Top Seed Companies: KaryaKarsa, Kudos, Stylo, Expatfile, Upheal
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.
KaryaKarsa
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Online platform that enables creators to sell books, comics, and audio content to their fans across South East Asia
Lead Investors:
Sketchnote Partners
Total Raised:
$500K
Comparables:
Wattpad, Patreon
My Thoughts:
Major market pull from consumers demanding authentic creator-made content. Looking at the EVA traffic, KaryaKarsa is doing an incredible job of connecting creators and their audiences.
Kudos
EVA Growth Index:
No external sources showing growth
Product:
Smart wallet that calculates rewards and benefits in real-time at the point of purchase to decide which card should be used for the purchase
Lead Investors:
Patron
Total Raised:
$7M
Comparables:
MaxRewards, CardCurator
My Thoughts:
This is such a no-brainer to adopt for any credit card-savvy consumer. Imagine a world where you don’t need to think about which card is best to buy this flight or that hotel room, but just let Kudos run its magic. This would be especially cool if you could just integrate this with Apple or Google pay and Kudos automagically picks which card is best used for a given purchase. All the consumer does is tap their phone.
Stylo
EVA Growth Index:
No external source showing growth
Product:
AI-enabled customer success software that figures out which tickets require an agent’s attention and which ones don’t
Lead Investors:
Matchstick Ventures
Total Raised:
$3M
Comparables:
N/A
My Thoughts:
With how far natural language processing has gotten over the last few years, this is a no-brainer task that software can automate at scale and free-up customers’ success resources by having agents only focus on necessary tickets.
Expatfile
EVA Growth Index:
No external sources showing growth
Product:
e-Tax filing software for ex-pat US taxpayers across the globe
Lead Investors:
Undisclosed
Total Raised:
$1.3M
Comparables:
KeeperTax, TurboTax
My Thoughts:
If you have a US passport or a green card, the US government has access to your taxes, no matter where in the world you are and for how long. There are a bunch of regulations around this that are not covered in traditional tax filing software, though, and with the remote revolution only accelerating, this is one to watch!
Upheal
EVA Growth Index:
No external sources showing growth
Product:
Smart platform for mental health clinicians that includes secure video-calling, analytics, and automated progress notes built-in
Lead Investors:
KAYA
Total Raised:
$1M
Comparables:
Zoom plus Avoma for therapists
My Thoughts:
There has been a huge uptick in online counseling, yet the tools to drive these digital therapy sessions are still very much antiquated. Upheal seems like a must-have tool for any digital therapist.
Hi, 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 Tabnine, Polygon, Flockjay, Solid, and Grin.
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.
