Pillar VC

Adaptilens develops an accommodating intraocular lens that replicates the natural human lens, enabling clear near, intermediate, and distance vision without eyeglasses or contact lenses. The lens uses the eye's ciliary muscles to change shape for natural focus across distances and returns to its baseline form for distance viewing. The company is based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Asimov designs and develops biologics and gene therapies, focusing on mammalian cell engineering and genetic circuit design. The company combines synthetic biology, computer-aided design, and machine learning to accelerate the design and manufacture of biologics, viral vectors, and cell and gene therapies. Its platform integrates biophysical simulations with data-driven models of biology to engineer genetic circuits and optimize production processes. Founded in 2017 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Asimov supports healthcare firms in advancing therapeutic pipelines through software and engineering tooling that bridges biology and computational design.

JobGet Inc. is a mobile hiring application and job search platform based in Boston, Massachusetts, established in 2017. It serves as a marketplace connecting employers and job seekers, facilitating direct communication through messaging, scheduling meetings, and conducting video interviews. The platform is particularly focused on the retail and hospitality industries, significantly accelerating the job search process by reducing the timeline from weeks to mere minutes. JobGet has gained recognition as a top-rated application on both iOS and Android, assisting thousands of job seekers in engaging with prominent employers.

Kula Bio, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable solutions for modern agriculture. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company specializes in biofertilizers that harness nitrogen-fixing microbes energized by renewable energy sources. This innovative approach allows Kula Bio to produce organic nitrogen fertilizers that aim to replace traditional synthetic fertilizers, promoting both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship. By enhancing natural microbial processes, Kula Bio’s products enable farmers to improve crop yields while prioritizing sustainability and eco-friendliness in farming practices.

Mana Interactive Inc., based in Boston, is a financial solutions provider established in 2021 that focuses on creating a rewards platform tailored for gamers. The company has developed a financial application that offers a checking account and debit card specifically designed for individuals who enjoy gaming. Through this application, users can earn rewards points not only from their everyday purchases but also from engaging in their favorite games. Additionally, Mana Interactive provides access to gaming events, hardware, and beta tests, further enhancing the gaming experience. The team at Mana Interactive is dedicated to transforming the fintech landscape and reshaping how rewards, payments, and technology integrate within the gaming community.

Hometap, founded in 2018 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, is a fintech company that specializes in home equity investments. It allows homeowners to access funds immediately without taking on loans or selling their homes. Homeowners can use these funds for various purposes such as paying off debt or making renovations, all while avoiding added debt or monthly payments. Hometap provides this cash in exchange for a percentage of the future appreciation of the home's value.

Founded in 2018 and based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Waeve is a direct-to-consumer beauty company specializing in beginner-friendly, high-quality wigs. It caters primarily to millennial and Gen Z black women, offering trendy ready-to-wear styles.

Circle is a Boston-based fintech company founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville. It specializes in utilizing stablecoins for payments, e-commerce, and investment products. Circle's services include Circle Pay for easy money transfers, Circle Invest for crypto asset trading, and Circle Trade for over-the-counter transactions. The company is backed by prominent investors such as Jim Breyer, Goldman Sachs, IDG Capital, General Catalyst, and Accel Partners.

Kula Bio, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable solutions for modern agriculture. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company specializes in biofertilizers that harness nitrogen-fixing microbes energized by renewable energy sources. This innovative approach allows Kula Bio to produce organic nitrogen fertilizers that aim to replace traditional synthetic fertilizers, promoting both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship. By enhancing natural microbial processes, Kula Bio’s products enable farmers to improve crop yields while prioritizing sustainability and eco-friendliness in farming practices.

Knox Financial, established in 2018 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, operates a platform that enables individuals to transform their primary residence into an investment property, generating passive rental income while they continue living there. The company uses algorithm-based technology to manage and identify suitable residential rentals, offering services such as tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance management, insurance programs, and accounting, thereby streamlining the process of owning and managing a rental property.

Adaptilens develops an accommodating intraocular lens that replicates the natural human lens, enabling clear near, intermediate, and distance vision without eyeglasses or contact lenses. The lens uses the eye's ciliary muscles to change shape for natural focus across distances and returns to its baseline form for distance viewing. The company is based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

JobGet Inc. is a mobile hiring application and job search platform based in Boston, Massachusetts, established in 2017. It serves as a marketplace connecting employers and job seekers, facilitating direct communication through messaging, scheduling meetings, and conducting video interviews. The platform is particularly focused on the retail and hospitality industries, significantly accelerating the job search process by reducing the timeline from weeks to mere minutes. JobGet has gained recognition as a top-rated application on both iOS and Android, assisting thousands of job seekers in engaging with prominent employers.

JobGet Inc. is a mobile hiring application and job search platform based in Boston, Massachusetts, established in 2017. It serves as a marketplace connecting employers and job seekers, facilitating direct communication through messaging, scheduling meetings, and conducting video interviews. The platform is particularly focused on the retail and hospitality industries, significantly accelerating the job search process by reducing the timeline from weeks to mere minutes. JobGet has gained recognition as a top-rated application on both iOS and Android, assisting thousands of job seekers in engaging with prominent employers.

Zapata Computing, Inc. is a quantum software company that specializes in developing innovative computing solutions tailored for industrial and commercial applications. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional office in Toronto, the company emerged from Harvard University and is driven by a team of scientists, including Alán Aspuru-Guzik. Zapata offers Orquestra, a software platform that enables the composition of quantum workflows using a YAML-compatible language, facilitating tasks across both quantum and classical hardware. Its solutions are hardware-agnostic and cater to various sectors, including finance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, transportation, logistics, energy, and more. Equipped to address complex challenges, Zapata Computing focuses on simulation, optimization, and machine learning, helping enterprise organizations harness the power of quantum technology to enhance their operations.

Kula Bio, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable solutions for modern agriculture. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company specializes in biofertilizers that harness nitrogen-fixing microbes energized by renewable energy sources. This innovative approach allows Kula Bio to produce organic nitrogen fertilizers that aim to replace traditional synthetic fertilizers, promoting both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship. By enhancing natural microbial processes, Kula Bio’s products enable farmers to improve crop yields while prioritizing sustainability and eco-friendliness in farming practices.

Adaptilens develops an accommodating intraocular lens that replicates the natural human lens, enabling clear near, intermediate, and distance vision without eyeglasses or contact lenses. The lens uses the eye's ciliary muscles to change shape for natural focus across distances and returns to its baseline form for distance viewing. The company is based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Kula Bio, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable solutions for modern agriculture. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company specializes in biofertilizers that harness nitrogen-fixing microbes energized by renewable energy sources. This innovative approach allows Kula Bio to produce organic nitrogen fertilizers that aim to replace traditional synthetic fertilizers, promoting both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship. By enhancing natural microbial processes, Kula Bio’s products enable farmers to improve crop yields while prioritizing sustainability and eco-friendliness in farming practices.

Knox Financial, established in 2018 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, operates a platform that enables individuals to transform their primary residence into an investment property, generating passive rental income while they continue living there. The company uses algorithm-based technology to manage and identify suitable residential rentals, offering services such as tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance management, insurance programs, and accounting, thereby streamlining the process of owning and managing a rental property.

Petri is a venture capital accelerator based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 2019. The firm specializes in investing in formation-stage startups, particularly at the intersection of biology and engineering. Petri focuses on sectors such as biotech applications, food, healthcare, industrial chemicals, and new materials. It provides pre-seed and seed capital investments, typically up to $0.25 million, and works closely with founders over a 12-month period to help them build high-quality teams, develop intellectual property, and identify customers. Petri's programming culminates in a Demo Day presentation, showcasing the startups' progress. In exchange for its support, Petri acquires an equity stake in the participating companies.

Zapata Computing, Inc. is a quantum software company that specializes in developing innovative computing solutions tailored for industrial and commercial applications. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional office in Toronto, the company emerged from Harvard University and is driven by a team of scientists, including Alán Aspuru-Guzik. Zapata offers Orquestra, a software platform that enables the composition of quantum workflows using a YAML-compatible language, facilitating tasks across both quantum and classical hardware. Its solutions are hardware-agnostic and cater to various sectors, including finance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, transportation, logistics, energy, and more. Equipped to address complex challenges, Zapata Computing focuses on simulation, optimization, and machine learning, helping enterprise organizations harness the power of quantum technology to enhance their operations.

RECLAIM is a financial wellness app that relieves patients from financial stress so that they can focus on their wellbeing. It helps healthcare users understand their care pathway and what to expect ahead, save on their cost of care, and optimize their insurance selection to best mitigate their financial risk. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Founded in 2007, Jellyfish develops an engineering management platform that aligns teams' work with strategic business objectives. It analyzes data from tools like Git and issue trackers, contextualizing it with business data to demonstrate the impact of engineering efforts on growth.

Kula Bio, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing sustainable solutions for modern agriculture. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company specializes in biofertilizers that harness nitrogen-fixing microbes energized by renewable energy sources. This innovative approach allows Kula Bio to produce organic nitrogen fertilizers that aim to replace traditional synthetic fertilizers, promoting both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship. By enhancing natural microbial processes, Kula Bio’s products enable farmers to improve crop yields while prioritizing sustainability and eco-friendliness in farming practices.

Zapata Computing, Inc. is a quantum software company that specializes in developing innovative computing solutions tailored for industrial and commercial applications. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional office in Toronto, the company emerged from Harvard University and is driven by a team of scientists, including Alán Aspuru-Guzik. Zapata offers Orquestra, a software platform that enables the composition of quantum workflows using a YAML-compatible language, facilitating tasks across both quantum and classical hardware. Its solutions are hardware-agnostic and cater to various sectors, including finance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, transportation, logistics, energy, and more. Equipped to address complex challenges, Zapata Computing focuses on simulation, optimization, and machine learning, helping enterprise organizations harness the power of quantum technology to enhance their operations.

Circle is a Boston-based fintech company founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville. It specializes in utilizing stablecoins for payments, e-commerce, and investment products. Circle's services include Circle Pay for easy money transfers, Circle Invest for crypto asset trading, and Circle Trade for over-the-counter transactions. The company is backed by prominent investors such as Jim Breyer, Goldman Sachs, IDG Capital, General Catalyst, and Accel Partners.

Hometap, founded in 2018 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, is a fintech company that specializes in home equity investments. It allows homeowners to access funds immediately without taking on loans or selling their homes. Homeowners can use these funds for various purposes such as paying off debt or making renovations, all while avoiding added debt or monthly payments. Hometap provides this cash in exchange for a percentage of the future appreciation of the home's value.

Algorand is a blockchain technology company that operates a decentralized platform for digital currencies and transactions. The platform provides Layer-1 functionality, including Algorand Standard Asset tokens, Atomic Transfers, and Smart Contracts, designed to enable fast, scalable, and low-cost transactions. Founded in 2017 and based in Boston, Algorand aims to address blockchain scalability challenges through rapid, efficient consensus. The company also develops and maintains DeFi applications and digital identity solutions, and offers deployment, consultation, and maintenance services for permissioned blockchain networks to support enterprises and governments while emphasizing privacy, security, and cost efficiency.

RECLAIM is a financial wellness app that relieves patients from financial stress so that they can focus on their wellbeing. It helps healthcare users understand their care pathway and what to expect ahead, save on their cost of care, and optimize their insurance selection to best mitigate their financial risk. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Asimov designs and develops biologics and gene therapies, focusing on mammalian cell engineering and genetic circuit design. The company combines synthetic biology, computer-aided design, and machine learning to accelerate the design and manufacture of biologics, viral vectors, and cell and gene therapies. Its platform integrates biophysical simulations with data-driven models of biology to engineer genetic circuits and optimize production processes. Founded in 2017 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Asimov supports healthcare firms in advancing therapeutic pipelines through software and engineering tooling that bridges biology and computational design.

PathAI, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in developing artificial intelligence solutions for pathology laboratories. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional office in Austin, Texas, PathAI focuses on enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of cancer diagnosis and treatment. The company's platform employs machine and deep learning techniques to analyze large datasets, assisting pathologists in making rapid and precise diagnoses for patients. By addressing complex challenges in pathology, PathAI aims to facilitate personalized medicine and improve patient outcomes by identifying individuals who may benefit from innovative therapies.

Rekener operates a customer data platform for B2B companies. Incorporated in 2015, it's headquartered in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Rekener automatically consolidates customer data from various sources like Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot to provide analytical applications. These tools help prioritize resources on high-potential prospects and automate KPI tracking for continuous performance measurement.

Talla, Inc., founded in 2015 and based in Brookline, Massachusetts, is an AI and automation platform that enhances customer support and internal service management. The company develops software that automates support workflows, enabling users to find accurate answers to their questions through self-service. Talla's platform is designed for various internal teams, including HR and IT, and prioritizes inquiries while automating responses to frequently asked questions. By integrating with essential tools used by support teams, Talla not only improves customer satisfaction but also increases the productivity of support representatives. The platform's machine learning capabilities allow it to learn and adapt over time, ensuring continuous improvement in service delivery.

Edgewise Networks, Inc. is a cybersecurity software provider based in Burlington, Massachusetts, founded in 2016. The company specializes in Trusted Application Networking, focusing on cloud and data center security by preventing network-borne threats. Edgewise’s solutions ensure that only trusted applications communicate over approved network paths, significantly reducing the risk of application compromise. By leveraging machine learning, Edgewise models application communication patterns and generates optimal protection policies, effectively eliminating up to 98% of the network attack surface. This proactive approach allows businesses to secure critical applications without necessitating changes to the existing network infrastructure, thereby enhancing overall security even in scenarios where traditional firewall protections may fail. Edgewise Networks operates as a subsidiary of Zscaler, Inc. as of May 2020.

Desktop Metal is a global developer and manufacturer of additive manufacturing technologies, materials, and software for industrial production. The company offers a range of metal 3D printing systems, including the Production System for high-volume manufacturing, the Shop System for machine shops, the Studio System for office environments, and the Fiber printer for desktop use. It supplies materials and software that support metal, polymer, sand, and ceramic applications, enabling on-demand, digital mass production with improved speed, cost efficiency, and part quality. Desktop Metal serves automotive, aerospace, healthcare, consumer products, heavy industry, machine design, and research and development customers and operates worldwide from headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts.

PillPack, Inc. is a pharmacy that specializes in organizing and delivering medications directly to customers' doors. Founded in 2013 and based in Manchester, New Hampshire, the company provides a unique service by sorting medications into personalized packets, which are tailored to individual dosing schedules. In addition to prescription medications, PillPack also offers vitamins, over-the-counter products, inhalers, creams, and testing supplies. The company serves various clients, including healthcare providers and caregivers, throughout the United States. PillPack is also known for its online magazine, Folks, which highlights inspiring stories of individuals overcoming health challenges. As of September 2018, PillPack operates as a subsidiary of Amazon.com, expanding its reach and capabilities within the healthcare sector. Locations include Miami, Brooklyn, Somerville, Salt Lake City, and Austin.

PathAI, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in developing artificial intelligence solutions for pathology laboratories. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional office in Austin, Texas, PathAI focuses on enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of cancer diagnosis and treatment. The company's platform employs machine and deep learning techniques to analyze large datasets, assisting pathologists in making rapid and precise diagnoses for patients. By addressing complex challenges in pathology, PathAI aims to facilitate personalized medicine and improve patient outcomes by identifying individuals who may benefit from innovative therapies.

Rekener operates a customer data platform for B2B companies. Incorporated in 2015, it's headquartered in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Rekener automatically consolidates customer data from various sources like Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot to provide analytical applications. These tools help prioritize resources on high-potential prospects and automate KPI tracking for continuous performance measurement.

PillPack, Inc. is a pharmacy that specializes in organizing and delivering medications directly to customers' doors. Founded in 2013 and based in Manchester, New Hampshire, the company provides a unique service by sorting medications into personalized packets, which are tailored to individual dosing schedules. In addition to prescription medications, PillPack also offers vitamins, over-the-counter products, inhalers, creams, and testing supplies. The company serves various clients, including healthcare providers and caregivers, throughout the United States. PillPack is also known for its online magazine, Folks, which highlights inspiring stories of individuals overcoming health challenges. As of September 2018, PillPack operates as a subsidiary of Amazon.com, expanding its reach and capabilities within the healthcare sector. Locations include Miami, Brooklyn, Somerville, Salt Lake City, and Austin.

LBRY Inc. is a technology company based in Manchester, New Hampshire, that specializes in content sharing and delivery applications for both mobile and desktop systems. Founded in 2015, LBRY revolutionizes the way content is published and consumed by utilizing blockchain technology. The LBRY protocol facilitates a decentralized network that allows users to access, discover, and publish a wide range of content, including videos, music, and e-books. In addition to its content distribution capabilities, LBRY offers a community-run digital marketplace that emphasizes data privacy and user control, enabling clients to monetize their content effectively.

Desktop Metal is a global developer and manufacturer of additive manufacturing technologies, materials, and software for industrial production. The company offers a range of metal 3D printing systems, including the Production System for high-volume manufacturing, the Shop System for machine shops, the Studio System for office environments, and the Fiber printer for desktop use. It supplies materials and software that support metal, polymer, sand, and ceramic applications, enabling on-demand, digital mass production with improved speed, cost efficiency, and part quality. Desktop Metal serves automotive, aerospace, healthcare, consumer products, heavy industry, machine design, and research and development customers and operates worldwide from headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Circle is a Boston-based fintech company founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville. It specializes in utilizing stablecoins for payments, e-commerce, and investment products. Circle's services include Circle Pay for easy money transfers, Circle Invest for crypto asset trading, and Circle Trade for over-the-counter transactions. The company is backed by prominent investors such as Jim Breyer, Goldman Sachs, IDG Capital, General Catalyst, and Accel Partners.