Sep 6, 2022
Top Seed Companies: Wreno, PlayMetrics, Speechify, Yik Yak
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.
Wreno
EVA Growth Index:
No external sources showing growth
Product:
Digital education platform for in-demand home service skills
Lead Investors:
Lerer Hippeau
Total Raised:
$6.1M
Comparables:
MTCopeland
My Thoughts:
Being early-stage investors in companies such as HouseCall Pro, Angie’s List, or Shopmonkey, we have a first-hand understanding of the major deficit of home improvement talent in the US. With the continued strict immigration policies, the only way to solve this is education which creates the importance and why now for a product like Wreno.
PlayMetrics
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
End-to-end SaaS platform that covers all the pieces that go into running a club
Lead Investors:
Boulder Ventures
Total Raised:
$5.3M
Comparables:
Teampsnap
My Thoughts:
My natural concern with a vertical SaaS product like Playmetrics would be that the TAM is capped. Nevertheless, I see the massive potential to go outside of the traditional sports market and enable all the digital communities we see online and evolve them into physical “clubs” as well, at least a subset of them.
Speechify
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Real-time text-to-speech reader
Lead Investors:
Streamlined Ventures, Adjacent, G9 Ventures
Total Raised:
Undisclosed
Comparables:
VoiceDream, Natural Reader
My Thoughts:
I am someone who is far more efficient in intaking and retaining information via audio versus text. I actually tested this once when I was a teenager because my teachers thought I might be dyslexic. Technologies like Speechify will reduce the barriers for individuals like me to succeed in this written-first world and liberate significant amounts of impedimented human capital.
Yik Yak
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Super local social network that only shows you the content that is the most relevant to an individual, the people in your immediate surroundings
Lead Investors:
Undisclosed
Total Raised:
$6.25M
Comparables:
Venn, Public App
My Thoughts:
Many different companies have tried a similar model to Yik Yak, given that the idea seems so natural. There is a real push towards more authentic social media in society right now, see BeReal as an example, and what is more authentic than seeing content that is right where you are? Looking at the web traffic, it looks like Yik Yak is getting some early adoption as well, so this is one to watch.
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.
