Jan 24
Top Seed Companies to Track This Week: Bennie, Castiron, Inflow, POAP, Filmhub
Our Investor Nicolas Von Blottnitz shares the top seeded companies to keep an eye on this week.
We see about 5,000 startups each week, and I want to give you a glimpse into how we at Headline think about trending tech companies and tracking new investment opportunities. In this post, I’m highlighting top tech companies that have announced or raised a seed round within the past week.
Bennie
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Benefits management solution for medium to small businesses
Lead Investors:
Picus Capital, Silverton Partners
Total Raised:
$33M
Comparables:
Gusto, Rippling
My Thoughts:
Massive yet very competitive market that Bennie is going after. Nevertheless, looking at their web traffic it looks like they have been executing well, and with this significant Seed round, they should have plenty of resources to execute. The founder Matt also has an impressive serial entrepreneurial CV, having created and sold two successful tech companies (Namely and Pictela) prior to Bennie.
Castiron
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
End to end business management solution for artisan food entrepreneurs/businesses, from website creation to order fulfillment
Lead Investors:
High Alpha, Foundry, Bowery Capital
Total Raised:
$6M
Comparables:
BentoBox, ChowNow
My Thoughts:
We have seen a major uptick in artisan food business across the US markets and providing the tools that enable these businesses to strive looks to be a huge opportunity in my eyes.
Inflow
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Mobile consumer app that lets individuals manage their ADHD directly out of their pocket
Lead Investors:
Rhythm VC, Hoxton Ventures
Total Raised:
$3M
Comparables:
Calm, Elemy
My Thoughts:
Over 2.5% of all children and adults globally show symptoms of ADHD. Even if Inflow is able to adequately address a fraction of this market, this can be a massive business. Looking at their web traffic, they are on their way of getting there.
POAP
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Consumer platform that enables consumers to mint NFT badges that verify that they were part of a given real-time event or moment.
Lead Investors:
Sapphire Sport, Archetype
Total Raised:
$10M
Comparables:
NBA Topshots
My Thoughts:
As we increasingly move online I see real value in being able to verifiably share if we were part of noticeable events as our real-world experiences will seem even more special and worth sharing. I wonder if this impressive traffic growth is driven by users using POAP for its intent or is just driven by speculative NFT investors.
Filmhub
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Online platform that enables filmmakers to distribute their works across the vast universe of streaming services
Lead Investors:
8VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Eleven Prime, FundersClub
Total Raised:
$6.8M
Comparables:
N/A
My Thoughts:
With the increasing fragmentation of streaming platforms, it only seems natural that there will be a central solution for filmmakers to take out agency and manage their distribution themselves. Very smart and timely model.
I am Nicolas von Blottnitz, an Associate at Headline’s SF office focusing on Consumer, Fintech, and SaaS businesses. Since joining in 2018, I have led our investments in Grin, Trellis, Solid, Polygon, Flockjay, and Tabnine.
What is the EVA Growth Index?
The EVA Growth index is a composite of third-party data sources around a company’s website traffic. The vertical green lines in the charts represent a point in time where the company raised outside capital.
