streamlines communication by enabling personalized email outreach with automated follow-ups, allowing employers to directly engage interested candidates and track interactions effectively.
Hirevisor is a pooled talent network that grows smarter with each company that opts into it. We enable companies to find quality, actionable candidates in a data-driven way, all while delivering a stellar candidate experience at scale.
Snapwire Media Inc. operates a platform that connects mobile and social photographers with brands, publishers, small businesses, and creatives globally. Founded in 2012 and based in Santa Barbara, California, Snapwire allows buyers to post image requests, which photographers can then fulfill by submitting images that align with the buyer's vision. The platform also includes an iOS application designed for photographers, facilitating the creation and submission of custom visual content. By enabling a direct interaction between creators and businesses, Snapwire ensures that buyers receive unique content tailored to their needs while providing photographers with fair compensation for their work.
Mycrophone is a technology company that has developed a mobile application transforming smartphones into wireless microphones. This innovative solution allows users to speak into their phones and amplify their voices through public address systems during events. Attendees can join a speaking queue via the app, while moderators manage the order of speakers, enhancing audience engagement. The company generates revenue by charging event organizers per event for the service provided through the audio/visual equipment rental. Mycrophone holds two patents that protect its unique approach to wireless microphone technology, positioning it to disrupt traditional microphone usage in various event settings.
Worksuite, formerly known as Shortlist Project Inc, is a talent management platform designed to streamline the onboarding, management, and payment processes for freelancers, vendors, and contractors. Established in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that automate the entire talent life cycle, from sourcing and assigning tasks to managing financial approvals and facilitating automated payments. By centralizing external talent within a single platform, Worksuite significantly reduces administrative burdens, enabling companies to efficiently collaborate with their workforce and respond to business needs. Additionally, the platform provides workforce analytics to enhance decision-making and improve overall talent management.
Hirevisor is a pooled talent network that grows smarter with each company that opts into it. We enable companies to find quality, actionable candidates in a data-driven way, all while delivering a stellar candidate experience at scale.
Worksuite, formerly known as Shortlist Project Inc, is a talent management platform designed to streamline the onboarding, management, and payment processes for freelancers, vendors, and contractors. Established in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that automate the entire talent life cycle, from sourcing and assigning tasks to managing financial approvals and facilitating automated payments. By centralizing external talent within a single platform, Worksuite significantly reduces administrative burdens, enabling companies to efficiently collaborate with their workforce and respond to business needs. Additionally, the platform provides workforce analytics to enhance decision-making and improve overall talent management.
Multitude provides software and analytic tools that help government and industry leaders transform data from the emergent,.
Gesture-based wearable app and multi-tasking keyboard
Visage Inc operates visage.jobs, a hiring platform designed to help employers identify and engage underrepresented talent. Founded in 2014 and based in San Francisco, the company utilizes a crowdsourcing recruitment model that allows users to source, upload, and submit candidate profiles. The platform automates the search for passive candidates, significantly reducing the time spent on manual tasks such as Boolean searches and resume reviews. By submitting job requirements, employers receive 50 pre-filtered candidate profiles within 48 hours, sourced from a community of over 3,500 freelancers. The vetting process combines human insights and artificial intelligence, ensuring high-quality candidates. Additionally, Visage streamlines communication by enabling personalized email outreach with automated follow-ups, allowing employers to directly engage interested candidates and track interactions effectively.
VisitorX began as a research project into human behavior, originally funded by the National Science Foundation and operating under the name Perceive. Its mission is to understand the details of human behavior, in the real world.
Cobalt Labs, Inc. specializes in bitcoin application security solutions and has evolved to offer a modernized platform for penetration testing services. Originally known as CrowdCurity, the company rebranded in 2016 and has since developed a crowdsourced software-as-a-service platform that connects businesses with certified security researchers. Cobalt Central serves as a secure inbox for managing security programs, facilitating bug reports, and enabling interaction with researchers. Additionally, the company provides CrowdCurity, which focuses on bug bounty programs to enhance collaboration between organizations and security experts. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, Cobalt Labs also maintains offices in Berlin and Boston, delivering actionable insights that help organizations identify and remediate software vulnerabilities efficiently.
Our mission is to be the standard in online collaboration, the only tool a person needs to work with a group of people on anything. The notion of simple collaboration has been lost and split into hundreds of fragments with countless tools trying to solve each piece. We end up using one system to chat, another to manage tasks, a third to track time. That is no way to work. Even with thousands of paid solutions for collaboration people are still relying on GMail and Facebook to organize things at work and home. Freedcamp changes all of this by providing a free and extremely simple to use system. Giving you the tools you need to collaborate in one place, we are the next paradigm shift in how people work together. We have 450K users and are currently raising a seed round to to build a strong mobile presence and open our platform to the thousands of developers who have requested to build on top of our system.
Our mission is to be the standard in online collaboration, the only tool a person needs to work with a group of people on anything. The notion of simple collaboration has been lost and split into hundreds of fragments with countless tools trying to solve each piece. We end up using one system to chat, another to manage tasks, a third to track time. That is no way to work. Even with thousands of paid solutions for collaboration people are still relying on GMail and Facebook to organize things at work and home. Freedcamp changes all of this by providing a free and extremely simple to use system. Giving you the tools you need to collaborate in one place, we are the next paradigm shift in how people work together. We have 450K users and are currently raising a seed round to to build a strong mobile presence and open our platform to the thousands of developers who have requested to build on top of our system.
Xendo streamlines work by providing one, unified search across Salesforce, Gmail and 25 other leading cloud applications.
Professionals spend a day-a-week just gathering information and that's getting more complex as content is fragmented across an increasing range of cloud apps. Xendo provides high-performance, full-text search across emails, contacts, documents and more, deep-linking into applications so relevant content is just a couple of clicks away.
Xendo's Chrome Extension enables professionals to find related content, like sales contacts and collateral, without leaving where they're working. They can discover documents colleagues have already created and track content updates so they can stay pro-active and responsive.
MonkeyBook offers instant, effortless, and fun digital and print memories. MonkeyBook replaces human memory-making with crowdsourced stories from social data.
Discoverly is a tool to navigate and employ your social data. It's about time we put social to work.
Discoverly is a tool to navigate and employ your social data. It's about time we put social to work.
HealthCrowd is a comprehensive engagement platform designed for the healthcare sector. It enables healthcare organizations to unify, automate, and optimize their communications, facilitating personalized patient engagement on a large scale. By integrating expertise in healthcare with advanced analytics, HealthCrowd aims to enhance patient interaction while focusing on improving quality, clinical outcomes, and financial performance for its clients. The company has been recognized through various programs, including Springboard Enterprises Life Sciences and Alchemist Accelerator, underscoring its innovative approach in the healthcare communication landscape.
SendTask
Seed Round in 2012
SendTask is an enterprise task management software that allows users to manage their tasks directly within their inbox, seamlessly integrating into their existing workflows. Founded by Flavio Rump and Lucas Vogelsang, the company is based in Provo, Utah. Its platform is designed to enhance productivity by simplifying task organization and management for users in various professional settings.