Romulus Capital invests in early-stage technology companies that are looking to become industry leaders. We invest between $100K-$1M in brilliant – often first-time – entrepreneurs who are frequently affiliated with top universities and incubators. As a given company grows, our total investment can scale to $5M+ over time.   We are focused on company-building, rather than betting, and we remain strong partners throughout the trajectory of growth. Our firm is young, entrepreneurial, and established, with a powerful investor base from around the world.   We are a venture capital firm of the future, one that merges the classic, humanist focus on building large, impactful entities with the exciting realities of modern entrepreneurs.

Romulus Capital

Lead Dog Ventures was founded by software industry veteran John Landry to provide today's early-stage technology companies the  intellectual, relationship and financial capital to become tomorrow's   ''Lead Dogs''.    After 25 years of building great software products and great software companies, Landry has had a distinguished track record as an innovative ''Serial CTO'', successfully creating and executing a business-aware technology vision at several major software companies.   His CTO career has evolved from developing batch mainframe application systems, to AI-based expert systems, to large-scale database systems and development tools, to PC applications, to client-server email and groupware systems, to interactive Internet systems, to creating IBMâ€™s cross-corporation Internet strategy and most recently mobile and distributed systems.    In all cases, Landry's innovations and technology strategy have resulted in achieving maximum value for investors and employees alike â€“ all of these companies (excluding IBM) were successfully acquired near the peak of their value.  This strategy has allowed Landry to capitalize on past work and then begin development on the ''next big thing'', a cycle he has repeated again and again -- seven times in the last 20 years!  Aiming to make this experience available to others while still staying involved in the very latest technologies, Landry manages Lead Dog Ventures.  Lead Dog is a new-age technology business accelerator, drawing upon Landryâ€™s relevant technology business experience, a rich network of trusted and diverse professional relationships, as well as his access to sources of early stage investment capital.  Landry also serves on the Board of Directors of several of Lead Dog's private company investments.  Landry balances this emerging company focus with frequent consulting and speaking engagements with the thought leaders of the ''big dogs'' -- IBM, McKinsey, Arthur Andersen, top-tier Venture Capital firms and several Fortune 500 clients.    By bridging these two worlds for nearly 25 years, Landry and Lead Dog Ventures provide both large and small companies alike unique access to knowledge, relationships and capital investment opportunities -- a combination designed to produce tomorrow's ''Lead Dogs''.

Lead Dog Ventures

Techstars Ventures (formerly Bullet Time Ventures) is the venture capital arm of Techstars. Bullet Time Ventures is a $150 million fund based in Boulder, Colorado.

Techstars Ventures

Angel Street Capital assists companies in the early stages of their life cycle providing both consulting services and capital. Its principals have a long track record of successfully investing in digital media and related industries, generating impressive returns for themselves and for their partners.  - They have come from traditional media and embraced the transition to digital at an early date.  - They have actually built and run (on a day to day basis) several media businesses and as a result they bring firsthand knowledge of the difficulties in navigating the early stages of a company’s life cycle.  - They are very competitive and hate to lose. They want to be on your team and enjoy the success that comes with profitability or an early exit.  - They believe you should know who the potential buyers of your company are before you launch. Get to know them.  - Strong underlying industry drivers need to be in place.  - Management, Management, Management.  - Networking will lead to opportunities.  - Proper capitalization and capital structure is critical.

Angel Street Capital

Apricot Capital is a seed stage investment firm based in Boston, MA and Toronto, Canada.  Investments: awe.sm, Careport Health, Clypd, Crashlytics (acquired 2012), Habit Labs, Kinvey, Massive Damage, Momentfeed, MyTime, OnSwipe, Placester, Smart Lunches, TribeHR (acquired 2013), Peekaboo Mobile (acquired 2011)

Apricot Capital

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

New Enterprise Associates is a prominent venture capital firm focusing on investments in technology and healthcare startups. They help entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors, and geographies. With over $19 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm’s founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from the seed stage through the IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 210 portfolio company IPOs and more than 360 acquisitions.

New Enterprise Associates

Placester

Placester is an all-in-one business platform for real estate professionals with beautiful lead capturing websites, lead management, email marketing, marketing automation, analytics, free education and 24/7 support. Founded in 2011 by Matthew Barba, a former real estate agent, and Frederick Townes, a seasoned technologist, the Placester platform enables real estate professionals to grow their businesses online and via mobile through seamless MLS integration, natural language search and eye-catching visuals. In addition, Placester offers a wide range of apps and add-ons for high-impact email marketing, digital advertising campaigns, lead management and streamlining of everyday tasks. Currently serving two in five real estate professionals in the U.S., Placester is a proud technology partner to leading real estate brands across North America, and the sole website provider for the REALTOR Benefits® Program, the official member benefits program of the National Association of REALTORS®. To date, Placester has raised $100 million in funding, backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Romulus Capital and Techstars. For more information, please visit placester.com.

Placester is a marketing tool that allows real estate agents and brokers to create personalized websites in order to boost their online presence. Users can drag and drop items to assemble and design the websites without knowing how to code. The platform includes several features, from basic ones (mobile-friendly websites, code-free site editor, unlimited pages and posts, etc.) to important features, such as lead management, third-party integrations, agent and office roster page, an agent profile page (where prospective leads can easily contact the agents), and others. The company’s clients include small firms such as CB&amp;A Realtors, Atoka Properties, and others.

Property owners and real estate companies are able to handle larger portfolios while offering faster and cheaper services.

Residential PropTech

Strategy and digital business transformation define the new Placester

Placester is a marketing tool that allows real estate agents and brokers to create personalized websites in order to boost their online presence. Users can drag and drop items to assemble and design the websites without knowing how to code. The platform includes several features, from basic ones (mobile-friendly websites, code-free site editor, unlimited pages and posts, etc.) to important features, such as lead management, third-party integrations, agent and office roster page, an agent profile page (where prospective leads can easily contact the agents), and others. The company’s clients include small firms such as CB&amp;A Realtors, Atoka Properties, and others.Placester has an Open House feature on its IDX website, which is free for existing subscribers. This feature automatically updates and displays upcoming open houses from MLS feeds on listing thumbnails, with options to showcase them on dedicated pages, homepage modules, or widgets. Users can filter open houses by agent or office ID and select specific MLS feeds. Placester highlights that this feature saves time with automatic updates, improves user experience, and offers customization, including displaying custom content when no open houses are scheduled.In March 2024, the company launched an upgraded Map Search feature for its Codeless website, enhancing property exploration with a visual map interface instead of text-based listings. Available for free to users upgrading from Classic Builder, this feature includes price tags “Open House” and “3D Tour” on the map, and customizable pin colors matching the website's branding. Placester highlights that this update offers a more engaging, user-friendly experience for homebuyers and fulfills requests from agents seeking a more visually-oriented browsing experience.The company offers three subscription tiers for agents: Agent Essential at USD 23 per month, Agent Plus at USD 63 per month and Agent Premier at USD 103 per month which comes with additional features such as live chat, advanced MLS features, advanced lead capture features, advanced SEO, and Custom JS. The company also offers three subscription tiers for brokers: Team, Broker Standard, and Broker Plus, which are priced at USD 199, USD 319, and USD 479 per month, respectively.

Houzz is a platform connecting homeowners with vendors such as home improvement professionals, interior designers, and others. The platform gives opportunities to home improvement professionals to showcase their work and provide contact information so they can be reached by homeowners in need of such services. Over time, the company has also established an e-commerce marketplace for selling goods, such as furniture and others.&nbsp;In July 2024, the company upgraded its Houzz Pro 3D Floor Plan Tool to include multi-floor capabilities, allowing professionals to design and visualize multi-story buildings within the platform. This enhancement, part of the Houzz Pro suite, aimed to improve collaboration and communication between professionals and clients by offering a more comprehensive view of entire homes or multi-level commercial spaces. It also introduced AutoMate, a set of AI-powered tools integrated into Houzz Pro, designed to enhance efficiency for building, remodeling, and design professionals. Utilizing Houzz Vision AI technologies and GenAI models, AutoMate aimed to streamline workflows and improve productivity within the home improvement industry. Pricing details for this new feature were not disclosed.The company’s core business is to offer subscription plans to contractors and designers so they can list their services. The company offers its subscription in three different tiers: Starter, Essential, and Pro, priced at USD 85, USD 129, and USD 199 per month, respectively, excluding its Advertising package which costs USD 499 per month.Houzz was impacted negatively by the Covid-19 pandemic and had to lay off 155 employees (10% of the total) in April 2020. However, that was not the first layoff as it also let go of around 180 employees in January 2019 when the company stated that it was preparing for its IPO. The IPO is expected to be finalized in early 2022.In December 2021, Houzz acquired an Australian-based SaaS platform providing home construction planning and professional estimation tools through ConX. ConX’s tools were to be built into the end-to-end Houzz Pro offering to serve construction contractors better through the Houzz platform. It, therefore, allowed users of the Houzz platform to streamline the estimation process and efficiently manage workflow when undertaking home improvement projects.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company had over 65 million monthly as of August 2022.In July 2024, the company partnered with GreenSky, a financial technology company, to provide home improvement financing options. The partnership integrated GreenSky's home improvement loans into Houzz Pro's business and marketing management software. This collaboration aimed to empower builders and remodelers by providing them access to financing options, potentially helping them close more business deals.

Houzz

<div>
 
 DocuSign offers eSignature tools to facilitate the management of electronic agreements. These tools enable users to upload and send documents that require signatures, with other features such as checking the status, sending reminders, and storing documents online. The company offers its services to many sectors, including real estate, healthcare and insurance.&nbsp;
 
 
 For the real estate sector, DocuSign automates many transaction processes by providing electronic signing of documents, online notarizations, and a&nbsp; collaboration workspace for the relevant parties (buyers, sellers, agents, etc.). DocuSign claims it helps the property sector reduce paper costs and speeds up the process, while reporting that around 82% of documents sent through its platform get signed within a day.&nbsp;
 
 
 DocuSign has a specific plan for real estate purposes. The plan comes in three different tiers: Real Estate Starter, Real Estate, and Realtors, priced at USD 15, USD 45, and USD 35 per month, respectively.
 
 
 In May 2024, DocuSign 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29171">
 announced its agreement to acquire
 </a>
 Lexion, a contract management platform, for USD 165 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments. Through this acquisition, DocuSign planned to leverage Lexion&rsquo;s AI-based contract management technology and expertise to strengthen its position in the Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) space and enhance DocuSign&rsquo;s IAM platform capabilities.
 
 
 DocuSign went public in 2018 and was valued at around USD 4.4 billion at the time of its listing.
 
 
 For FY2024, DocuSign reported total revenue of USD 2.8 billion (up 10% YoY), compared to a total revenue of USD 2.5 billion recorded for FY2023. The company reported a non-GAAP net income of USD 622.9 million for FY2023, compared to a non-GAAP net income of USD 418.9 million recorded a year ago.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of January 2024, the company had over 1 billion worldwide users since 2003 and over 1.5 million paying customers.
 
</div>

DocuSign

HomeLight initially started as an agent matching platform for home buyers and sellers, but has expanded its product portfolio to provide title and escrow, home estimation, home loans, and other services.For the agent matching service, buyers and sellers answer online questionnaires to determine their specific needs. The platform then uses an algorithm to crunch historical transaction data to find the most suitable agents in its database, which included over 30,000 agents as of July 2024. The platform typically lists up to three agents for buyers/sellers to select from and offers a consultation service to refine the selection further and ensure clients get the most suitable agents.HomeLight also provides a trade-in service, where it will guarantee to pay a certain price for the client’s current home. This way, clients do not need to worry about home sale contingency (a new home transaction is contingent on the sale of an existing home) when they want to purchase a new home. In addition, clients will get additional cash (less any selling-related costs and trade-in fees) if HomeLight can sell their old homes in the market for more than the guaranteed prices (i.e., clients can get the full market value).The platform is available for free to buyers and sellers, but the agent matching service charges a standard referral fee of 25% to the gross commission of agents when they get selected. The platform stated that its recommendations are transparent and based solely on the agents’ performance metrics. In August 2020, HomeLight acquired a transaction management tool, Disclosures.io, that enables real estate professionals to manage transactions as well as market and sell homes in one place. In June 2022, HomeLight acquired Accept, a property financing platform, for an undisclosed amount. Through the acquisition, HomeLight leveraged Accept’s tech-based mortgage solution to offer clients a contingency-free transaction and provide homebuyers with pre-qualified mortgages to facilitate cash offers.The company expected its revenue to exceed USD 300 million in 2021, triple that of 2020. HomeLight’s Cash Offer, the service that allows homebuyers to make upfront cash offers through its certified agents, grew by 500% YoY in transaction volume and achieved USD 3 billion in combined referred transaction value with Accept.Inc in Q1 2022.Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2021, the company had served over one million customers.

HomeLight

<div>
 
 Porch operates a home services platform. In the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, Porch provides an online marketplace that connects homeowners with home improvement professionals (e.g. appliance repair, electricians, plumbers, etc.). The company states that it works with two out of every three homebuyers in the US every month. The company also offers home moving and handyman services, as well as home and auto insurance. It&nbsp;
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25523">
 launched RynohVerifi
 </a>
 , a fraud warning tool aimed to offer fraud protection for title and escrow companies in January 2024.
 
 
 In the business-to-business (B2B) segment, the company provides home inspection software and home moving software for home service companies. Porch has formed partnerships with many leading companies across a number of verticals, including real estate companies, home inspection companies, retail companies, home warranty companies, and others.
 
 
 Although the company&rsquo;s core focus has been home improvement and repair services, Porch has also made notable acquisitions to branch out into new segments. In January 2021, the company acquired Homeowners of America (home insurance provider) for USD 100 million, V12 Data (omnichannel marketing data solution provider) for USD 22 million, and Palm-Tech (home-inspection software company) and iRoofing (roofing app for contractors) for undisclosed amounts.
 
 
 In July 2020, Porch announced a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), PropTech Acquisition Corporation, through which the company would go public. The merger was finalized in December 2020, and the company began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker &lsquo;PRCH&rsquo;, raising a total of more than USD 322 million at a valuation of over USD 1 billion.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 For FY2023, Porch reported 56% YoY growth in total revenue to USD 430.3 million, compared to USD 275.9 million recorded in FY2022. Adjusted EBITDA loss for FY2023 amounted to USD 44.5 million (translating to an adjusted EBITDA margin of -10%), compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of USD 49.6 million recorded a year ago (translating to an adjusted EBITDA margin of -18%).
 
</div>

Porch

​​Mynd operates a platform for individual investors (i.e individual landlords) of Single Family Rental (SFR) properties that provides full-service property management (mostly to individual owners) using digital leasing with 3D tours, self-showings, tenant screening, tenant and owner portals, financial reporting, electronic rent collection, repairs and maintenance, a dedicated portfolio manager, and 24/7 emergency support.The company claims the platform has reduced leasing times and generated high-quality tenants with low delinquency for its users. One advantage of using Mynd is that the company provides a guarantee of up to USD 5,000 when 1) tenants fail to pay rent, 2) damage to the properties beyond the normal wear and tear, and 3) tenants cannot pay and get evicted. The company has different subscription fees for various cities. The company’s pricing for its full service without guarantees ranges from USD 69 - 99 per month, while its prices range between USD 99 - 199 per month with the inclusion of guarantees.As of August 2024, the company managed over 18,000 homes and USD 6 billion worth of assets under management, spanning over 27 markets across Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.In June 2024, Mynd <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30124">merged with</a> <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/354173">Roofstock</a>, a real estate investment platform focused on SFRs, to offer users integrated property investment and management offerings. Through this merger, Mynd planned to provide real estate investors with an integrated investment and rental management platform, offer analytical insights on SFRs, and support buying and selling decisions.

Mynd

Tools for automating property lease management workflow processes. Some startups handle the entire leasing process while others only handle part of the process (e.g., rent collection). Leasing tools for agents are included here.

These tools automate the property appraisal process. Appraisals are generally required by lenders before originating mortgages to buyers.

Tools for title and escrow, as well as transaction management;
1) Title and Escrow: These platforms provide settlement and closing services. They cover a variety of tools, such as, title search and examination, automated generation of closing disclosure, online notarization, automated fund disbursements using electronic cheques, etc. 
2) Transaction Management: These platforms generally enable various users (agents, buyers, sellers) to manage real estate transactions more efficiently. They bring all users and tools together onto a single platform to complete tasks like electronic signatures, seller disclosure forms, etc.

These tools essentially help agents in buying and selling activities, such as generating and managing leads, getting referrals, and searching for suitable homes for clients.

These platforms handle activities related to home maintenance and improvements. They either provide the services themselves or simply connect clients to vendors.

Companies that offer tools that allow renters or buyers to view homes without visiting the sites.

Companies that offer an online platform to match buyers and sellers of residential real estate properties.

Allows real estate agents to create 3D virtual tours for properties

Uses AI/ML to support property related tasks such as rental payments and spatial data capturing

Uses GenAI to help customers navigate listings, enhance marketing content, and automate communications

Transaction closing tools that use the blockchain to facilitate title and escrow services

Placester

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