Core Ventures Group

Core Ventures Group, LLC is a venture capital firm founded in 2012 and based in Palo Alto, California. The firm specializes in seed and early-stage investments, primarily focusing on advanced information technology companies, particularly in the B2B sector. Core Ventures Group aims to be among the first investors in its portfolio companies, fostering close relationships with founders to support the development of valuable businesses that address real-world challenges through advanced technology solutions. The firm is characterized by its selective investment approach, working closely with a limited number of companies to provide strategic guidance and support. Its mission emphasizes the importance of integrity and character in founders, believing that these qualities are foundational to building successful companies.

Shinya Akamine

General Partner

Joanna Drake

General Partner

27 past transactions

Friendly Apps

Seed Round in 2022
Friendly Apps is to create a suite of apps with a different set of values that are targeted toward helping people with both their physical and mental health in new ways.

Concentric AI

Series A in 2022
Concentric’s Semantic Intelligence solution delivers data risk insights across the entire inventory of sensitive documents in the cloud and on-premises. Its deep learning technology examines each document’s content and context for efficient actionable security. It scans the documents, identifies sensitive or business-critical data, evaluates the risk each document poses and highlights critical concerns that need immediate attention. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Zigazoo

Seed Round in 2022
Zigazoo is a prominent platform in the realm of children's short-form video content, allowing kids to create and share video responses to engaging challenges. The platform is designed to enhance screen time by promoting healthier, educational interactions through a user-friendly application. Inspired by children's creativity, Zigazoo encourages self-expression and confidence among young users while also fostering diverse perspectives. The challenges are crafted in collaboration with leading institutions such as museums and zoos, as well as educators and media personalities, ensuring that the content is both entertaining and educational. Recognized for its commitment to safety and positive engagement, Zigazoo has received praise from children's media advocacy organizations, positioning it as a valuable resource for families seeking enriching digital experiences.

Ockam

Series A in 2022
Ockam Inc. is a company that specializes in providing a serverless platform for secure Internet-of-Things (IoT) development. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ockam offers open-source tools that enable developers to create trustworthy IoT systems. Its platform facilitates the interconnection of hardware and software services, allowing for the secure exchange of information between connected devices and cloud services. Ockam's solutions include end-to-end encryption, key management, and mutual authentication, ensuring that data remains secure in transit across complex networks. By connecting application developers, system integrators, and hardware engineers, Ockam simplifies the development process and enhances the trustworthiness of data exchanged within IoT ecosystems.

AskBrian

Seed Round in 2021
AskBrian GmbH, founded in 2018 and based in Wolfratshausen, Germany, develops an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant named Brian. This software serves business professionals by providing access to various databases and facilitating tasks such as document creation, translation, and data analysis. Brian utilizes narrow AI technologies to enhance productivity by streamlining time-consuming activities like file conversion, industry benchmarking, and country research. By automating these tasks, Brian allows users, particularly management consultants and knowledge workers, to concentrate on higher-value activities, thereby improving overall efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Compaas

Seed Round in 2020
Compaas is a company that offers a Compensation Intelligence Platform designed to assist growing organizations in making informed decisions regarding employee compensation. Founded in 2017 by Lisa Dusseault and Bethanye Blount in San Francisco, the platform consolidates compensation data and provides analytics and strategy tools tailored for both startups and enterprise-level companies. By allowing users to forecast and observe real-time market trends, Compaas enables businesses to develop effective compensation strategies and manage their operating expenses more efficiently, ultimately enhancing communication with employees and minimizing potential errors in compensation management.

Concentric

Venture Round in 2020
Concentric Inc. specializes in agent-based simulation technology, providing an augmented intelligence platform that allows organizations to integrate data and tools into a unified framework. This platform is designed for scenario testing and forecasting, enabling businesses to explore potential outcomes of their go-to-market strategies in real time. By addressing various "what-if" questions, Concentric helps companies derive actionable insights, ultimately enhancing the return on investment of their analytics programs. The company offers a range of services, including licensing, consulting, support, and development, and serves both domestic and international clients. Founded in 2010 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Concentric has established a strategic alliance with Phoenix Strategic Advisors to further enhance its service offerings.

Concentric AI

Seed Round in 2020
Concentric’s Semantic Intelligence solution delivers data risk insights across the entire inventory of sensitive documents in the cloud and on-premises. Its deep learning technology examines each document’s content and context for efficient actionable security. It scans the documents, identifies sensitive or business-critical data, evaluates the risk each document poses and highlights critical concerns that need immediate attention. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Zippin

Series A in 2019
Zippin owns and operates AI-driven software platform of checkout-free technology which enables retailers to quickly deploy frictionless shopping in their stores. The company is based in the United States.

Ockam

Seed Round in 2019
Ockam Inc. is a company that specializes in providing a serverless platform for secure Internet-of-Things (IoT) development. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ockam offers open-source tools that enable developers to create trustworthy IoT systems. Its platform facilitates the interconnection of hardware and software services, allowing for the secure exchange of information between connected devices and cloud services. Ockam's solutions include end-to-end encryption, key management, and mutual authentication, ensuring that data remains secure in transit across complex networks. By connecting application developers, system integrators, and hardware engineers, Ockam simplifies the development process and enhances the trustworthiness of data exchanged within IoT ecosystems.

AI Redefined

Seed Round in 2018
AI Redefined is a software company focused on advancing machine learning research and applications. The company aims to enhance the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence by creating a universal and secure digital environment for continuous learning. Its flagship product, Cogment, is an open-source framework designed for the simultaneous live training of both AIs and humans within the same setting. This platform provides various tools and infrastructure, including operator AI apprentices and adaptive learning features, facilitating seamless human-AI collaboration. By emphasizing adaptive training and fine-tuning, AI Redefined enables clients to establish effective partnerships between technology and people, fostering innovation and improving overall outcomes.

Humble Dot

Seed Round in 2018
Humble Dot is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in enhancing communication through its online platform. It provides tools for check-ins, status updates, retrospectives, team pulses, and one-on-one agendas, facilitating efficient and high-quality interactions among team members. The platform aims to streamline communication by minimizing distractions and ensuring that teams can connect regardless of time or location.

Zippin

Seed Round in 2018
Zippin owns and operates AI-driven software platform of checkout-free technology which enables retailers to quickly deploy frictionless shopping in their stores. The company is based in the United States.

Vorstella

Seed Round in 2017
Vorstella is an A.I. agent that stabilizes and optimizes the users' data platforms. Vorstella’s AI agent can forecast future problems, identify an outage root cause, and walk engineers through complex remediation procedures. Vorstella works with the user's existing teams to keep its systems available and performant, so the user can say goodbye to stress and instead focus on system design, innovation and strategy.

Vidora

Seed Round in 2017
Vidora’s mission is to enhance the performance of Marketing and Product teams with No-Code Machine Learning. Our Machine Learning Platform, Cortex, allows teams to use predictions to continually optimize conversions and engagement, while providing end-to-end automation, allowing teams to create hundreds of predictions without the risk and cost of building in house. The largest global brands like Walmart, News Corp, and Discovery, leverage Cortex to intelligently learn from continuous streams of raw data to drive higher performance and automation across the enterprise.

Kueski

Series A in 2016
Kueski, S.A.P.I. De C.V. Sofom E.N.R. is an online lending platform based in Guadalajara, Mexico, founded in 2012. Catering primarily to the middle class in Mexico and Latin America, Kueski offers a range of financial services, including personal credit, student loans, and savings options. The platform leverages big data and advanced analytics to facilitate quick loan approvals, often within minutes, making it a convenient choice for borrowers who require immediate financial assistance. With a paperless application process available 24/7, Kueski has rapidly established itself as a leading provider of online lending services in the region, having granted thousands of loans to date.

Ascend.io

Seed Round in 2015
Ascend.io is a Palo Alto-based company that has developed an innovative platform for managing big data pipelines through its Autonomous Dataflow Service. This platform allows data engineers to create, scale, and operate Apache Spark-based data pipelines with significantly reduced coding requirements. It runs natively on major cloud services, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform. By utilizing a combination of declarative configurations and automation, Ascend.io streamlines cloud infrastructure management, optimizes data pipelines, and minimizes maintenance throughout the data lifecycle. The company's solutions enable business managers to initiate projects, integrate with applications, and make informed decisions with ease. Ascend.io is supported by prominent venture capital firms and notable industry advisors, enhancing its position in the big data analytics landscape.

Imperva

Series A in 2015
Imperva, Inc. is a cybersecurity company that specializes in protecting critical business data and applications across cloud and on-premises environments. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, Imperva offers a comprehensive suite of security solutions, including its SecureSphere product line, which provides database, file, and web application security. The company also offers services like Incapsula for cloud-based website security and distributed denial-of-service protection. Other notable products include ThreatRadar, which delivers security intelligence, CounterBreach for safeguarding data from internal threats, and Camouflage Data Masking for creating functional data while protecting sensitive information. Imperva serves a diverse clientele, including banks, retailers, insurers, technology firms, and government agencies, through a network of distributors and resellers, ensuring visibility and control over high-value business data.

Liftoff

Series A in 2015
Liftoff Mobile, Inc. is a company that specializes in mobile application marketing and retargeting for non-gaming applications. Founded in 2012 and based in Menlo Park, California, Liftoff offers a comprehensive platform that utilizes post-install data to optimize user acquisition and retention campaigns. By leveraging predictive intelligence and machine learning, Liftoff assists clients in identifying and engaging high-quality users at scale. The platform is designed to drive significant user actions beyond initial app installs, such as making purchases or subscribing to services. Its notable clients include Harmony, Orbitz, OpenTable, and HBO.

Liftoff

Seed Round in 2015
Liftoff Mobile, Inc. is a company that specializes in mobile application marketing and retargeting for non-gaming applications. Founded in 2012 and based in Menlo Park, California, Liftoff offers a comprehensive platform that utilizes post-install data to optimize user acquisition and retention campaigns. By leveraging predictive intelligence and machine learning, Liftoff assists clients in identifying and engaging high-quality users at scale. The platform is designed to drive significant user actions beyond initial app installs, such as making purchases or subscribing to services. Its notable clients include Harmony, Orbitz, OpenTable, and HBO.
remote.it (pronounced remote 'it') is unleashing private networks from legacy dependencies including hardware dependence, open ports on the Internet, on-premise configuration, and one-by-one management of individual networked devices. Founded by networking experts who's previous company invented hardware TCP/IP (acquired by NVIDIA) the companies cloud service allows for secure management of network assets from anywhere. Popular use cases include: managing cloud instances, IoT devices, remote access, remote work, and allowing legacy networking equipment to be managed from the cloud. The remote.it service is used by tens of thousands of businesses to managed devices in over 180 countries across the globe.

Kueski

Seed Round in 2014
Kueski, S.A.P.I. De C.V. Sofom E.N.R. is an online lending platform based in Guadalajara, Mexico, founded in 2012. Catering primarily to the middle class in Mexico and Latin America, Kueski offers a range of financial services, including personal credit, student loans, and savings options. The platform leverages big data and advanced analytics to facilitate quick loan approvals, often within minutes, making it a convenient choice for borrowers who require immediate financial assistance. With a paperless application process available 24/7, Kueski has rapidly established itself as a leading provider of online lending services in the region, having granted thousands of loans to date.

Feed.fm

Seed Round in 2014
Feed.fm is a company that provides licensed popular music to enhance customer experiences in digital applications and physical spaces. By offering a proprietary streaming platform and software development kits (SDKs), Feed.fm simplifies the process of accessing pre-cleared music, eliminating the need for complex negotiations with music labels and publishers. The platform features expertly curated tracks tailored to specific needs, such as fitness workouts, and supports instructor-led sessions as well as user-driven radio experiences. This allows businesses to optimize their music selections and effectively engage their customers. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, Feed.fm also provides analytics, ensures payments to rightsholders, and offers legal protection for its clients.

electroCore

Series A in 2014
electroCore, Inc., a commercial stage medical device company, engages in the development and commercialization of a range of patient administered non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) therapies. The company is developing gammaCore, a prescription-only nVNS therapy for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine and episodic cluster headache in adults. Its lead product is gammaCore Sapphire, a rechargeable and reloadable handheld delivery system for multi-year use prescribed on a monthly basis. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

Bantam Tools

Series A in 2014
Bantam Tools, founded in 2013 by Sarah Tappon and Saul Griffith, specializes in digital desktop manufacturing through its innovative software and hardware products. The company's flagship product, the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Mill, allows users to create 2D and 3D objects from various durable materials, including wood, metal, and plastic, by utilizing digital designs. This portable CNC mill is designed for a range of applications, enabling users to produce items such as mechanical parts, enclosures, models, and molds. With headquarters in San Francisco, California, Bantam Tools aims to democratize manufacturing by making advanced fabrication accessible to a wider audience.

Wizeline

Seed Round in 2013
Wizeline is a product design and development services company founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. With a workforce of over 1,000 employees spread across seven countries and eleven cities, Wizeline collaborates with product leaders to enhance their core technologies and create cloud-native products and platforms. The company specializes in utilizing customer intelligence to provide product lifecycle software, which helps clients make data-driven decisions for product prioritization. By offering consulting services, Wizeline enables organizations to algorithmically prioritize features in product roadmaps and accelerate the development of new technologies, ultimately improving user experience and modernizing technological capabilities.

True Anthem

Seed Round in 2013
True Anthem is an AI-Powered Content Distribution Platform for media companies and publishers. Clients use their Platform to drive significant increases in monetization by efficiently distributing their most popular stories across social media. They pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to identify the right content for social audiences and then automatically post it at the right time. Unlike legacy scheduling tools and manual social media processes, the resulting increases in traffic, revenue, and efficiency, typically result in a 300% lift in ROI for our clients. The company partner with-local media and global news organizations including Tribune, Hearst, and Reuters; feature publishers such as Meredith, and online giants including CBS Interactive. True Anthem is based in San Francisco, California.
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