JB

Josh Berns

Senior Associate

Nicole Friedman

Senior Associate

JJ Kasper

Partner / Founder

JK

John Kasper

Co-Founder and Partner

Brian Stafford

Partner / Founder

JT

Jay Trickett

Partner / CAO

Past deals in Minnesota

Taptap Send

Venture Round in 2020
Taptap Send is an app that lets immigrants send money back home to Africa instantly and at very low prices. Since launching in summer 2018, it has already moved tens of millions of dollars and reached tens of thousands of customers. It is live in seven European countries, and support payments into Senegal, Mali, Zambia, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, with more countries launching soon.

Mented Cosmetics, Inc.

Seed Round in 2017
Mented is a luxury beauty company targeted to women of color. It is a premium beauty line that believes every woman should be able to find herself in the world of beauty. Offering nude lipstick and nail polish shades made especially for Black and Brown beauties, Mented Cosmetics believes that when it comes to beauty, no one deserves to be an afterthought.

Starcity

Seed Round in 2017
Starcity Properties, Inc. engages in developing and operating co-living homes. The company specializes in community-based living for residents. It operates co-living apartments in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Thermaband

Seed Round in 2021
Thermaband's mission is to reframe the reality of what menopause means for women in midlife through leveraging the power of empathetic technology. Founded by a mother-daughter duo in search of a cooling relief solution made by women, for women experiencing hot flashes/night sweats. After recognizing the deficiency in this market, the founders recognized an opportunity to make a difference globally. The duo built a collective of over 1,200 women virtually, and co-created the Thermaband Zone, a patent-protected smart personal thermostat that provides heating and cooling sensations to the inner wrist, with their community.

Tribyl, Inc

Seed Round in 2020
Tribyl, Inc offers artificial intelligence based sales coach and customer intelligence software. It provides Smart Playbooks, a solution that extracts tribal knowledge from calls, emails, documents, and notes; Guided Customer Journeys, enforce playbooks in real time; and flexible and modular platform. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in San Mateo, California.

FarmTogether

Seed Round in 2019
FarmTogether team brings a unique combination of farmland investing and technology expertise. Collectively, they bring over 70 years of food and agriculture investment experience in the US and globally. They meticulously review all investment opportunities and only pursue the properties they find attractive. They then partner with top quality local farmland operators to manage the land. The idea of FarmTogether was born out of their personal and professional frustration with the complexities and hurdles associated with investing in farmland. Firmly believing that farmland is a safe, stable, and attractive long-term investment for everyone, their mission is to radically democratize farmland investing.

3D Bio Holdings, Inc.

Seed Round in 2016
3D Bio Holdings, Inc. operates as a bioprinting company that prints tissues for surgically healing patients. It uses GMPrint, and ColVivo technologies that enable the creation of patient-specific living tissues as a therapeutic to treat diseases and congenital medical conditions. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York with an additional office in New York, New York.

SoapBox Soaps LLC

Seed Round in 2015
SoapBox Soaps LLC manufactures and sells soaps and related products. It offers body washes, liquid hand soaps, bar soaps, lotions, shampoos, and conditioners. It markets its products online, as well as through retailers and wholesalers in the United States and internationally. SoapBox Soaps LLC was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

SketchDeck

Seed Round in 2014
Scalable design for marketing teams. Design drives growth. SketchDeck is the most convenient design service that exists. We design everything from presentations to infographics, and it's all easily managed through our powerful web platform. Trusted by Okta, Microsoft, Cognizant, and hundreds more.

LookBooker

Seed Round in 2016
Have you ever wished you could book your next haircut, massage, or wax from the comfort (and discretion!) of your mobile or computer? You probably already book your flights, accommodation and takeaway online, so why not your personal grooming needs? LookBooker is an online booking aggregator of hair and beauty services that connects salons looking for customers with customers looking for salons. After launching in Singapore in 2014 , LookBooker is now the #1 brand in appointment aggregating for hair and beauty. LookBooker launched in New York City in late 2014 and currently has more appointments available than any other aggregator in the city with the city's top salons, spas and barbershops on board. LookBooker is looking forward to launching in more cities in the coming months.

Revel Transit

Series A in 2019
Revel Transit is a shared electric vehicle service that allows users to locate, reserve, and unlock electric mopeds through an app. Revels can be parked on the street in any legal parking space and are throttled at 30mph for safety. Revel is operating in New York City, Washington, Austin, Miami, and Oakland. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.

Kash

Seed Round in 2014
Kash is a San Francisco-based mobile payment company that clears transactions without interchange or card fees and is guaranteed against chargeback. The company gets rid of credit cards and middle-men that stand between bank accounts and retailers. It uses SecureDebit technology, a direct bank payment method that avoids the credit card network and allows retailers to save 2% to 5% in transaction processing fees. Kash uses its funding received from Draper Associates, Green Visor Capital, and Structure Capital to develop, market, and expand its mobile payments technology.

Simple Food Solutions

Seed Round in 2015
Simple Food Solutions LLC

Thermaband

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Thermaband's mission is to reframe the reality of what menopause means for women in midlife through leveraging the power of empathetic technology. Founded by a mother-daughter duo in search of a cooling relief solution made by women, for women experiencing hot flashes/night sweats. After recognizing the deficiency in this market, the founders recognized an opportunity to make a difference globally. The duo built a collective of over 1,200 women virtually, and co-created the Thermaband Zone, a patent-protected smart personal thermostat that provides heating and cooling sensations to the inner wrist, with their community.

Catalina Artisan Snacks

Seed Round in 2018
Catalina Crunch produces keto-friendly, vegan, low-carb cereals, and sandwich cookies. The company uses breakthrough science and food technology to make food healthier while continuing to focus on exciting taste and texture profiles. Catalina's mission is to make healthier foods that are more accessible and convenient for various lifestyles while simultaneously delivering fantastic taste.

Sanctuary Ventures, Inc.

Seed Round in 2017
Sanctuary is a mystical products and services company offering illuminating experiences to millennial audiences. Sanctuary’s daily horoscopes, planetary transits and real-time chart readings are written and performed by professional astrologers. Sanctuary’s offerings provide members with a full spectrum of cosmic insights.

Extra

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Most people look at a debit card as nothing more than a piece of plastic that subtracts money from their bank account. At Extra, they believe that the debit card has the potential to unlock more in their members' lives. Extra is the first debit card that gives you reward points for any purchase, anywhere. They're creating a debit card with superpowers, and they can't wait to see what you'll do with it.

Push for Pizza

Seed Round in 2016
Push for Pizza is a one-touch pizza delivery app allowing users to order cheese or pepperoni pizzas with a few taps. The first time users of the app are prompted to input the usual address, credit card info, and their type of pizza preference. Currently, the app only lets its users to choose between cheese and pepperoni pizza. Push for Pizza was launched in 2014 by Maximillian Hellerstein, Graham Carling, Cyrus Summerlin, William Haack, and Demitri Nava.

DealSafe

Seed Round in 2015
DealSafe is a cloud-based contract administration and management platform that centralizes and organizes all of the firm's contracts and agreements in one repository with robust analytics and automated notifications. DealSafe aims to address pain points in the market such as secure, centralized storage for contracts, tracking and notifications for key contract milestone dates, and customizable reporting functionality.

HEARTWORK, Inc.

Venture Round in 2018
HEARTWORK is a designer and retailer of modern furniture and accessories for creative and inspiring workspaces. We believe great design makes oneʼs workspace more productive and enjoyable. Whether you are working alone, in pairs or on teams, your place of work should reflect your companyʼs unique culture and allow you to work your best. HEARTWORK's mission is to support innovative businesses and the passionate individuals who drive them with creative and inspiring workspaces. Designed for your pleasure and productivity. “Nobody changed the world surrounded by beige.”

Topl B.V.

Seed Round in 2020
Topl enables companies to prove their ethical and sustainable practices, by tracking and tracing every step in an organization's supply chain. Topl came out with its first blockchain in 2018, specifically focused on catering to different commodities, and spent much of 2019 assisting companies on how to work on the blockchain. The company was founded in 2017 and headquartered in Houston, Texas.

SpokenLayer

Seed Round in 2017
spokenlayer converts printed content and publications into audio. It allows clients to submit their articles using its self-guided API so that the company takes the content from the clients and finds suitable voice for narration thereby enables listening the content using mobile, Web, or in the car. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in New York, New York.

Fresh Flavours

Seed Round in 2016
Fresh Flavours is a company specialized in the commercialization of fresh produce of the highest quality in Europe.

Breathwrk, Inc.

Seed Round in 2021
Breathwrk, Inc. develops and operates a breathing exercises related guidance application. The company’s mobile application offers science-backed breathing exercises for mental and physical wellness and promotes breath work to help users reduce anxiety, sleep disorders, athletic performance issues, low energy, excess stress, panic attacks, a racing mind at night, lack of focus, and bliss. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Venice, California.

Bee (One Financial)

Venture Round in 2015
We create and market financial products that work for everyone, and we’re committed to passing the returns from innovation on to our customers. Today, we’re focused on low- and middle-income Americans, for whom we offer an app-based direct to consumer banking product (think checking account) but are striving to build a product suite that will ultimately appeal to everyone. We are a venture-backed startup with a mission to provide everyone with low cost, accessible financial services that are clear, convenient, personal, and fair.

Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club

Venture Round in 2016
Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club is a vintage-Florida-inspired Shuffleboard Nightclub perched on the sandy shores. Lounge in its canvas cabanas, sway to the DJ spinning old soul 45's, play a round of bingo on its stage, challenge someone to a game of oversized Connect Four and deck out in the photo booth while enjoying its roster of properly tropical drinks made with house-made syrups, fresh fruits, and small-batch spirits. It was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Brooklyn and Chicago.

Bevager

Seed Round in 2015
Craftable is a complete restaurant management platform designed by Silicon Valley tech experts partnered with hospitality industry veterans. We collaborate with restaurateurs, operators and accountants to unite businesses with best-in-class technology to drive profit and reduce labor for restaurants, bars and hotels. Built to handle the most demanding beverage programs in the country, our platform is made to control every feature of your bar program and menu offerings. From ordering with vendors, costing every dash and counting every bottle, now you can keep a watchful eye on variance and cost percentage without needing a stiff drink at the end. With menu engineering, recipe costing and price comparison, your team behind the burners can easily adjust their culinary creations to protect margins in our cost-sensitive industry. Easily manage multiple locations, different vendors, and complex recipes with subrecipes and batches. Craftable is built to accommodate operators from independent restaurateurs to regional and national chains. Craftable is proud to serve the leading hospitality operators including Hakkasan Restaurants and Nightclubs, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Employees Only, Slanted Door, Dead Rabbit, BOKA Restaurant Group, Barcelona Wine Bar and Station Casinos.

Happy Tree Maple Water

Seed Round in 2014
Organic treewater company happytree is the leading brand in the fast-growing maple water category. happytree is reinventing the beverage cooler one category at a time with its innovative clean label products, all of which are certified organic and Non-GMO Project verified. happytree is currently available at leading natural and specialty stores including Whole Foods Market, Fairway, The Fresh Market, Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage, Gelson's, Market Basket, Giant Eagle, select Kroger banners, as well as online at Amazon.com and Fresh Direct.

test.ai

Seed Round in 2015
Test.ai provides an AI-powered test automation platform to help organizations deliver quality mobile app experiences. The platform scales and can test thousands of apps in parallel without the need to code or maintain tests. Test.ai automates testing for the most impactful user experiences so that app teams can focus on improving them. The team at test.ai wrote the book on testing— having worked on some of the world’s most used software such as Chrome and Bing and co-authoring books such as How Google Tests Software and App Quality: Secrets for Agile App Teams. Test.ai is dedicated to elevating the quality of the world’s apps and is uniquely qualified to do so.

Oystir

Seed Round in 2015
They want to show you all of the job opportunities you’re qualified for. They know from firsthand experience the job search process is terrible: Who hires people like me? What kinds of jobs need my talents? Which companies sponsor visas? They take those pains away. You tell us what you can do. They find every job on the web that wants your talents and they give you the tools to figure out which one is right for you.

Segovia Technology Co.

Seed Round in 2014
Segovia Technology Co. operates an online platform to deliver critical payments in challenging environments for relief and anti-poverty programs. The company’s platform enables users to analyze data in real-time, automate routine tasks, track actions, and integrate payments across payment providers. Segovia Technology Co. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in New York, New York.

Breathwrk, Inc.

Seed Round in 2020
Breathwrk, Inc. develops and operates a breathing exercises related guidance application. The company’s mobile application offers science-backed breathing exercises for mental and physical wellness and promotes breath work to help users reduce anxiety, sleep disorders, athletic performance issues, low energy, excess stress, panic attacks, a racing mind at night, lack of focus, and bliss. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Venice, California.

WhoWeUse

Seed Round in 2015
WhoWeUse automatically connects you with friends in your local area and pulls service suggestions from your friends' lists of services that match your needs. WhoWeUse gets you the answers you want from the people you trust the most, your friends and neighbors.

Zocdoc

Series D in 2015
Zocdoc, Inc. owns and operates an online platform to search and book doctors' appointments. Additionally, it offers doctors’ reviews; appointment and preventive check-up reminders; and online paper-work services. The company focuses on chiropractors, dentists, dermatologists, eye doctors, gynecologists, primary care doctors, and psychiatrists. Zocdoc, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

GuardHat, Inc.

Seed Round in 2015
Guardhat is a multi-product, feature-packed intelligent safety system that integrates cutting edge wearable technology and advanced proprietary software. It is equipped to detect, alert and help prevent hazardous industrial work-related incidents. It is designed to collect and analyze data to support and improve industrial worker safety programs.

LookBooker

Seed Round in 2014
Have you ever wished you could book your next haircut, massage, or wax from the comfort (and discretion!) of your mobile or computer? You probably already book your flights, accommodation and takeaway online, so why not your personal grooming needs? LookBooker is an online booking aggregator of hair and beauty services that connects salons looking for customers with customers looking for salons. After launching in Singapore in 2014 , LookBooker is now the #1 brand in appointment aggregating for hair and beauty. LookBooker launched in New York City in late 2014 and currently has more appointments available than any other aggregator in the city with the city's top salons, spas and barbershops on board. LookBooker is looking forward to launching in more cities in the coming months.

GuideVine

Angel Round in 2015
GuideVine Technologies enables financial services firms to better connect to prospects and serve clients through our Enterprise-level SaaS products. Whether it’s a wealth or asset management firm, insurance company or tax advisory firm, GuideVine offers conversion-focused platforms and tools designed to organically grow clients, increase marketing ROI and optimize marketing budgets. Our flagship GuideVine Enterprise offering comprises three components: • Digital Matching Platform (DMP): Creating more compelling and relevant prospect experiences that highlight a firm’s capabilities and the right people, resulting in higher client sign-ups • AI Chatbot: Focusing a firm’s staff on the highest value prospect and client interactions, while the bot handles the rest • Concierges: Handling coordination and building deeper engagement between qualified prospects and a firm’s team Dedicated on-going support is provided by our Advisor Success and Engineering teams to create a customized experience that truly represents a firm, with hassle-free implementation and hosting on our technology infrastructure. Since 2013, GuideVine Technologies has worked with over 200 firms and supported over half a million prospects. To learn more, please email us at enterprise@guidevine.com. The firm also operates guidevine.com, a discovery platform for boutique RIAs seeking greater digital exposure to prospects nationwide.

Happy Tree Maple Water

Venture Round in 2016
Organic treewater company happytree is the leading brand in the fast-growing maple water category. happytree is reinventing the beverage cooler one category at a time with its innovative clean label products, all of which are certified organic and Non-GMO Project verified. happytree is currently available at leading natural and specialty stores including Whole Foods Market, Fairway, The Fresh Market, Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage, Gelson's, Market Basket, Giant Eagle, select Kroger banners, as well as online at Amazon.com and Fresh Direct.

Unqork Inc.

Seed Round in 2018
Unqork Inc. develops and operates a Software-as-a-Service enterprise software platform that digitizes the client lifecycle for financial and insurance companies. It offers Unqork, a visual application platform that helps large enterprises to build complex custom software without a code. The company serves insurance, financial services, real estate, government, education, and healthcare sectors. Unqork Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

pulseData

Venture Round in 2016
pulseData offers a machine learning engine that predicts health, so healthcare companies can deliver care precisely to patients and members that can benefit most. The health system generates a tremendous amount of data - deeply specific data on individuals, and pattern behavior data across massive populations. Equipped with the right adaptive, predictive, and precise data science tools, Healthcare Enterprises and Health Providers can partner with A.I. to eliminate preventable sickness. Care management teams uses pulseData to deliver the right care, to the right person, at the right time.

GoldenKey, Inc.

Seed Round in 2015
GoldenKey, Inc. develops and operates a community platform that connects home buyers and sellers with a nationwide community of real estate agents. The company operates an interactive online marketplace for home buyers and connects them with real estate professionals to search for homes and get rebate on their home purchase. GoldenKey, Inc. was formerly known as SoloPro, Inc. and changed its name to GoldenKey, Inc. in September 2016. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Durham, North Carolina. As of September 4, 2018, GoldenKey, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Landis Technologies Inc.

Tecovas, Inc.

Seed Round in 2015
Tecovas, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells cowboy boots and accessories for men and women. It offers bags, wallets, and accessories for men and women, as well as jeans, belts, and apparel for men. The company sells its products through its stores in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as online. Tecovas, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Austin, Texas.

SketchDeck

Seed Round in 2015
Scalable design for marketing teams. Design drives growth. SketchDeck is the most convenient design service that exists. We design everything from presentations to infographics, and it's all easily managed through our powerful web platform. Trusted by Okta, Microsoft, Cognizant, and hundreds more.

BlockTower Capital

Venture Round in 2018
A leading cryptocurrency investment firm, bringing professional trading and portfolio management to an emerging digital asset class.

Do

Seed Round in 2014
Do offers a platform that works as one place for all the notes, presentations, docs, and all other collateral to live together. The company gives the user the tools to frame the discussion, ensure things get done, and make decisions clear.

FastFilmz

Seed Round in 2015
Fastfilmz, operating in the Video on Demand market, is seeking to push the boundaries of the way India’s 250m smartphone users watch movies. Fastfilmz has the exclusive India license for internationally acclaimed, proven & patented video compression technology: V-Nova’s PerseusTM. Giving, for the first time, fast and uninterrupted HD video streaming and downloading to the 80% of India’s urban population living in tier 2/3 cities. With an exciting proposition for Regional India, fastfilmz is all set to make deep inroads into the hearts and minds of this movie crazy population.

Frank

Seed Round in 2016
Frank makes it easy to lend and borrow money among friends and family. Great things happen when people support each other. At Frank, our mission is simple: to make it easy for you to share money with those you care about. We want to make finance about communities. We want to make finance about people. Luckily, this is also smart economics. Research shows that when we help our friends financially, everyone benefits. Money gets paid back and everyone feels more connected without the hassle of middlemen or fees.

Curio Search

Seed Round in 2015
Curio Search is a blog based website that helps people with design.

SoloPro

Seed Round in 2015
SoloPro is a real estate technology startup that is revolutionizing the way people buy homes and the way real estate agents earn a living.

SpokenLayer

Venture Round in 2016
spokenlayer converts printed content and publications into audio. It allows clients to submit their articles using its self-guided API so that the company takes the content from the clients and finds suitable voice for narration thereby enables listening the content using mobile, Web, or in the car. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in New York, New York.

Happy Tree Maple Water

Seed Round in 2016
Organic treewater company happytree is the leading brand in the fast-growing maple water category. happytree is reinventing the beverage cooler one category at a time with its innovative clean label products, all of which are certified organic and Non-GMO Project verified. happytree is currently available at leading natural and specialty stores including Whole Foods Market, Fairway, The Fresh Market, Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage, Gelson's, Market Basket, Giant Eagle, select Kroger banners, as well as online at Amazon.com and Fresh Direct.

Headliner Labs

Seed Round in 2015
Headliner Labs help your brand connect with people through immersive, personalized experiences. At Headliner we build best-in-class chatbots for the world's best brands. Designed to intelligently and proactively engage you customers, our chatbots combine the best front end tools with robust, algorithmic backend engines. Collectively, our team has over a 25+years of experience building smart databases and recommendation engines, connecting offline "things" with online systems.

Levo

Series A in 2015
Levo is the first professional network focused on accelerating the success of professionals in the first ten years of their careers. The average Levo member is 23 years old and is coming to Levo to find a job, connect with others in their journey, and learn how to be excellent in their career paths.

Tecovas, Inc.

Seed Round in 2016
Tecovas, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells cowboy boots and accessories for men and women. It offers bags, wallets, and accessories for men and women, as well as jeans, belts, and apparel for men. The company sells its products through its stores in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as online. Tecovas, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Austin, Texas.

Narrativ

Seed Round in 2015
The Narrativ Company, Inc. operates a content marketing platform that provides narrative advertising services to online publishers using artificial intelligence. It turns advertisement links into an advertising unit, SmartLink, where different retailers can bid in real-time for each click. The company was formerly known as BAMx. The Narrativ Company, Inc. was founded in 2015 and is based in New York, New York.

MediaMath

Private Equity Round in 2018
MediaMath, Inc. develops and delivers digital advertising media and data management technology solutions to advertisers worldwide. The company’s TerminalOne platform activates data, automates execution, and optimizes advertising interactions across addressable media. Its Omnichannel programmatic marketing platform activates predictive audience to enhance one-to-one customer conversations; accesses Omnichannel media at scale to deliver relevance of context and message; closes the loop between measurement and optimization with machine learning; and leverages people in the business. The company also provides professional services in the areas of programmatic strategy and optimization, analytics, technology support, and advertising operations; and training and certification programs focusing on digital marketing. MediaMath, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, New York with additional offices in San Francisco and Santa Monica, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Durham, North Carolina; London, United Kingdom; Madrid, Spain; Berlin; Singapore; Tokyo, Japan; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; and Bengaluru, India.

Lemonada Media

Seed Round in 2020
Lemonada Media is a podcast network that shares the unfiltered version of the human experience. Lemonada's podcasts feature first-person narratives that live on through an engaged community and shares content that gives listeners a sense of understanding about different experiences of others and makes them relate to it, hence allowing listeners to understand multiple human experiences and make them feel good and take lessons for their own experiences.