Vela Partners

Auxia is a composable AI-based platform that assists businesses in accelerating product-led growth. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enhance product development, customer engagement, and monetization strategies. The platform enables users to create and deploy hyper-personalized campaigns and growth experiments by utilizing machine learning models that adapt to individual user actions and preferences. Auxia's innovative approach allows companies to activate and retain customers effectively, helping them achieve measurable results and sustained growth over time. Additionally, it empowers businesses to build and launch quality products and experiences without the need for coding, thereby simplifying the development process.

Vieu is a technology company that specializes in AI-driven sales transformation. Its platform automates key aspects of the sales process, from identifying and connecting with potential buyers to suggesting tailored pitches and facilitating deals. This enables clients to accelerate their sales efforts and improve their success rates.

Cartken is a developer of delivery robots designed to transport goods over short distances, primarily within local neighborhoods. The company's robots are equipped with various sensors and cameras, enabling them to navigate safely by avoiding obstacles and selecting the safest routes. Cartken's technology integrates self-driving capabilities and AI-powered robotics to provide a reliable delivery solution for local businesses and customers. Additionally, the company offers a quick deploy option for its services, allowing for easy implementation without extensive integration, thereby streamlining the delivery process.

Goooods provides engagement in the development and operation of B2B commerce.

Nominal empowers the next-generation economy. Nominal modernizes and automates accounting and financial management, providing robust reporting, multi-entity consolidation, workflow automation (including accruals and revenue), lease compliance (ASC 842/IFRS 16), period-end close collaboration, and much more. Nominal's generative subledgers transform business logic into actions and insights using Generative AI - without the need for costly engineering or lengthy IT projects. Our shadow-ledger is implemented in days, not months, and seamlessly integrates with existing general ledgers and ERPs.

LeakSignal is a data plane security platform designed to safeguard microservice and serverless environments. By leveraging machine learning, the company identifies and prevents the exfiltration of sensitive data, thereby helping organizations protect their valuable information and adhere to regulatory requirements. LeakSignal focuses on microsegmentation, API security, and data loss prevention in transit, addressing the challenges posed by the rapid growth of microservices and service mesh architectures. Through its innovative solutions, LeakSignal provides essential insights and controls, enhancing the security posture of businesses operating in complex digital environments.

Base Operations Inc. is a security solutions provider specializing in threat analysis through its advanced threat intelligence platform. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the company focuses on aggregating, visualizing, and interpreting threat data to help organizations mitigate risks and safeguard their personnel and assets. Its offerings include street-level threat assessments, neighborhood threat ratings, and sophisticated visualizations, which utilize crowdsourced and official data to address geolocation-based challenges. The platform features a granular threat database enhanced by AI-powered predictive analytics, enabling organizations to derive actionable insights and improve response times for security tasks. Additionally, it includes a dashboard for security personnel, facilitating communication with employees in the field and enhancing overall safety during travel.

Cerby, Inc. is a cybersecurity company founded in 2020 and based in Alameda, California. It specializes in developing tools and applications aimed at managing access for disconnected applications and addressing the risks associated with Shadow IT. Cerby offers a comprehensive access management platform that leverages identity providers to automate security tasks and improve identity and access management processes. This platform eliminates the reliance on manual tools and compensating controls, streamlining tasks such as offboarding and two-factor authentication enrollment. With its patent-pending access orchestration engine, Cerby provides organizations with passwordless authentication capabilities and enhanced visibility over applications that do not conform to standard protocols. By automating these processes, Cerby enables identity teams to extend access, minimize security risks, and reduce operational costs while adhering to zero trust principles.

Lightup is a no-code data quality platform that enables enterprises to achieve 100% data quality coverage 10x faster than legacy tools, across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments, on batch or streaming data – scalable in minutes, not months. With prebuilt pushdown data quality checks, AI-powered anomaly detection, real-time incident alerts, and integrated issue resolution management, Lightup empowers data teams to proactively monitor data health at fine granularity and quickly pinpoint bad data flowing in good data pipelines to ensure reliable, accurate business-critical data and prevent costly data outages, before they occur. Founded in 2019, with headquarters in Mountain View, CA, Lightup Data, Inc. is a Series A private startup company, backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Spectrum28.

Vartana is a payments platform founded in 2020 by Kush Kella in San Francisco, California. The company specializes in providing flexible financing alternatives that enhance the purchasing power of businesses. Its all-in-one platform simplifies the sales process by offering a co-branded digital checkout experience and real-time support. Vartana integrates seamlessly with customer relationship management systems, allowing sales teams to access automated payment plan offers and manage the entire deal process through a centralized dashboard. This enables companies to close deals more efficiently while maintaining agility in their cash flow management.

Axiom Cloud, based in Oakland, California, specializes in providing artificial intelligence solutions for commercial refrigeration applications, primarily serving supermarkets across North America. The company's platform focuses on power management and maintenance, offering tools like the Virtual Technician, which predicts equipment failures before they occur, and the Virtual Battery, which optimizes energy use by pre-cooling cases and intelligently managing compressor loads. Axiom Cloud targets the retail grocery sector, charging customers an initial setup fee for installing and configuring their IoT platform, along with recurring subscription fees for cloud-based software applications. The company was founded in 2014.

Rewind is a personalized AI powered by everything you’ve seen, said, or heard.

Golden is a developer of a self-constructing knowledge platform designed to aggregate information from various public and private sources, creating a comprehensive repository. The company's platform employs natural language processing to facilitate structured representation of entities and topics, making detailed and canonical information easily searchable and accessible. By leveraging both human effort and machine intelligence, Golden enhances the process of knowledge gathering and communication. Its features include powerful search capabilities, fine-grain alerts to track changes, and semi-automatic research assistance, all aimed at helping organizations stay informed and leverage the latest industry trends. This approach improves collaboration among researchers and academics while enhancing operational efficiency.

Goooods provides engagement in the development and operation of B2B commerce.

DagKnows is a company that specializes in developing a collaboration and automation platform aimed at enhancing incident troubleshooting and remediation for site reliability engineering. The platform allows users to transform tribal operational knowledge into structured knowledge graphs, which can be utilized to create automation playbooks. By simplifying the process of capturing and organizing knowledge, DagKnows enables DevOps and site reliability engineers to develop reusable automation run-books. This innovation helps minimize escalations, automate troubleshooting, and reduce the mean time to resolution, ultimately improving operational efficiency and reliability within organizations.

BlueQubit is a quantum computing technology company that develops software and algorithms tailored for quantum computers. Its mission is to harness the principles of quantum mechanics to address complex challenges that exceed the capabilities of traditional computing. The company specializes in creating a universal software library for quantum computing, and offers operating systems specifically designed for gate-based quantum algorithms. Through its innovative platform, BlueQubit enables various industries—including finance, pharmaceuticals, logistics, and materials science—to optimize processes and enhance problem-solving capabilities. The company’s focus on developing cutting-edge quantum solutions positions it as a key player in the evolving landscape of quantum technology.

Phaidra, Inc. is a Seattle-based company established in 2019 that specializes in designing and developing artificial intelligence solutions for industrial sectors in the United States. The company focuses on providing AI and machine learning technologies aimed at enhancing performance in large-scale facilities. Phaidra's offerings include a virtual plant operator service that utilizes closed-loop AI control to empower operations teams in mission-critical environments. By analyzing extensive sensor data, Phaidra creates intelligent agents that automatically optimize and manage complex industrial processes. This innovative approach helps clients improve energy efficiency, increase safety and stability, and maximize operational yield, contributing to greater sustainability in their operations.

Promoted unifies organic search, promotions, and ads in one optimized system for marketplaces. They sort your marketplace search and promote the best listings at the top to increase revenue.

SKAEL, Inc. is a technology company that operates an online digital workforce platform designed to enhance business efficiency through intelligent cognitive automation. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, SKAEL develops a hyper-automation platform that integrates automation and conversational AI technologies to create digital employees. This platform enables companies to automate repetitive tasks across various applications, data sources, and documents, thereby streamlining workflows and minimizing human error, bias, and delays. Its features include plug-and-play integration with existing back-end systems, data flow engines, and digital assistant services, which collectively empower organizations to optimize their operations and improve decision-making through predictive and prescriptive insights.

Cerby, Inc. is a cybersecurity company founded in 2020 and based in Alameda, California. It specializes in developing tools and applications aimed at managing access for disconnected applications and addressing the risks associated with Shadow IT. Cerby offers a comprehensive access management platform that leverages identity providers to automate security tasks and improve identity and access management processes. This platform eliminates the reliance on manual tools and compensating controls, streamlining tasks such as offboarding and two-factor authentication enrollment. With its patent-pending access orchestration engine, Cerby provides organizations with passwordless authentication capabilities and enhanced visibility over applications that do not conform to standard protocols. By automating these processes, Cerby enables identity teams to extend access, minimize security risks, and reduce operational costs while adhering to zero trust principles.

Promoted unifies organic search, promotions, and ads in one optimized system for marketplaces. They sort your marketplace search and promote the best listings at the top to increase revenue.

Axiom Cloud, based in Oakland, California, specializes in providing artificial intelligence solutions for commercial refrigeration applications, primarily serving supermarkets across North America. The company's platform focuses on power management and maintenance, offering tools like the Virtual Technician, which predicts equipment failures before they occur, and the Virtual Battery, which optimizes energy use by pre-cooling cases and intelligently managing compressor loads. Axiom Cloud targets the retail grocery sector, charging customers an initial setup fee for installing and configuring their IoT platform, along with recurring subscription fees for cloud-based software applications. The company was founded in 2014.

Polymer is a company that specializes in an AI-driven business intelligence platform designed to streamline data exploration and analysis for organizations. It offers a search and discovery engine that transforms raw spreadsheet data into a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for technical setup. By automatically generating insights and revealing relationships within the data, Polymer enables clients to access structured information that supports informed strategic decision-making. Its innovative approach simplifies the process of navigating complex datasets, making it easier for businesses to harness the power of their internal information.

Grabango is a technology company that specializes in checkout-free shopping solutions for the retail industry, focusing on grocery and convenience stores. Founded in 2016 and based in Berkeley, California, Grabango utilizes advanced computer vision and machine learning to enhance the shopping experience. Its system employs cameras and shelf sensors to track items as customers select them, automatically adding them to a virtual basket. Shoppers can then use a registered payment method through the Grabango app to complete their purchases without waiting in line. After leaving the store, customers receive a digital receipt on their phones. Grabango's technology is designed to retrofit existing retail spaces, allowing large-scale retailers to implement checkout-free shopping while ensuring high accuracy in real-world environments. The company prioritizes customer privacy by anonymizing data and does not use facial recognition technology.

Cartken is a developer of delivery robots designed to transport goods over short distances, primarily within local neighborhoods. The company's robots are equipped with various sensors and cameras, enabling them to navigate safely by avoiding obstacles and selecting the safest routes. Cartken's technology integrates self-driving capabilities and AI-powered robotics to provide a reliable delivery solution for local businesses and customers. Additionally, the company offers a quick deploy option for its services, allowing for easy implementation without extensive integration, thereby streamlining the delivery process.

Axiom Cloud, based in Oakland, California, specializes in providing artificial intelligence solutions for commercial refrigeration applications, primarily serving supermarkets across North America. The company's platform focuses on power management and maintenance, offering tools like the Virtual Technician, which predicts equipment failures before they occur, and the Virtual Battery, which optimizes energy use by pre-cooling cases and intelligently managing compressor loads. Axiom Cloud targets the retail grocery sector, charging customers an initial setup fee for installing and configuring their IoT platform, along with recurring subscription fees for cloud-based software applications. The company was founded in 2014.

CloudNatix is a provider of efficient infrastructure solutions for enterprises operating across multiple cloud platforms and on-premise environments. The company offers a SaaS platform that enables organizations to manage their infrastructure with flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Built on core open-source technologies like Kubernetes and Prometheus, the CloudNatix platform facilitates seamless operations without vendor lock-in. Its microservice-based architecture allows for significant scalability, supporting a wide range of customers in optimizing their infrastructure utilization. By automating optimization and monitoring across various cloud providers, CloudNatix empowers enterprises to adopt and manage cloud environments effectively, catering to both legacy and cloud-native applications.

WaveOne, Inc. is a technology company based in Palo Alto, California, that specializes in developing advanced video and image compression software. Founded in 2016, the company leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to create custom-tailored, context-dependent solutions for digital media compression. WaveOne's technology utilizes a codec that operates significantly faster than traditional methods, enabling the processing of images at high speeds while maintaining clarity. This innovation allows digital media industries to efficiently process, print, upload, and share high-quality images, positioning WaveOne at the forefront of digital media technology.

Golden is a developer of a self-constructing knowledge platform designed to aggregate information from various public and private sources, creating a comprehensive repository. The company's platform employs natural language processing to facilitate structured representation of entities and topics, making detailed and canonical information easily searchable and accessible. By leveraging both human effort and machine intelligence, Golden enhances the process of knowledge gathering and communication. Its features include powerful search capabilities, fine-grain alerts to track changes, and semi-automatic research assistance, all aimed at helping organizations stay informed and leverage the latest industry trends. This approach improves collaboration among researchers and academics while enhancing operational efficiency.

Founded in 2017, Meditopia is a prominent global mental wellbeing platform that caters to the mental health needs of individuals in over 120 countries, particularly excelling in non-English speaking regions. With a membership base exceeding 30 million, Meditopia offers a diverse range of content, including meditation, sleep aids, and motivational resources, all crafted by mental health professionals such as psychologists and sleep experts. The platform provides materials in 12 different languages, ensuring cultural relevance and addressing the unique challenges faced by users worldwide. Available on iOS, Android, and web, Meditopia's content encompasses various formats, including audio, music, texts, and art. The platform has garnered high user satisfaction, consistently achieving ratings above 4.8 in more than 500,000 reviews across app stores. In 2021, Meditopia expanded its offerings with "Meditopia For Work," a tailored mental health solution for companies, which includes one-on-one coaching for employees and comprehensive support for HR departments in understanding and improving workplace mental wellness.

Grabango is a technology company that specializes in checkout-free shopping solutions for the retail industry, focusing on grocery and convenience stores. Founded in 2016 and based in Berkeley, California, Grabango utilizes advanced computer vision and machine learning to enhance the shopping experience. Its system employs cameras and shelf sensors to track items as customers select them, automatically adding them to a virtual basket. Shoppers can then use a registered payment method through the Grabango app to complete their purchases without waiting in line. After leaving the store, customers receive a digital receipt on their phones. Grabango's technology is designed to retrofit existing retail spaces, allowing large-scale retailers to implement checkout-free shopping while ensuring high accuracy in real-world environments. The company prioritizes customer privacy by anonymizing data and does not use facial recognition technology.

Huckleberry makes behavioral expertise accessible and affordable to all families by combining AI with human experts, starting with children's sleep.

ProtoPie is a software company that specializes in interactive prototyping tools, enabling designers and engineers to create sophisticated prototypes without the need for coding. Its platform allows users to transform UI and UX design concepts into highly interactive prototypes for mobile, desktop, web, and IoT applications. Recognized for its ease of use and powerful capabilities, ProtoPie is adopted by leading global brands such as Google, Microsoft, R/GA, and Ideo. The company focuses on helping designers ideate, iterate, and innovate effectively, addressing contemporary design challenges in a user-friendly manner.

Bear Robotics, Inc. is a company based in Redwood City, California, that designs and manufactures autonomous robots specifically for the food service industry. Incorporated in 2017, Bear Robotics developed Penny, an artificial intelligence-driven robot that efficiently transports food, dishes, and drinks, while also providing customer service in restaurants. The company's innovative solutions aim to address challenges within the restaurant industry, such as labor shortages and rising operational costs, by enhancing efficiency and improving the dining experience for customers. By automating tasks like running orders and bussing tables, Bear Robotics not only seeks to increase job satisfaction for restaurant employees but also aims to boost profitability for restaurant owners.

CloudNatix is a provider of efficient infrastructure solutions for enterprises operating across multiple cloud platforms and on-premise environments. The company offers a SaaS platform that enables organizations to manage their infrastructure with flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Built on core open-source technologies like Kubernetes and Prometheus, the CloudNatix platform facilitates seamless operations without vendor lock-in. Its microservice-based architecture allows for significant scalability, supporting a wide range of customers in optimizing their infrastructure utilization. By automating optimization and monitoring across various cloud providers, CloudNatix empowers enterprises to adopt and manage cloud environments effectively, catering to both legacy and cloud-native applications.

Polymer is a company that specializes in an AI-driven business intelligence platform designed to streamline data exploration and analysis for organizations. It offers a search and discovery engine that transforms raw spreadsheet data into a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for technical setup. By automatically generating insights and revealing relationships within the data, Polymer enables clients to access structured information that supports informed strategic decision-making. Its innovative approach simplifies the process of navigating complex datasets, making it easier for businesses to harness the power of their internal information.

Founded in 2017, Meditopia is a prominent global mental wellbeing platform that caters to the mental health needs of individuals in over 120 countries, particularly excelling in non-English speaking regions. With a membership base exceeding 30 million, Meditopia offers a diverse range of content, including meditation, sleep aids, and motivational resources, all crafted by mental health professionals such as psychologists and sleep experts. The platform provides materials in 12 different languages, ensuring cultural relevance and addressing the unique challenges faced by users worldwide. Available on iOS, Android, and web, Meditopia's content encompasses various formats, including audio, music, texts, and art. The platform has garnered high user satisfaction, consistently achieving ratings above 4.8 in more than 500,000 reviews across app stores. In 2021, Meditopia expanded its offerings with "Meditopia For Work," a tailored mental health solution for companies, which includes one-on-one coaching for employees and comprehensive support for HR departments in understanding and improving workplace mental wellness.

Polymer is a company that specializes in an AI-driven business intelligence platform designed to streamline data exploration and analysis for organizations. It offers a search and discovery engine that transforms raw spreadsheet data into a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for technical setup. By automatically generating insights and revealing relationships within the data, Polymer enables clients to access structured information that supports informed strategic decision-making. Its innovative approach simplifies the process of navigating complex datasets, making it easier for businesses to harness the power of their internal information.

Grabango is a technology company that specializes in checkout-free shopping solutions for the retail industry, focusing on grocery and convenience stores. Founded in 2016 and based in Berkeley, California, Grabango utilizes advanced computer vision and machine learning to enhance the shopping experience. Its system employs cameras and shelf sensors to track items as customers select them, automatically adding them to a virtual basket. Shoppers can then use a registered payment method through the Grabango app to complete their purchases without waiting in line. After leaving the store, customers receive a digital receipt on their phones. Grabango's technology is designed to retrofit existing retail spaces, allowing large-scale retailers to implement checkout-free shopping while ensuring high accuracy in real-world environments. The company prioritizes customer privacy by anonymizing data and does not use facial recognition technology.

Firefly Systems Inc., founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, California, specializes in street-level digital media through its innovative advertising platform. The company installs digital displays on rideshare vehicles and taxis, creating a unique out-of-home advertising network that leverages location-based technology and first-party data for precise audience targeting. Firefly's system enables the delivery of engaging, full-screen advertisements that are responsive to the surrounding environment, allowing brands to amplify their marketing efforts in real-time. By utilizing 4G and LTE cellular transmission, Firefly connects clients with flexible advertising solutions while providing measurable insights on campaign effectiveness and audience engagement.

Jobox lets pros focus on their job by taking the overhead of managing the finances of a home services business. JOBOX is a SaaS-based marketplace infrastructure provider that connects businesses with vetted home service professionals. The company's artificial intelligence-based infrastructure provides home service professionals with a free toolbox to help them launch their enterprises, while also assisting major organizations in matching work they have with a bank of professionals based on factors such as skill type and location.

FounderNest Inc. is an artificial intelligence company that operates a platform designed to facilitate connections between founders and investors. Established in 2017 and headquartered in Walnut, California, the company aims to provide a neutral, efficient, and transparent environment for these interactions. FounderNest employs advanced AI technology to analyze market landscapes, identify business needs, and connect users with suitable partnerships, investment opportunities, and acquisition targets. The platform is utilized by prominent founders and investors worldwide, who rely on its proprietary technology for insights and decision-making. Co-founded by graduates from Stanford, Wharton, and Columbia, FounderNest also has a presence in Madrid and is supported by notable Silicon Valley investors.

Interviewing.io Inc. is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2015 that operates a platform designed to facilitate technical interview practice for software engineers. The platform allows users to schedule mock interviews with experienced hiring managers from prominent tech companies, commonly referred to as FAANG. Unique to Interviewing.io is the anonymity of the interview process; candidates' identities are revealed to companies only after they successfully complete the technical interview. This innovative approach not only streamlines the hiring process by significantly reducing the time spent by recruiters and hiring managers but also provides a diverse pool of strong candidates. The platform offers realistic algorithmic and systems design questions, along with actionable feedback, enabling software engineers to effectively prepare for technical job interviews.

Kuika is a software development company founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, with a research and development office in Istanbul. The company aims to democratize software development, making it accessible to all businesses, regardless of their technical expertise. Kuika offers an application development platform that harnesses mobile and cloud technologies, allowing users to create mobile and progressive web applications quickly and efficiently. By providing both a user-friendly platform and turnkey solutions, Kuika enables organizations to develop applications without requiring extensive coding knowledge, thereby streamlining the development process for software developers and businesses alike.

Firefly Systems Inc., founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, California, specializes in street-level digital media through its innovative advertising platform. The company installs digital displays on rideshare vehicles and taxis, creating a unique out-of-home advertising network that leverages location-based technology and first-party data for precise audience targeting. Firefly's system enables the delivery of engaging, full-screen advertisements that are responsive to the surrounding environment, allowing brands to amplify their marketing efforts in real-time. By utilizing 4G and LTE cellular transmission, Firefly connects clients with flexible advertising solutions while providing measurable insights on campaign effectiveness and audience engagement.

Grabango is a technology company that specializes in checkout-free shopping solutions for the retail industry, focusing on grocery and convenience stores. Founded in 2016 and based in Berkeley, California, Grabango utilizes advanced computer vision and machine learning to enhance the shopping experience. Its system employs cameras and shelf sensors to track items as customers select them, automatically adding them to a virtual basket. Shoppers can then use a registered payment method through the Grabango app to complete their purchases without waiting in line. After leaving the store, customers receive a digital receipt on their phones. Grabango's technology is designed to retrofit existing retail spaces, allowing large-scale retailers to implement checkout-free shopping while ensuring high accuracy in real-world environments. The company prioritizes customer privacy by anonymizing data and does not use facial recognition technology.

Jobox lets pros focus on their job by taking the overhead of managing the finances of a home services business. JOBOX is a SaaS-based marketplace infrastructure provider that connects businesses with vetted home service professionals. The company's artificial intelligence-based infrastructure provides home service professionals with a free toolbox to help them launch their enterprises, while also assisting major organizations in matching work they have with a bank of professionals based on factors such as skill type and location.

Copper, Inc. is a provider of web-based customer relationship management (CRM) software specifically designed for Google applications, integrating seamlessly with G Suite. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, the company offers a platform that captures data automatically, enabling real-time tracking of sales opportunities and deals. Users can customize their CRM experience with features such as sales forecasting reports, custom fields, and pipeline filters. The software allows for mobile management of sales pipelines, call logging, automated task reminders, and push notifications for new records. Copper serves various industries, including technology, consulting, real estate, and corporate development, focusing on enhancing productivity and fostering authentic relationships among teams. The company, which rebranded from ProsperWorks in 2018, emphasizes an intuitive user experience and instant functionality.

Bito is a game-changing productivity tool for developers that accelerates software development using best in class AI models, like ChatGPT from OpenAI, and Anthropic. Bito’s plugin integrates seamlessly into a developer’s IDE and CLI, providing instant access to their own personal AI assistant. Nearly 100,000 developers are using Bito to increase their productivity by an incredible 31%, performing more than 1 million AI requests a week. Bito is helping them more than 200 times per month, which is more than they use search. Developers from companies such as Google, Airbnb, Riot Games, Tesla, Houzz, and Goldman Sachs use Bito to increase their productivity significantly by shortening the time to quality code, reducing bugs, improving devs understanding of unfamiliar code, and allows developers to spend more time on critical thinking and less time on dull and irksome work.