Alumni founders have raised $1B+ in venture capital this year. Keith Bender (MBA ’20) reports.
Startups founded by HBS MBA alumni raised more than $1B in venture capital so far in 2023 (through press time for this issue, September 22nd, 2023). At this point in 2022, alumni-founded companies had raised $4B in venture capital. Here, I review the publicly disclosed funding rounds, categorized by industry:
Consumer
ID.me, a consumer identity platform co-founded by Blake Hall (MBA ’10) and Matt Thompson (MBA ’10), raised a $132M Series D from Viking Global, CapitalG, Counterpoint, Scout Ventures, and Moonshots Capital.
Gympass, a gym subscription platform co-founded by Cesar Carvalho (MBA ’12), raised a $85M Series F from EQT, General Atlantic, and Moore Strategic Ventures.
Proven Skincare, a personalized skincare company co-founded by Ming Zhao (MBA ’12), raised a $12.2M Series A from NewH2.
Mixlab, a veterinary pharmacy co-founded by Frederic Dijols (MBA ’13), raised a $10M Series A from Vanterra Capital, Lakehouse Ventures, and Global Founders Capital.
Honey Homes*, a home maintenance company co-founded by Vishwas Prabhakara (MBA ’08), raised a $9M Series A from Khosla Ventures, Pear VC, and Moving Capital.
Cure Hydration, a rehydration beverage company co-founded by Lauren Picasso (MBA ’14), raised a $5.6M Series A from Lerer Hippeau, Great Oaks VC, and Silas Capital.
Pumpkin Organics, a baby food company co-founded by Jaclyn Schnau (MBA ’06), raised a $4.3M Seed from Mey Capital Matrix, and Feast Ventures.
Tentang Anak, a company that makes child development products for Indonesian parents co-founded by Garri Juanda (MBA ’17), raised a $4.2M Seed from Surge, Goodwater Capital, and Insignia Venture Partners.
Train Fitness, a company that develops exercise detection products for wearable devices co-founded by Andrew Just (MBA ’24) , raised a $2.5M Seed from Relay Ventures, Boost VC, Alumni Ventures, and Spacecadet Ventures.
Grapevine, a collaborative giving platform co-founded by Emily Rasmussen (MBA ’13), raised a $1.7M Seed from PJC, Notation Capital, Overton VC, Ulu Ventures, and Ground Squirrel Ventures.
twenty, a community that provides advice for people in their twenties co-founded by Katie Kirsch (MBA ’24), raised an undisclosed Pre-Seed from Reach Capital and Phoenix Fund.
B2B
Tomorrow.io, a weather forecasting company co-founded by Shimon Elkabetz (MBA ’17), raised a $87M Series E from Activate Capital, Clearvision Ventures, Canaan Partners, and JetBlue Ventures.
Instawork, a career marketplace for hospitality professionals co-founded by Sumir Meghani (MBA ’08), raised a $60M Series D from TCV, Benchmark, GV, Spark Capital, Greylock, and Craft Ventures.
Secure Code Warrior, a coding security learning platform co-founded by John Fitzgerald (MBA ’97), raised a $50M Series C from Paladin Capital Group, ForgePoint Capital, AirTree, Goldman Sachs, and Tidal Ventures.
Portside, a aircraft data platform for corporate plane owners co-founded by Alek Vernitsky (MBA ’09) raised a $50M Series B from Insight Partners, Scale Asia Ventures, and I2BF Global Ventures.
Virtualitics, a tool for AI-based analytics co-founded by Michael Amori (MBA ’93), raised a $37M Series C from Smith Point Capital, Citi, and Alpine Meridian.
Cobli, a fleet management software company co-founded by Parker Treacy (MBA ’12), raised a $20M Series B from SoftBank Vision Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, and Fifth Wall.
Speakeasy, an API development company co-founded by Simon Yu (MBA ’15), raised a $7.6M Seed from GV, Quiet Capital, Flex Capital, Firestreak Ventures, and StoryHouse Ventures.
Carbon Maps, a climate management platform for the food industry co-founded by Patrick Asdaghi (MBA ’04), raised a $4.2M Pre-Seed from Breega.
Fiveoffices, a office-sharing ecosystem in Europe co-founded by Robert Glaesener (MBA ’00), raised a $3.4M Seed from undisclosed investors.
Kintsugi, a global sales tax automation company co-founded by Pujun Bhatnager (MBA ’24), raised a $2.2M Seed from Kyber Knight Capital, Venture Highway, and Y Combinator.
BlockSpan, an NFT API platform for software companies developing on the blockchain co-founded by Jon Pastor (MBA ’06), raised a $1.4M Pre-Seed from Innovation Works.
Concentro, a tech-enabled marketplace for clean energy tax credits co-founded by Iñigo Rengifo Melia (MBA ’23) and Tao Mantaras (MBA ’23), raised an undisclosed Pre-Seed from J Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Dorm Room Fund, The MBA Fund, and Phoenix Fund.
Fintech and Insurance
Rain, a financial wellness and early wage access company co-founded by Alex Bradford (MBA ’07), raised a $66M Series A from QED Investors, Invus, Dreamers VC, and Tribe Capital.
Candidly, a student debt platform co-founded by Kevin Walker (MBA ’00), raised a $20.5M Series B from Altos Ventures, Cercano, and Vulcan.
Earned, a wealth management for physicians service co-founded by John Clendening (MBA ’89), raised a $12M Series A from Breyer Capital, Hudson Structured Capital, and Juxtapose.
Charlie, a retiree financial products company co-founded by Kevin Nazemi (MBA ’11), raised a $7.5M Seed from Better Tomorrow Ventures and DCVC.
Bamboo Debt Capital Markets Platform, a company providing access to private credit investment opportunities in Brazil co-founded by Arthur O'Keefe (MBA ’04), raised a $4M Seed from Global Founders Capital, Beta Ventures, and Atman.
Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
Cerevance, a developer of neurological therapeutics co-founded by Brad Margus (MBA ’86), raised a $51M Series B from GV, Foresite Capital, and Gates Frontier Fund.
Octave, a multiple sclerosis clinical platform developer co-founded by Melinda Thomas (MBA ’92), raised a $30M Series B from Section 32, Northpond Ventures, and Novartis.
Adventris Pharmaceuticals, a cancer vaccine company co-founded by Jenny Lesser Herbach (MBA ’13), raised a $0.5M Pre-Seed from Y Combinator.
Allara, a medical provider and registered dietitian for polycystic ovary syndrome patients co-founded by Rachel Blank (MBA ’18), raised additional Seed funding from Global Founders Capital and Great Oaks VC.
eddii, a diabetes management platform co-founded by Alonso Lucero (MBA ’18) and Farhaneh Ahmadi (MBA ’18), raised an undisclosed Seed from Kapor Capital, Alumni Ventures, StartUp Health, and Atento Capital.
Deep tech
Zeitview (formerly DroneBase), a platform for aerial data analytics co-founded by Daniel Burton (MBA ’13), raised a $55M Series E from Valor Equity Partners, Union Square Ventures, Upfront Ventures, and Hearst Ventures.
Venti Technologies, an autonomous vehicles developer co-founded by Heidi Wyle (MBA ’89), raised a $28.8M Series A from LG Technology Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, and LDV Partners.
Macro Oceans, a company that transforms seaweed into low-carbon chemicals co-founded by Matthew Perkins (MBA ’09), raised a $5M Seed from Lowercarbon Capital, Refactor Capital, McKinley Capital Partners.
*The author is a partner at Pear VC, which is an investor in these companies. If you believe any HBS alumni startup fundings from this summer are missing, please reach out to the author via the contact information below.
Keith Bender (MBA ’20) is a partner at Pear VC in Palo Alto, where he invests at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A rounds across industries. Previously, Keith worked at Bessemer Venture Partners and BCG. He is a graduate of Harvard College and is originally from Arizona. For comments and questions, please reach out to keith@pear.vc.