Stage 1 Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm that is seeking to build partnerships with great entrepreneurs that are flexible and who want to build meaningful companies. They want to assist you with their global network of relationships as well as provide the capital you need to fuel the growth of your company. Their market focus today is in Mobile, the Executable Internet or Software as a Service (SaaS) , IPTV and Internet Video, Pay-For-Performance Marketing and Advertising, and Security.

Stage 1 Ventures

Westcott LLC is the family office of Carl Westcott and it invests in technology start ups an real estate.

Westcott LLC

Founded by Steve Case in 2005, Revolution partners with passionate entrepreneurs upending traditional industries with innovative products and services, leveraging its areas of specialized expertise to create significant value. Through its family of funds that include The Rise of the Rest Seed Funds, Revolution Ventures, and Revolution Growth, Revolution partners with entrepreneurs at every stage of the entrepreneurial lifecycle. Revolution focuses on venture communities in high-potential geographies and believes that while talent is well distributed, the opportunity is not. The firm’s vision that great companies can start and scale anywhere is supported by the fact that startups in emerging venture communities are often more capital efficient, offer a lower cost of doing business, and attract talent looking for a better quality of life.

Revolution

Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is an outgrowth of Revolution’s Rise of the Rest platform, a national initiative launched in 2014 to spotlight emerging startup hubs. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund invests in seed- and early-stage companies located outside of New York City, Silicon Valley, and Boston. By partnering with regional ecosystem leaders and co-investors, Rise of the Rest is helping to build and scale the next wave of transformational companies. The Rise of the Rest Seed Funds are backed by a group of iconic entrepreneurs and business leaders committed to the vision that the next great startups will be located outside of the coastal tech hubs.

Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund

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

Green Dot Corporation is a provider of retail-based financial services.  The company offers consumers financial products and services through  retailer locations including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid, Kmart, Kroger, 7-ELEVEN, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Smiths and Radio Shack.  Green Dot's products include Green Dot MasterCard® and Visa® branded prepaid debit cards and the Green Dot MoneyPak® - a cash processing gateway that provides a way for consumers to load cash to prepaid cards, use cash to make purchases and pay bills, and add cash to a variety of accounts including PayPal.   Green Dot is a leading prepaid financial services company providing simple, low-cost and convenient money management solutions to a broad base of U.S. consumers. They believe that they are the leading provider of general purpose reloadable prepaid debit cards in the United States and that their Green Dot Network is the leading prepaid reload network in the United States. They sell their cards and offer their reload services nationwide at approximately 50,000 retail store locations, which provide consumers convenient access to their products and services. Their technology platform, Green PlaNET, provides essential functionality, including point-of-sale connectivity and interoperability with Visa, MasterCard and other payment or funds transfer networks, and compliance and other capabilities to their Green Dot Network, enabling real-time transactions in a secure environment. The combination of their innovative products, broad retail distribution and proprietary technology creates powerful network effects, which they believe enhance the value they deliver to their customers, retail distributors and other participants in their network.   They were an early pioneer in the development of general purpose reloadable prepaid debit cards, or GPR cards, and associated reload services, which collectively they refer to as prepaid financial services. GPR cards are designed for general spending purposes and can be used anywhere the cards' applicable payment network, such as Visa or MasterCard, is accepted, but, unlike gift cards, can be reloaded with additional funds for ongoing, long-term use. Their GPR cards are issued as Visa- or MasterCard-branded cards and are accepted worldwide by merchants and other businesses belonging to the applicable payment network, including for bill payments, online shopping, everyday store purchases and ATM withdrawals. They believe that they are the leading provider of GPR cards in the United States based on the 3.4 million active cards in their portfolio as of March 31, 2010, which they define as cards that have had a purchase, reload or ATM withdrawal transaction during the previous 90-day period.   They have built strong distribution and marketing relationships with many significant retail chains, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, 7-Eleven, Kroger, K-Mart, Meijer and Radio Shack. These retail chains provide consumers with convenient locations to purchase and reload their cards. In addition, any holder of a GPR card issued by a member of their reload network may reload that card at any one of those locations. Currently, there are over 100 third-party prepaid card programs that use their nationwide reload network to facilitate reloading by their cardholders. In 2009, they entered into an agreement with PayPal whereby its customers can add funds to any new or existing PayPal account through their reload network at all retail locations where they sell their products and services, but to date they have not generated significant operating revenues from their relationship with PayPal. In fiscal 2009, the gross dollar volume loaded to their GPR card and reload products was $4.7 billion, an increase of 67% over fiscal 2008.   They have developed a business model with powerful network effects. Growth in the number of their product and service offerings or their network participants, which include consumers, retail distributors and businesses that accept reloads or payments through the Green Dot Network, enhances the value they deliver to all network participants. Their technology platform, Green PlaNET, enables network participants to communicate and complete transactions rapidly and securely through their reload network or third-party payment or funds transfer networks, and is a central component of their network-based business model.

Green Dot

Continental Investors is a private equity firm founded in 2006. Continental is investing in private companies primarily in the financial service industry and in consumer businesses where the Internet is important. We are a strategic source of capital and look for opportunities where our industry experience and relationships can benefit management and other private equity investors.

Continental Investors

The Found Group is a digital marketing company providing integrated digital marketing campaigns that deliver substantial and measurable results for the music industry. It believes in a fundamental marketing process. Its client base is composed of HAIM, Cut Copy, St. Vincent, Sublime, The xx, Mumford and Sons, and more.   The Found Group has created two proprietary web-based platforms that solve two problems in the music industry by creating retargeting pools out of any page with a link and by providing accurate sales projections using its proprietary intelligence system, which combines historical sales data, and emerging trends on current tour.  The Found Group was founded in 2011 by [Jason Hobbs](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jason-hobbs).

The Found Group

Gig Wage

Gig Wage is a fintech payroll company that provides a financial social safety net for gig workers and contractors. Its scalable platform enables businesses to manage contractor payroll, payments, and compliance while delivering greater transparency to their gig workers. Whether they are paying 100 contractors or 100,000 Gig Wage gives the tools to efficiently manage the process while alleviating payments related support. Gig Wage provides an online platform that allows independent contractors to track the amount and type of work they perform for companies, initiate invoices, and receive payments from companies. The partnership also allows Gig Wage the ability to introduce a new debit card with no monthly fee, free online bill pay, and free cash withdrawals at more than 19,000 ATM locations, free cash pick-up at over 7,000 retail locations nationwide, and other products and tools designed for gig workers and their employers. By leveraging Green Dot’s Banking as a Service platform, Gig Wage can now design and deploy its own customized banking and money movement solutions for its customers. Gig Wage is founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Gig Wage is a platform that handles payroll processing, payments, and compliance services for independent contractors. Gig Wage’s instant payment platform connects its clients, customers and vendors, and contractors, enabling instant payments from one application. In addition, it provides electronic 1099 filing.

Distributed workforces require new solutions for office operations, HR, payment, and more.

Remote Work Infrastructure

Dallas-Based Gig Wage Adds Product Updates for Business Owners and 1099 Workers

Gig Wage is a platform that handles payroll processing, payments, and compliance services for independent contractors. Gig Wage’s instant payment platform connects its clients, customers and vendors, and contractors, enabling instant payments from one application. In addition, it provides electronic 1099 filing.Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, the company had over 500,000 contractors utilizing its platform across 450+ businesses. Notable enterprises using the platform included Lyft, Stride and Outdoorsy.Gig Wage partnered with Green Dot Corporation (October 2020), a financial technology company based in California, to serve as its infrastructure bank partner. Green Dot operates about 90,000 retail distribution sites nationwide and offers various financial products. This enabled Gig Wage to incorporate banking products into its payroll platform, similar to offerings by industry leader Gusto. In addition, the platform integrates with Visa and Mastercard bolstering the speed and flexibility of its payroll solution.Funding and financialsGig Wage raised USD 3.25 million in venture debt financed by Silicon Valley Bank in July 2021. Funds were earmarked to invest in key growth areas for its business.

ActivTrak is a cloud-based productivity monitoring software provider. The platform offers data and analytics which can be used to detect workplace productivity gaps. The platform collects data from employee activity logs and computer screenshots, although it does not log keystrokes or record video of a user’s screen. ActivTrak also facilitates a range of tasks for admins such as blocking websites, flagging suspicious activities, IP address connections, and monitoring web, and app traffic.Other features offered include productivity reports and coaching, headcount and workload management and personal insights. In November 2023, the company added capabilities to measure the usage of AI tools, automatically detecting and classifying the use of such tools and websites to help organizations manage and improve AI adoption across the workforce.Activtrak generates revenue via monthly subscriptions (USD 10 and USD 17) per user, and custom pricing for larger enterprises.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, over 9,500 enterprises used ActivTrak’s platform, notably including Allstate, asembia and Nobu. ActivTrak closed 2023 with a 40% growth in its customer base (adding ~2,200 customers).Funding and financialsIn November 2020, ActivTrak raised USD 50 million in a Series B round led by Sapphire Ventures. Sapphire Ventures CEO and managing director joined ActivTrak’s board as part of the deal. The new proceeds were earmarked for scaling global sales and marketing campaigns, expansion of its platform using AI driven analytics, and improving integration with its technology partners.

ActivTrak

inFeedo is a people predictive analytics company based in India. The Y Combinator-backed startup founded in 2013 is currently focused on “Amber” (launched in 2016), an AI-enabled bot that helps manage employee engagement, predict attrition, and get a pulse on company culture in real time. The company also offers AI-driven exit surveys and analytics to improve retention.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, over 700,000 users across 250 organizations utilized inFeedo’s platform. Notable clients included GE Healthcare, Puma, Tata Group, and Lenovo.Funding and financialsIn its latest funding round (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9099">March 2022</a>) inFeedo raised USD 12 million in Series A funding led by Jungle Ventures, reportedly tripling its valuation from less than 18 months ago. The fresh funds will be used for its second employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback for all employees and its go-to-market activities in North America. Further, the company claims it has achieved annual revenue of USD 1.6 million as of November 2020.

inFeedo

Donut provides solutions to keep employees engaged with casual conversations. Its first product, Intros, makes connections between teammates via Slack to emulate quick meetups and in-person introductions at work, which are now virtual.Donut’s new product, Watercooler, launched in October 2020. It attempts to reinvent the micro-interactions between employees at the office watercooler online. The product will integrate with Slack, where a newly-designated channel for Watercooler will be created. The product will post questions automatically within the customers’ desired frequency and pre-selected topics.The company uses a freemium subscription model with paid plans starting at approximately USD 2 per user per month.Key customers and partnershipsThe company claims it has supported four million connections (one million since the Covid-19 pandemic) across its 12,000 customers, including companies such as Okta, Zapier, Slack, The New York Times, and Invision.Funding and financialsDonut announced a USD 12 million funding round led by Accel, along with its new product, Watercooler. The USD 12 million raised was accumulated over multiple rounds before the Covid-19 pandemic, with proceeds earmarked for product development.

Donut

Matter is an employee feedback platform founded by Brett Hellman. Hellman was the founder of messaging app “Hall”, which was founded in 2011 and later sold to Atlassian for USD 20 million in 2015.Matter uses 360-degree feedback to evaluate skills in employees which are linked to career success. The platform links skills such as influence, inclusiveness, empathy, resourcefulness, and multitasking to evaluations. Matter is currently available in beta.

Matter

Mesh is a Y Combinator-backed company that allows employees to set goals, track tasks, share feedback, and engage in one-on-ones. The company also offers an AI coach (Mesh Maven) to help employees stay in line with their key objectives, improve the quality of feedback provided and summarize 1:1s. Mesh also offers nudges and surveys to improve employee engagement alongside relevant analytics.The company generates revenue via monthly subscriptions per user, priced at USD 4 (Base) and USD 7 (Premium).&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company served over 100+ enterprises, including NTT Data, Grant Thornton and Groww. The platform also offers integrations with third-party software such as Gmail, Microsoft Teams and Slack, among others.Funding and financialsIn its most recent funding round (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9768">April 2022</a>) Mesh raised USD 11 million in Series A funding led by RTP Global. The fresh funds were earmarked to expand its global footprint across the US and APAC regions. In line with this, the company planned to expand its headcount across the engineering and sales departments.

Mesh

Companies offering tools to infer employee morale (through surveys and quick assessments) and productivity, including functions for goal setting, review, and feedback.

Companies that offer the entire spectrum of HR tools including payroll processing benefits, onboarding, compliance, analytics, scheduling etc

Companies providing either standalone or combined payroll and benefits services to businesses.

EoR - Companies that assist businesses in hiring distributed teams globally in compliance with foreign labor laws. EoRs become the legal employer of offshore employees. Solutions include payroll, benefits, and taxes.

PEO - Companies that offer similar services to EoRs but establish a co-employment arrangement with businesses and do not become the legal employer.

Companies offering tools such as chatbots, surveys, games, and other activities to infer, assess and improve employee morale and sentiment.

Companies that provide a centralized space for employees to access internal and external resources, enterprise applications, and enable workers to communicate across departments, and stay up to date on organizational announcements.

Solutions in this industry hub are predominantly offered under a B2B SaaS model

Employee and performance management solutions use AI/Ml to infer engagement insights and sentiment analysis

Offers tools for companies to hire contractors globally, and conduct employee and performance management

Gig Wage

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