Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

Family Office ~ Venture Investment Division

North West Quadrant Ventures ( NWQ Ventures)

Fuel Capital is an early-stage venture fund dedicated to being more than a source of capital - we want to be true confidantes to every founder in the Fuel family. We stand in our founder’s corner, not their kitchen. We leverage our resources, connections, experience, and expertise to carve a shortcut for them - so their energy is spent on building the future, instead of knocking on doors.  Fuel was founded in 2013 by Chris Howard. Leah Solivan, founder of TaskRabbit, joined as a General Partner in 2017.  We invests in consumer, business software and cloud/ infrastructure companies. With a strong track record - including investments in 8 unicorns (Convoy, Flexport, Figma, Pacaso, Lattice, Highspot, thredUP, and Weave), several recently acquired companies (CTRL-Labs - acquired by Facebook, CoreOS - acquired by RedHat, Nervana - acquired by Intel, Hightower - acquired by View the Space), as well as numerous up-and-coming companies - Fuel has rightfully earned the reputation of being one of Silicon Valley’s leading seed funds.

Fuel Capital

f7 Ventures is a seed investment fund comprised of female operators with more than 20 years of experience in the fastest-growing technology companies in Silicon Valley. It invests in and helps bold founders grow and scale at their earliest stages.

f7 Ventures

Ulu Ventures is a leading seed-stage venture fund in Silicon Valley investing in diverse entrepreneurial teams as well as Enterprise IT, EdTech, FinTech, Healthcare, and Sustainability startups.  Ulu is the first Latina-led venture fund in Silicon Valley and is one of the largest in the country with over $200M in assets under management. As well, the firm has designed its investment process to reduce risk and produce better, more consistent returns. Ulu’s process structures intuition and applies it intelligently to investments, avoiding cognitive biases common in VC; systematically identifies key drivers of risk and uncertainty, streamlining due diligence; and calculates a probability-weighted multiple(PWM) on invested capital, ensuring consistent decision-making.

Ulu Ventures

Gaingels is a venture investment syndicate in service of the LGBT+ community and its allies, investing in companies with LGBT+ founders and C-suite leaders at all stages of growth, as well as in more established companies resolved on building more inclusive teams, with a global portfolio of 130+ companies and $70M in deployed investment capital to date.  The Gaingels network also actively supports its portfolio in identifying and recruiting diverse talent to their C-suite and board leadership teams and fosters a vibrant global community of industry leaders, investors, operators, and entrepreneurs who share a common goal for positive social change through business and successful investments.

Gaingels

360 Venture Collective invests in and accelerates pre-seed and seed stage American companies led by underrepresented founders who are developing venture scale impact/ESG friendly tech-enabled products in the fintech, healthcare, human resources/workforce, proptech, and nonprofit sectors.

360 Venture Collective

HUSSLUP

HUSSLUP enables creators in media and entertainment to build a diverse global community through personal profiles with verified credits and vouches and encrypted creative samples. Users can connect with each other and create and share annotated contact lists organized by project. HUSSLUP enables creators to connect with jobs, mentors, and representation through Pro Search tool that enables executives, producers, and representatives to search for the talent they need to hire. HUSSLUP enables creators to collaborate through sharing encrypted creative projects in their working groups and private messages.

HUSSLUP is a professional networking platform designed specifically for the media and entertainment industry. Launched in January 2024, the platform aims to democratize access to job opportunities and connect creative freelancers with companies seeking to hire talent. HUSSLUP offers a searchable network that enables users to create professional profiles, showcase their work, connect with other creatives, and discover job openings.

Media Talent Discovery App Husslup Moves From Beta Phase to Public Launch

HUSSLUP - Product Information, Latest Updates, and Reviews 2024

‎HUSSLUP

HUSSLUP, a LinkedIn for the entertainment biz, launches web app in beta

Creating affordable content for the digital age

Content Creation Tools

HUSSLUP is a professional networking platform designed specifically for the media and entertainment industry. Launched in January 2024, the platform aims to democratize access to job opportunities and connect creative freelancers with companies seeking to hire talent. HUSSLUP offers a searchable network that enables users to create professional profiles, showcase their work, connect with other creatives, and discover job openings.
The platform leverages robust data and AI search capabilities to match freelancers with relevant opportunities. Members can set their availability, highlight credits, collect vouches from colleagues, and share creative work samples. As of January 2024, HUSSLUP had a network of nearly 10,000 freelancers, including writers, producers, directors, editors, and more.
HUSSLUP's suite of tools assists studios and production companies in fulfilling their staffing needs cost-effectively. The platform provides workflow management tools and a demographics report to help companies achieve diversity goals. According to HUSSLUP, over 65% of its members self-identify as diverse as of January 2024.
In April 2023, HUSSLUP introduced a web version of its mobile app, along with new features like "Pro Search" for advanced talent searches and "Serendipity Mode" for random profile discoveries. Future plans include project roster management tools, text/image/video search, and AI-powered recommendations.
Key customers and partnerships
HUSSLUP has partnered with various prominent studios, production companies, and organizations in the entertainment industry. As of January 2024, the platform worked with over 50 entities, including NBCUniversal, Telemundo, Blumhouse Productions, AGBO Films (Russo brothers), Bankable Productions (Tyra Banks), This Radicle Act (Don Cheadle), World of Wonder, and others, to assist in staffing roles.
Additionally, HUSSLUP collaborated with Women in Film to become a reporting tool for the organization's ReFrame Stamp for gender parity. Productions can track and submit their reporting to ReFrame through the platform since February 2024.

Canva is a graphic design platform that offers a web-based suite of tools and features for creating professional-looking designs for various purposes, including social media graphics, presentations, marketing materials, and more. Founded in 2013 by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams, Canva provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality, an extensive library of templates, graphics, and fonts, allowing users to design without extensive technical expertise.
Canva's key product offerings revolve around its versatile design tool that enables users to create visually engaging content. The platform incorporates features such as customizable templates, a vast collection of graphics and images, video editing capabilities, and tools for designing websites, presentations, and documents. Canva's collaborative features allow multiple users to work on designs simultaneously, fostering teamwork and streamlining the creative process.
In 2021, Canva generated revenue of over USD 1 billion, with 10 million paid subscribers and 4.5 million paid team subscriptions. The company has experienced remarkable growth, amassing 90 million users as of October 2022. Canva's profitability and strong cash reserves, with USD 700 million on hand, have positioned it as a resilient player in the industry, even during challenging economic conditions.
To further enhance its offerings, Canva has acquired several companies, including Zeetings (a presentations startup), Pexels and Pixabay (stock photography websites), Kaleido.ai (an Australian startup), and Smartmockups (a Czech-based company). In September 2022, Canva announced the launch of its "Canva Worksuite," a comprehensive suite of products aimed at professionals, including Canva Docs (a document editor), Canva Websites (a website builder), and Canva Whiteboards, among others.
Key customers and partnerships
Canva has established partnerships with various companies to expand its reach and enhance its offerings. In 2020, Canva signed contracts with FedEx Office and Office Depot, enabling users to print and ship their designs directly from the platform.
The company has also forged strategic collaborations with industry leaders, such as its recent partnership with Affinity, a provider of professional-grade creative software. This alliance aims to bridge the gap between user-friendly platforms and professional-grade tools, empowering creators at all levels.
Furthermore, Canva has gained significant traction within the enterprise sector, with 85% of Fortune 500 companies, including FedEx, L'Oréal, and Salesforce, utilizing Canva's design tools. As of 2022, Canva reported having 4.4 million customers paying for its "Canva for Teams" offering, demonstrating its growing presence in the business world.

Canva

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps professionals and students communicate effectively across various platforms and devices. Developed by linguists and engineers, Grammarly uses algorithms to provide suggestions for improving grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, conciseness, tone, and overall style.
Grammarly's key product offerings include a free version with basic writing suggestions, as well as premium and business plans with advanced features like full-sentence rewrites, plagiarism detection, vocabulary enhancements, and brand tone consistency. The AI analyzes writing in real-time and makes contextual recommendations to ensure the message resonates with the intended audience.
One of Grammarly's standout capabilities is its seamless integration with over 500,000 apps and websites, allowing users to receive writing feedback wherever they type.
Key customers and partnerships
Grammarly has formed partnerships with educational institutions like Harvard University and Stanford University to help students and faculty improve their writing proficiency. Its business plan serves companies across various industries, assisting teams in maintaining consistency and adherence to specific brand tones through customizable style guides.
As of June 2024, Grammarly's user base includes over 30 million people worldwide and over 70,000 professional teams.

Grammarly

Picsart is a digital content creation platform that offers a suite of AI-powered tools for creating and editing images, videos, GIFs, logos, and other visual content. The company's flagship product, Picsart Ignite, comprises over 20 AI tools that enable users to generate visuals, enhance existing content, and streamline creative workflows.
Picsart's AI capabilities span image generation, upscaling, object removal, background replacement, style transfer, and avatar creation. Its tools cater to both individual creators and businesses, assisting with tasks like designing social media posts, ads, and product visuals. The platform has seen significant adoption, with over 2 million AI-generated images produced daily as of November 2023.
The company has also expanded its enterprise offerings, launching an API program in February 2022 that allows businesses to integrate Picsart's creative tools into their platforms. This move aims to support the creator economy by enabling businesses to offer deeper creative experiences.
Key customers and partnerships
In June 2024, Picsart announced a partnership with Getty Images, a leading provider of stock imagery. This collaboration enables Picsart subscribers to generate unique images with commercial rights and indemnity directly within the platform, streamlining the content creation process for marketers and businesses.
Additionally, Picsart has integrated its tools with Walsworth Yearbooks, one of America's largest yearbook printers. This integration grants students access to Picsart's photo editing suite, enhancing their yearbook design capabilities with AI-powered solutions.

Picsart

Typeform is a no-code SaaS platform offering conversational forms, quizzes, surveys, and asynchronous video solutions to help companies engage with their audiences and grow their businesses. Founded in Barcelona in 2012 by David Okuniev and Robert Muñoz, Typeform revolutionized online data collection by emphasizing empathy and seamless design to make digital interactions feel more human. The platform's intuitive, mobile-responsive forms feature one question at a time, natural language, and built-in logic to emulate real conversations.
Typeform's core product allows users to create visually appealing, customizable forms without coding. Its paid plans, ranging from USD 290 to USD 990 annually, offer advanced features such as unlimited questions, payment integration, and email notifications. The platform integrates with various business tools like HubSpot, Google Sheets, MailChimp, and Salesforce.

Typeform

Ceros is a cloud-based experiential content creation platform that empowers marketers and designers to create rich, interactive content without code or traditional web development. The Ceros platform provides a no-code solution for creating and publishing engaging digital experiences that drive user engagement, lead generation, and sales.
At the core of Ceros is a design studio that offers complete creative control, enabling users to develop and deploy pixel-perfect layouts using a familiar freeform canvas. They can incorporate animations, interactions, and multimedia elements into their designs using presets and templates. The studio facilitates collaboration, with features for real-time previews across devices, version control, and file management.
Ceros simplifies the creative workflow by allowing direct import of design files from Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, and integration with Getty Images library. It is compatible with all major CMS platforms for seamless embedding of interactive content on websites. Published experiences can be easily updated in real-time and optimized for search discoverability.
Ceros has evolved from a digital publishing startup in 2012 to a comprehensive experiential content solution serving enterprise clients across industries. With over 350 employees, it reported annual recurring revenue of over USD 50 million as of September 2022 after raising USD 133.5 million in funding led by Sumeru Equity Partners.

Ceros

Assists content writers in creating digital written media including blogs, ebooks, magazines, and journals.

Offers tools to create pictures, videos, animations, and other visual media.

Assists in creating a variety of digital media channels including podcasts, polls, quizzes, and surveys.

Platforms for discovering and purchasing digital content. Typically offering a repository of digital content or a marketplace to discover and connect with content creators.

Tools for collaboration between internal and external team members on content creation.

Platforms that provide an all-in-one solution that covers the entire content creation process. Typically also provides consultancy services covering content strategy, design, and analytics.

NLP automates the creation of personalized written media content for different use cases

For written and visual content creation AI/ML is a core part of the end result

Uses generative AI to automate the creation of personalized content across multiple media formats

HUSSLUP

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