Here are some seed investments I'm looking at this month
Flexport, meet Asnak; Groove is solving the hybrid work environment; if you want to be noticed, check out Reuben Oliver's knits; calling all parents! Storybook will help your kids go to sleep
Raising Now
Asnak - shipping/freight logistics marketplace - Murad Abdullayev
Imagine you could invest in Flexport ($8bn) or Freightos or Convoy ($4bn) at the Seed stage? Asnak, a Turkish based logistics company, is a marketplace for companies to ship across road, sea, air, and railway. Few markets number in the hundreds of billions, but the global logistics industry is measured in the trillions.
Led by experienced and brilliant yet humble Murad Abdullayev, the young company is already generating $800k GMV per month, and has 3PL providers asking for exclusive partnerships.
Groove - future of work (B2C, potential B2B) - Josh Greene - app store
Reach out quick as Groove is closing their round! The superstar team (visionary, genius CTO, and experienced UX leader) is led by Josh Greene who has experience promoting well-being and building communities.
Groove brings people together to do their deepest work alongside others. It takes accountability, deep work/flow, and positive reinforcement and bundles them into an app to create effective hybrid co-working. By book-ending a 50 minute work session with 5 minutes of video chat intro and recap, the user feels an experience of one hour of collaboration with other groovers, thus fulfilling one’s social need and fostering camaraderie. Entrepreneurs and freelancers are flocking to the app where, though they work individually, feel as part of a community.
As a consumer app, Groove is developing a community of loyal evangelists who not only love using the app but are spreading it with their friends and colleagues. But where Groove is really exciting to me is how the company could be the solution to the multi-billion dollar problem of how to foster community and develop accountability within the hybrid work environment.
Reuben Oliver - brand - Eram Zaghi and Reuben Gladstone
A picture is worth 1,000 words so here’s a few thousand.
The first thing I felt when I saw Reuben Oliver was “wow” with my next emotion being “wanting” and then “needing” one of their outfits; and that’s the same response from everyone I’ve shared their site with. That’s probably why they 10x'd their monthly recurring revenue over the last 6 month with 70-80% gross margins, have a 40% return customer rate, and have had an obscene amount of celebrities rocking their styles (their IG has 10k+ followers). And the the company is also led by a CFDA Award Winner and a former Morgan Stanley Leadership alumni.
The company's success has not only to do with its unique aesthetic, but also with the fact that it has placed itself at the center of rising categories: with sustainability (the company is using innovative, more sustainable fibers than all of its peers), with knitwear & comfort (a category that continues to rise), and the rising avant-garde menswear category (a category that is accelerating and catching up to womenswear).
CLOSING SOON
Storybook - Francisco Cornejo - app store
Storybook is the app you MUST have if you have a new-born/toddler/baby - the app combines audio-stories, infant massage techniques and relaxing music to improve the sleep of babies and children. It’s not fair to you, your partner (if you have one), or your child to not be using Storybook. Francisco is crushing his execution as the app has over a million users contributing to over $500k ARR - legendary angel and investor in Storybook, Jason Calacanis agrees.
Children love the stories (I should mention there’s no screen time for kids!) and touch (infant massage, reflexology, and relaxation instructions for parents), and you’ll see your relationship improve with your kids and family. The company measures its effects and lets us know that 80% of children sleep better and 89% of parents report a better connection with their children with Storybook. We all know “happily ever after” was a fairytale, but that might be become a reality with Storybook.
I used to call them deals, but I didn't like the way it feels, We're investing in superheroes, not just ones and zeroes. Financing, advising, building, and believing, investing is more than checks, we're a part of their breathing. These are the dreamers and products I love, teams and ideas I'm sure you'll want to join and be a part of.