Mar 14
Top Seed Companies to Track: Topsort, Dónde, Creatively, Barnfox, CoFi
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.
Topsort
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
API-first platform that lets digital marketplaces run auction-based advertising that are otherwise exclusive to big-tech elites
Lead Investors:
Comma Ventures, FJ Labs, Pear VC, Quiet Capital
Total Raised:
$8M
Comparables:
Traditional ad networks
My Thoughts:
Everyday marketplace platforms usually only have access to traditional ad networks to monetize their traffic as building out their own auction algorithms is otherwise incredibly resource intrusive. Topsort would let Airbnb for example enable paid search for hosts on their platform within days and take out any middlemen for this revenue stream — super valuable!
Dónde
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Benefits platform that lets employers provide travel as a benefit to their employees
Lead Investors:
Kickstart
Total Raised:
$5M
Comparables:
TaaB
My Thoughts:
It only makes sense to play a tax arbitrage here by businesses providing benefits that employees truly desire. Being a millennial and a travel enthusiast, I personally would love this!
Creatively
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Job marketplace for high-end creative work
Lead Investors:
The Tornante Company, Kevin Yorn, Advancit Capital, Thirty Five Ventures, Link Ventures, LionTree
Total Raised:
$13M
Comparables:
Upwork, Fiverr
My Thoughts:
I have written multiple times about vertical marketplace as I believe that certain categories are large enough on their own and will naturally split off from the big platforms. Within this, the more distant a category from classic transactional work, like high-end creative work, the more it validates its own marketplace in my eyes.
Barnfox
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Discovery and booking platform for remote work and retreat spaces
Lead Investors:
Foster Supply Hospitality
Total Raised:
$1M
Comparables:
Airbnb
My Thoughts:
We at Headline US have recently team had “backyard” events where we rent a nice Airbnb to work and socialize together throughout a workday. The experience has been fantastic so I am very bullish on Barnfox building a network dedicated to these types of experiences.
CoFi
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Single interface for construction operators to secure financing, mostly in form of a credit line, for their projects
Lead Investors:
Blackhorn Ventures, Tenacity Venture Capital, MetaProp
Total Raised:
$7M
Comparables:
N/A
My Thoughts:
Massive market with no category leader. I wonder what the right sales channel is here. Through the SaaS platforms like Plandradar and Procore or direct to decision-maker sales and marketing.
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.
