Investor directory

Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Focus

Pre Seed RoundSeed RoundArtificial IntelligenceMachine LearningSeries AShow more
http://techstars.com/ventures
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https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/company.aspx?companyId=431767203
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Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Trading Platform

ToMarket

Non Equity Assistance in 2022
To Market is a platform that connects purveyors of local edible goods directly to restaurants and chefs that need them the most. The company serves as a simple online marketplace for sourcing and selling the highest quality local goods. For farmers, the company allows them to track their inventory online and it automatically becomes available to local Chefs for easy online ordering. Meanwhile for the chefs, they can have and order the finest products from the local farms, just a click away with easy online ordering and tracking.

Valyuu.com

Seed Round in 2021
Circular Economy Marketplace

Gatsby

Series A in 2021
Gatsby Digital, Inc. develops a commission-free stock options trading platform. It offers Gatsby to trade for or against companies and ETFs. The company’s Gatsby allows users to earn rewards points with every trade and redeem rewards for gift cards at various retailers. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in New York, New York. Gatsby Digital, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of ViewTrade Securities Inc.

Avenews

Seed Round in 2021
Avenews-GT empowers farmers and industrial buyers of agricultural produce to participate in the global market and deliver unique and high-quality products to the world. The company has developed a web platform, powered by blockchain technology, that integrates services for the commercial trade of agricultural produce. The platform enables farmers and industrial buyers to transact directly with each other locally and worldwide, simplify transaction processes, create financial security, and increase supply chain transparency. The platform also enables financial institutions to reduce financing risks with a transparent view, in real time, into the digital identities of their agri-clients, where all the business data is stored, analyzed and visualized - transactions history, production volumes, and other trade-related data. Step into the future of agricultural trade. www.Avenews-GT.com

Finch

Seed Round in 2020
Finch is a financial technology company that offers an online trading platform designed to simplify the investment process for users. Founded in 2019 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, Finch allows individuals to earn investment returns by automatically allocating their balances into a diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tailored to their unique risk profiles. This approach ensures that users' entire balances are consistently working for them from the outset, regardless of the amount. Additionally, Finch provides instant access to funds, including the invested portions, enabling users to manage their money without significant changes to their existing financial habits.

TradeLanes

Seed Round in 2020
TradeLanes is a technology company that automates supply chain for traders, shippers, and merchants. It developed a SaaS platform that brings global trade operations entirely online - from generating the contract to allocating inventory, to booking a shipment, to delivery. Its system allows all parties to collaborate digitally, from one set of data and documents. TradeLanes aims to power frictionless global trade for all. It was founded in 2015 and is based in Oakland, California.

Bountifarm

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Bountifarm is a platform where buyers and sellers can 'chat' with AI brokers to connect and transact in an easy, secure, and synchronous manner. On the background, our AI is continuously learning from our anonymized datasets, including prices, weather/harvest, global demand in real-time to provide unparalleled insights and advice to its participants.

Gatsby

Venture Round in 2020
Gatsby Digital, Inc. develops a commission-free stock options trading platform. It offers Gatsby to trade for or against companies and ETFs. The company’s Gatsby allows users to earn rewards points with every trade and redeem rewards for gift cards at various retailers. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in New York, New York. Gatsby Digital, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of ViewTrade Securities Inc.

Offr

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Offr Limited operates a platform designed to streamline the buying and selling of residential and commercial properties. This technology allows agents to offer a seamless experience for their clients by enabling features such as private offers, auction bidding, viewing appointments, and document management, including uploading proof of funds and digital contract signing. Offr supports various transaction types, including binding sales, conditional sales, off-market sales, and sealed bids, all while ensuring that buyers are pre-qualified through proof of funds and identification. Agents can set specific conditions for each property, enhancing the likelihood of serious offers. Founded in 2017 and based in Dublin, Ireland, with an additional office in London, Offr aims to enhance transparency and efficiency in real estate transactions.

Equipment Connect

Pre Seed Round in 2020
A three sided, tech-enabled marketplace composed of equipment users, vendors and funders. The platform provides companies with multiple finance offers and arranging finance is fully digital from first contact to final contract. Our web app also assists companies in sourcing and managing equipment through a central dashboard. #FinTech #marketplace #Lending #asset finance #leasing #equipment finance #equipment management Backed by Innovate UK, industry angel investors and leading suppliers. Strong team of experienced professionals.

Finch

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Finch is a financial technology company that offers an online trading platform designed to simplify the investment process for users. Founded in 2019 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, Finch allows individuals to earn investment returns by automatically allocating their balances into a diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tailored to their unique risk profiles. This approach ensures that users' entire balances are consistently working for them from the outset, regardless of the amount. Additionally, Finch provides instant access to funds, including the invested portions, enabling users to manage their money without significant changes to their existing financial habits.

Sporttrade

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Sporttrade operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for sports betting, allowing users to buy and sell outcomes of sporting events similarly to stock trading. This innovative platform enables participants to bet on and against various outcomes, set their own odds, and monitor their bets' performance in real-time. With a focus on efficiency, Sporttrade's patent-pending technology can process thousands of bets per second, significantly reducing delays commonly associated with traditional sportsbooks, which typically retain up to 10% of users' funds. In contrast, Sporttrade retains less than 1%, providing a more favorable experience for bettors. Users can also engage with friends, compete on leaderboards, and have opportunities to earn cash prizes.

Liquid Diamonds

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Liquid Diamonds is a B2B online trading exchange for diamonds; think Nasdaq for diamonds. Wholesale traders want a global exchange for diamonds. Brokerage houses would also like to offer diamonds as an alternative asset-class to investors, with diamond ETFs, futures and options. But, all of this has been impossible until now. Existing exchanges only work when the items being traded are identical/fungible, e.g. shares of stock or ounces of gold. Diamonds are neither identical nor fungible, and cannot reasonably be traded as though they are. Our patented Universal Continuous Double Auction technology enables the benefits of a commodity exchange, without forcing a diamond to be interchangeable with any other i.e. we bring price discovery and liquidity to diamonds. We have a live and ready platform, we have paying customers and we have generated millions of dollars in transaction volume from the wholesale market - diamond manufacturers in Mumbai and Antwerp selling to diamond traders in NY. Liquid Diamonds is backed by Techstars and its founding team is comprised of UVA, UC Irvine and IIT Kanpur grads with deep connections within the diamond industry.

LotStocks

Pre Seed Round in 2019
LotStocks Inc is a company based in Santa Monica, California, that specializes in creating an online marketplace for wholesale distribution. Founded in 2016, LotStocks connects retailers directly with manufacturers, facilitating access to inventory and streamlining the wholesale purchasing process. This platform aims to enhance efficiency in the supply chain by providing retailers with a straightforward solution for sourcing products from manufacturers without intermediaries.

TradeLanes

Pre Seed Round in 2018
TradeLanes is a technology company that automates supply chain for traders, shippers, and merchants. It developed a SaaS platform that brings global trade operations entirely online - from generating the contract to allocating inventory, to booking a shipment, to delivery. Its system allows all parties to collaborate digitally, from one set of data and documents. TradeLanes aims to power frictionless global trade for all. It was founded in 2015 and is based in Oakland, California.

InFront Compliance, Inc.

Pre Seed Round in 2018
SaaS platform that helps companies close vendor deals faster without sacrificing compliance.

Gatsby

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Gatsby Digital, Inc. develops a commission-free stock options trading platform. It offers Gatsby to trade for or against companies and ETFs. The company’s Gatsby allows users to earn rewards points with every trade and redeem rewards for gift cards at various retailers. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in New York, New York. Gatsby Digital, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of ViewTrade Securities Inc.

Shelf.Network

Seed Round in 2018
Arbitrage network for cross-border vehicle trades. Allowing to expand market reach and provide best matching by enabling to run synchronized trades across different marketplaces and broker systems. Shelf is building cross-border trade network for used car trades in partnership with companies like: BNP Paribas, Carfax, IAAI, Copart and etc. Broadcasting half a million inventory that are re-marketed and synchronously traded across different online marketplaces. Currently active with US to Europe and Japan to South East Asia networks. Company holds several blockchain and industry related awards like: Best real world application ’18 of Distributed technology (Frontier innovations awards), Blockshow Europe as best European DLT startup, Automechanika industry award, nominated as top five re-marketing solution (Fleet Europe 2018).

Synswap

Seed Round in 2017
Synswap LTD. is a London-based company that specializes in providing a blockchain-driven platform for the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. Founded in 2016, Synswap aims to enhance the post-trade process by replacing traditional fragmented workflows with a streamlined, automated system. The platform facilitates both cleared and non-cleared swaps, utilizing hyper ledger technology to enable features such as automatic matching, electronic confirmation, netting, and margin confirmation. By operating as a peer-to-peer network, trading counterparties can contribute nodes and deploy Synswap software, allowing smart contracts to automatically execute all necessary post-trade processing steps. This innovative approach not only reduces costs and mitigates risks but also ensures regulatory compliance and enhances confidentiality and privacy for its users.

Synswap

Seed Round in 2017
Synswap LTD. is a London-based company that specializes in providing a blockchain-driven platform for the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. Founded in 2016, Synswap aims to enhance the post-trade process by replacing traditional fragmented workflows with a streamlined, automated system. The platform facilitates both cleared and non-cleared swaps, utilizing hyper ledger technology to enable features such as automatic matching, electronic confirmation, netting, and margin confirmation. By operating as a peer-to-peer network, trading counterparties can contribute nodes and deploy Synswap software, allowing smart contracts to automatically execute all necessary post-trade processing steps. This innovative approach not only reduces costs and mitigates risks but also ensures regulatory compliance and enhances confidentiality and privacy for its users.

Clausematch

Seed Round in 2017
ClauseMatch Limited is a financial technology company based in London that specializes in cloud-based solutions for document management and trading agreements. Founded in 2012, it offers a software-as-a-service platform designed to enhance productivity for compliance, legal, finance, and risk teams. The company's flagship product features a collaborative online editor that streamlines workflows, captures comments and approvals, and maintains a comprehensive audit trail, thereby minimizing human error and providing better oversight for management. ClauseMatch's platform is utilized by global banks for centralized policy management, regulatory change management, and the organization of internal documentation. By improving the efficiency of document handling, ClauseMatch aims to save time and resources while reducing operational risks.

FinancialJuice

Seed Round in 2016
FinancialJuice is a free real-time news and financial content platform, their vision is to help traders and investors have their entire financial universe in one place and in real-time. Democratising access to market moving information and helping all investors be informed.

ZIIBRA

Seed Round in 2015
ZIIBRA is the single platform for online retailers to interact with customers, intimately - at each stage of their journey.

Clausematch

Seed Round in 2014
ClauseMatch Limited is a financial technology company based in London that specializes in cloud-based solutions for document management and trading agreements. Founded in 2012, it offers a software-as-a-service platform designed to enhance productivity for compliance, legal, finance, and risk teams. The company's flagship product features a collaborative online editor that streamlines workflows, captures comments and approvals, and maintains a comprehensive audit trail, thereby minimizing human error and providing better oversight for management. ClauseMatch's platform is utilized by global banks for centralized policy management, regulatory change management, and the organization of internal documentation. By improving the efficiency of document handling, ClauseMatch aims to save time and resources while reducing operational risks.

Tangiblee

Seed Round in 2014
Tangiblee is an eCommerce visualization service based in Chicago, Illinois, that enhances online shopping by allowing retailers to transform their catalogs into interactive experiences. The platform enables customers to visually try on merchandise before making a purchase, thereby improving the online shopping experience. By providing this innovative solution, Tangiblee aims to bridge the gap between physical and digital retail, making it easier for consumers to engage with products in a meaningful way.

TradingView

Seed Round in 2014
TradingView is the world’s most popular network of traders and investors – powered by real-time data and market-leading analysis software. It’s a word-of-mouth success story: from TechStars in Chicago in 2013, to over 15 million monthly active site users and over 40,000 publishers, brokerages, and fintechs utilizing its investing tools. TradingView is a global team of over 200+, founded by Stan Bokov, Denis Globa and Constantin Ivanov. In 2018 TradingView completed a $37 million Series B round led by Insight Partners, and in 2019 they acquired TradeIT in order to accelerate the company’s existing vision.

TradingView

Seed Round in 2013
TradingView is the world’s most popular network of traders and investors – powered by real-time data and market-leading analysis software. It’s a word-of-mouth success story: from TechStars in Chicago in 2013, to over 15 million monthly active site users and over 40,000 publishers, brokerages, and fintechs utilizing its investing tools. TradingView is a global team of over 200+, founded by Stan Bokov, Denis Globa and Constantin Ivanov. In 2018 TradingView completed a $37 million Series B round led by Insight Partners, and in 2019 they acquired TradeIT in order to accelerate the company’s existing vision.

ProtoExchange

Seed Round in 2013
ProtoExchange is an outsourcing marketplace for hardware development. The platform matches the world's best hardware engineers to clients who are looking for on-demand hardware assistance. The platform works by matching Engineers to client projects. ProtoExchange ensures the engineer and client are a good fit to increase the success rate for each project. Similarly, they set the prices across the network, removing price competition and encouraging top talent to participate in the marketplace. As a result, clients can accelerate hardware development while minimizing overhead; engineers can expand on their hardware capabilities, engage in relevant projects, and earn income without undercutting their own services.

Prolific Works

Pre Seed Round in 2012
Provider of an online publishing platform designed to connect readers with books. The company's online publishing platform offers authors to gain visibility and promote their work and increase their following, enabling authors to do a marketing for their books.

Prolific Works

Seed Round in 2011
Provider of an online publishing platform designed to connect readers with books. The company's online publishing platform offers authors to gain visibility and promote their work and increase their following, enabling authors to do a marketing for their books.

Exchangery

Seed Round in 2011
Exchangery, Inc. specializes in providing comprehensive solutions for establishing commodity exchanges. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company offers essential tools and services, including technology, infrastructure, regulatory support, and clearing relationships. Exchangery's approach allows clients to create customized and brandable trading platforms, enabling them to develop a unique online presence for their exchanges.