MBA alumni founders have raised nearly $1B in venture capital since our last roundup in the fall, Keith Bender (MBA ’20) reports.
Startups founded by HBS MBA alumni raised a reported $960M in venture capital (excluding rounds of undisclosed size) from last fall’s update (press time: September 22, 2023) through this winter (press time: February 23, 2024). Here, I review the publicly disclosed funding rounds, categorized by industry:
B2B
TravelPerk, a business travel booking company co-founded by Ron Levin (MBA ’08), raised a $102M Series D from Softbank Vision Fund and Kinnevik.
Prove, a smartphone-based identity verification company co-founded by Rodger Desai (MBA ’03), raised a $40M round from MassMutual Ventures and Capital One Ventures.
Radius Agent, an online real estate brokerage co-founded by Sanya Gurnani (MBA ’14), raised a $13M Series B from Sierra Ventures and AXA Venture Partners.
PredictAP, a real estate investment automation company co-founded by Russell Franks (MBA ’91), raised an $8M Series A from RET Ventures and WISE Ventures.
Cumulus Encrypted Storage System (CESS), a decentralized cloud storage platform co-founded by Nicholas Zaldastani (MBA ’86), raised an $8M Series A from DWF Labs, HTX Ventures, Vespertine Capital, and Infinity Ventures Crypto.
Civic Roundtable*, a government collaboration platform co-founded by Madeleine Smith (MBA ’23) and Austin Boral (MBA ’23), raised a $5M Seed from General Catalyst and Pear.
Carbon Maps, an environmental accounting company for food and agriculture co-founded by Patrick Asdaghi (MBA ’04), raised a $3.2M Seed from Daphni.
CNaught, a carbon credit brokerage co-founded by Mark Chen (MBA ’05), raised a $2.25M Pre-Seed from Greycroft, LongRun Capital, and Carthona Capital.
Sports Innovation Lab, a sports technology company co-founded by Angela Ruggiero (MBA ’14), raised a $2.1M round from R/GA Ventures, Elysian Park Ventures, and Aser Ventures.
Mogul, a talent and recruiting company co-founded by Tiffany Pham (MBA ’12), raised an undisclosed Pre-Seed from 1337 Ventures.
Consumer
Copia Global, a consumer catalog order retailer co-founded by Crispin Murira (MBA ’05) , raised a $20M Series C from Enza Capital.
Slurrp Farm, a millet-based children's food company co-founded by Meghana Narayan (MBA ’07), raised a $7.2M Series C from Sharrp Ventures and Fireside Ventures.
Season Health, a personalized nutrition planning company co-founded by Josh Hix (MBA ‘10), raised a $7M round from Ziegeler and Inception Health.
Cure Hydration, a hydration beverage company co-founded by Lauren Picasso (MBA ’14), raised an undisclosed Series B from Stella Capital.
Fintech
Meniga, a digital banking platform co-founded by Georg Ludviksson (MBA ’08), raised a $16M Series D from Omega and Credito Agricola.
Charlie, a financial services company for retirees co-founded by Kevin Nazemi (MBA ’11), raised a $16M Series A from TTV Capital and FPV Ventures.
Dynamic Labs, a multi-chain wallet platform co-founded by Itai Turbahn (MBA ’15), raised a $13.5M Series A from a16z crypto.
Crediverso, a consumer financial company co-founded by Charlie Hernández (MBA ’17), raised a $3.5M Seed extension from Torch Capital, Act One Ventures, Gaingels, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Interstellar, an international payments company co-founded by Adam Ludwin (MBA ’10), raised an undisclosed Series A from Stellar Development Foundation and MoneyGram International.
Funding Societies, a SME digital financing company co-founded by Kelvin Teo (MBA ’16) and Reynold Wijaya (MBA ’16), raised an undisclosed round from Khazanah Nasional.
Poolit*, a direct-to-consumer investing platform co-founded by Dakotah Rice (MBA ’23), raised an undisclosed Seed from Prahit Labs.
Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
MapLight Therapeutics, a brain disorder therapeutics platform co-founded by Chris Kroeger (MBA ’03), raised a $225M Series C from 5AM Ventures, Novo Holdings, and Cowen Healthcare Investments.
Diana Health, a women's health practice network co-founded by Kate Condliffe(MBA ’08), raised a $34M Series B from Norwest Venture Partners, .406 Ventures, LRVHealth, and AlleyCorp.
Africa Healthcare Network, a dialysis chain in Sub-Saharan Africa co-founded by Nikhil Pereira-Kamath (MBA ’23), raised a $20M round from AfricInvest and Ohara Pharmaceutical.
Signos, a glucose monitoring company co-founded by Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer (MBA ’08), raised a $20M Series B from Google Ventures and Cheyenne Ventures.
Medrhythms, a digital therapeutics company that uses music to improve walking co-founded by Owen McCarthy (MBA ’15), raised a $19.7M round from undisclosed investors.
Allara, a medical provider for polycystic ovary syndrome co-founded by Rachel Blank (MBA ’18), raised a $10M Series A from Google Ventures and Great Oaks Venture Capital.
Jana Care, a blood monitoring device company co-founded by Sidhant Jena (MBA ’11), raised a $6M Series B from IAG Capital Partners.
Jukebox Health, an in-home aging and fall prevention company co-founded by Romanos Fessas (MBA ’10), raised a $5M round from undisclosed investors.
Elektra Health, a healthcare platform for menopause co-founded by Jannine Versi (MBA ’14), raised a $3.3M Seed from Seven Seven Six, Flare Capital Partners, and UPMC Enterprises.
Trove Health, a medical records company co-founded by Matt Ross (MBA ’22), raised a $3M Seed from MassChallenge.
The Healing Company, a healthcare brand holding company co-founded by Simon Belsham (MBA ’07), raised a $250K round from Avant Global.
Soulside, a postpartum mental health company co-founded by Surabhi Bhandari (MBA ’17), raised an undisclosed Seed from undisclosed investors.
Pangea Botanica, a nature-based neurological therapeutics company co-founded by John Boghossian (MBA ’17), raised an undisclosed Series A from Seaside Ventures and No Label Ventures.
Deep Tech
Shield AI, an autonomous aircraft company co-founded by Brandon Tseng (MBA ’17), raised a $300M Series F from US Innovative Technology Fund and Riot Ventures.
Burro, an autonomous farming platform co-founded by Charlie Andersen (MBA ’14), raised a $24M Series B from Translink Capital and Catalyst Investors.
Cambium, a biomaterials developer co-founded by Simon Waddington (MBA ’96), raised a $19M Series A from 8VC.
OCOchem, an electrochemical carbon reduction company co-founded by Todd Brix (MBA ’97), raised a $5M Seed from TO Ventures and Halliburton Labs.
Ecto, an aquaculture technology company co-founded by Dmitry Kozachenok (MBA ’13), raised a $500K round from Aqua Spark, Rabobank, and Seventure 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.