T-Shirts from Bow and Drape Time flies when you are having fun! That saying definitely rings true for the XFactor team. We can’t believe it’s already been 90 days since we launched to focus on investing in early-stage companies with at least one female founder addressing billion dollar market opportunities. Over the past 3 months, as we reviewed nearly 400 deals and met with over 100 companies, we have been floored by the quality and quantity of female founders in the tech ecosystem. We have also hosted events in both New York and San Francisco for female founders, found a methodology for sharing and making investment decisions as a team, AND most importantly, closed our first 8 investments which we are are thrilled to introduce today: XFactor Ventures Founded by Maran Nelson and Michael Akilian, is a human-in-the-loop assistant that schedules meetings. XFactor’s led the investment in the company which was part of a $7M Series A financing that was led by Basis Set Ventures and joined by Slack Fund, Sequoia and First Round Capital. Clara Danielle Morrill Founded by Kristina Jones and James Jones Jr., Esq., is a legal tech platform that instantly matches consumers with vetted solo attorneys for flat rates based on their a-la-carte court-related needs and budget. XFactor’s led the fund’s investment in the company as part of a $1M seed round that was led by LDR Ventures and joined by LSS Fund/Lightspeed, UpHonest Capital, GingerBread Capital/KKR, Equipo Ventures, and several angels. Court Buddy Aubrie Pagano Ellen and Paul’s new Startup Founded by Ellen Chisa and Paul Biggar, (ok, that’s a working name!) is the first investment we closed in XFactor Ventures. The company is building a cloud platform with a simple, yet ambitious goal: make it possible to build a complete scalable app in an afternoon. XFactor’s led the seed investment in the company. Ellen and Paul’s New Startup Erica Brescia Founder by Brandon Holley, is a B2B software solution for ecommerce that personalizes the customer shopping experience by understanding preferences, behaviors and shopping patterns. XFactor’s led the investment in the company as part of a $1M seed round that closed in August. Everywear Anna Palmer Founded by Lisa Fetterman, creates that enable everyone to cook the best food possible. Nomiku is onto its third generation sous vide device that is the most powerful home immersion circulator on the market, beloved by top restaurants and chefs worldwide. This year they launched a delivery food that harnesses the precision of sous vide cooking. XFactor’s and led the investment in the company that was part of a $3M strategic round led by Samsung. Nomiku tools system Ooshma Garg Erica Brescia Founded by Andrea Barrica, is a shame-free community platform to learn about sex, pleasure, and identity, powered through live streaming and live chat. With a smartphone, anyone in the world can participate in live classes from the best sex educators in the world. XFactor’s led the pre-seed investment in the company. O.School Jessica Mah Founded by Melissa Pancoast and Matthieu Tourne, automates financial planning and support for America’s middle class. With joy, smart design, psychology, and machine intelligence, the team is transforming how we feel about our money. XFactor’s and co-led the pre-seed investment. The Beans Jessica Mah Erica Brescia Founded by Megan Nunes and Tomas Svitek, is a YCombinator Winter 2017 company that has developed an artificial intelligence platform to more accurately forecast crop yields, 4x better than industry standard, for the agricultural industry. XFactor’s led seed financing that closed in July 2017. Vinsight Danielle Morrill As you can see, we have had a broad participation across our investment team. Six of the nine XFactor partners made an investment in the first quarter. Equally broad is the spectrum of markets covered — fintech, ag tech, fashion tech, legal tech, AI, application development, future of work, health tech, and hardware. We could not be happier with the diversity of the fund, the level of innovation at each company and the size of the markets being targeted by each. Thank you all again for the support and introductions and for all the female founders we have met for your talent, perseverance and grit. As always, if you are interested in speaking with our , please email us at hello@xfactor.ventures. team
