Leading Edge Ventures

Leading Edge Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Newark, Delaware, with an additional office in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Established in 2013, the firm specializes in seed and early-stage investments, primarily targeting technology companies in the United States. Its investment focus encompasses various sectors, including information technology, business applications and services, healthcare, enterprise infrastructure, medical devices, materials, and core science. Leading Edge Ventures typically invests between $50,000 and $250,000 initially, with the potential for total investments reaching up to $750,000 per company. The firm aims to support high-growth markets in Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic region, often collaborating with other investors as part of syndicates.

Rick Birkmeyer

General Partner

J. Michael Bowman

General Partner

Jeffrey A. Davison

General Partner

Vance Kershner

General Partner

Doug Petillo

General Partner

14 past transactions

Pliant.io

Series A in 2021
Pliant.io, Inc. is a Boston-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in infrastructure automation. The company provides an orchestration, automation, and response (OAR) platform known as Pliant, which enables IT operations teams to efficiently plan, build, and deploy API-level automations. This platform facilitates the automation of complex cross-domain processes through its graphical representations and uniform building blocks. Pliant's solutions cater to a variety of use cases, including virtual machine provisioning, server auditing and remediation, IT service management orchestration, hybrid network configuration, and application delivery and security. By enabling rapid development and deployment of IT automation, Pliant addresses the evolving demands of complex business processes.

Pliant.io

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Pliant.io, Inc. is a Boston-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in infrastructure automation. The company provides an orchestration, automation, and response (OAR) platform known as Pliant, which enables IT operations teams to efficiently plan, build, and deploy API-level automations. This platform facilitates the automation of complex cross-domain processes through its graphical representations and uniform building blocks. Pliant's solutions cater to a variety of use cases, including virtual machine provisioning, server auditing and remediation, IT service management orchestration, hybrid network configuration, and application delivery and security. By enabling rapid development and deployment of IT automation, Pliant addresses the evolving demands of complex business processes.

Ride Health

Series A in 2020
Ride Health LLC is a New York-based company that provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed to help healthcare providers manage patient transportation to medical appointments. Founded in 2016, Ride Health partners with healthcare organizations and transportation providers to streamline the scheduling, requesting, and payment processes for rides. The platform allows care coordinators to arrange rides in advance or on-demand and offers real-time insights into transportation costs and usage. By integrating technology and data with a personalized approach, Ride Health addresses transportation challenges faced by healthcare providers and payers, ensuring that patients receive rides tailored to their individual needs. Additionally, the company has implemented a COVID-19 ride tracking program to support hospitals across the nation, further enhancing patient access and improving healthcare outcomes.

Tangen Biosciences

Series A in 2019
Tangen Biosciences LLC develops medical instrument that provides rapid nucleic acid detection, with the specificity and sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification.

Pliant.io

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Pliant.io, Inc. is a Boston-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in infrastructure automation. The company provides an orchestration, automation, and response (OAR) platform known as Pliant, which enables IT operations teams to efficiently plan, build, and deploy API-level automations. This platform facilitates the automation of complex cross-domain processes through its graphical representations and uniform building blocks. Pliant's solutions cater to a variety of use cases, including virtual machine provisioning, server auditing and remediation, IT service management orchestration, hybrid network configuration, and application delivery and security. By enabling rapid development and deployment of IT automation, Pliant addresses the evolving demands of complex business processes.

scaleMatters

Seed Round in 2019
scaleMatters, Inc. provides data-driven and integrated marketing and sales automation software solutions. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Montgomery County, Maryland.

HighQA

Series A in 2018
HighQA is a Software Platform for Manufacturing Quality Inspection. Automate your inspection process, cut costs, improve cross-department communication and enable supply chain collaboration. Use Inspection Manager to extract manufacturing and inspection requirements from any 2D blueprint, CAD drawing or 3D model and instantly create a database of your projects, generate reports and effectively manage inspection schedules. Inspection Manager helps you manage project details, deadlines and reports for a smoother and expedited delivery to your customers.

CanSurround

Series A in 2018
CanSurround Inc. is a company that specializes in developing interactive web and mobile solutions aimed at supporting individuals affected by cancer. Founded in 2013 and based in Wilmington, Delaware, CanSurround provides a platform that focuses on reducing distress and enhancing emotional well-being. Its offerings include mind-body exercises such as guided imagery and meditation, a confidential space for users to document their experiences, and various interactive tools like checklists and trackers. The platform also emphasizes inquiry-based stress reduction and social support, helping both cancer patients and their loved ones build resilience and navigate the challenges of the cancer journey with greater confidence. Through its personalized approach, CanSurround aims to guide users toward choices that foster personal growth and healing.

Othot

Series A in 2018
Othot, Inc. is a Pittsburgh-based company that specializes in advanced analytics solutions primarily for higher education institutions. Founded in 2014, Othot develops a cloud-based platform that leverages artificial intelligence to help organizations extract valuable insights from their data. The company offers Enrollment analytics to assist institutions in identifying and reaching ideal students, as well as Retention analytics that provides actionable intelligence for engaging and retaining customers. Othot's services extend beyond higher education to include K-12 schools and the automotive sector, facilitating better relationships throughout the entire student-to-alumni lifecycle.

BeneFix

Seed Round in 2018
BeneFix, Inc. develops a software for health insurance quoting applications. Its BeneFix software allows users to manage various health insurance plans across various carriers, and get quoting. BeneFix, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

ActiveProtective

Series A in 2018
ActiveProtective is a consumer device company that produces smart garments to reduce traumatic injury using wearable airbag technology. The company's proprietary technology uses 3D motion sensors to determine the stereotypical motions and accelerations that govern the body’s normal, daily activities, in order to determine ’departures’ from what is allowable. This technique called "fall disambiguation", allows users to determine falls prior to impact, intercept hip fractures, and protect themselves from risks during sports and military sessions by deploying micro-airbag protection. ActiveProtective was founded in 2006 and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

College Ave Student Loans

Venture Round in 2017
College Ave Student Loans offers private student loans to undergraduate students, graduate students, and the parents of students entering college. By specializing in student loans, it is able to provide its customers the attention they deserve and deliver loans that are personalized for each individual. The company also facilitates competitive rates, the most repayment options, and a customer-friendly experience from application through repayment. College Ave Student Loans also offers its borrowers the choice between deferred, interest only, flat payment, and full principal and interest payments.

ActiveProtective

Seed Round in 2016
ActiveProtective is a consumer device company that produces smart garments to reduce traumatic injury using wearable airbag technology. The company's proprietary technology uses 3D motion sensors to determine the stereotypical motions and accelerations that govern the body’s normal, daily activities, in order to determine ’departures’ from what is allowable. This technique called "fall disambiguation", allows users to determine falls prior to impact, intercept hip fractures, and protect themselves from risks during sports and military sessions by deploying micro-airbag protection. ActiveProtective was founded in 2006 and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

redIq

Venture Round in 2015
redIQ transforms static property data into actionable intelligence. Using sophisticated data parsing and processing tools, we allow clients to quickly and accurately extract the vast troves of rent roll and operating data from the files they receive in seconds rather than hours. This data is immediately aggregated and analyzed using cutting-edge data visualization tools to provide unique insights. Clients can then share controlled subsets of that information in a dynamic, easy-to-consume format. It was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.