Why We Invested

Backer is a social savings platform that makes it quick and easy to set up a 529 plan account and get family and friends involved as contributors (“backers”). Backer has helped families save $20 million for college, with 40% of the money coming from grandparents, aunts/uncles, and friends of the family — a rate of gifting that’s 30x higher than the 529 industry average. With Americans carrying a record $1.8 trillion in student loan debt, Backer helps families give their child the prospect of financial freedom.

Yardstik is the market’s first comprehensive, fully integrated human security software platform. Pure white–label, it leverages deep background screening, certification administration, verification management, training systems and industry–specific nuance. It offers a unique operating model tailored to marketplaces and SaaS platforms, with an API-first approach adaptable to virtually any industry.

The Bbot co-founders, Steve, Luke and Greg, first met as officers and nuclear engineers while stationed at Naval Reactors in Washington, D.C. The three of them worked on instrumentation and control systems for submarines and aircraft carriers. They kept in touch for many years after leaving the Navy, ultimately working together to develop the original Bbot, a ceiling-based robotic delivery system that delivers drinks to tables in restaurants. Today, Bbot offers a robust, configurable solution that helps 500+ restaurants, bars, hotels, cinemas and other hospitality organizations create digital menus and provide contactless ordering and payment from the customer’s smartphone.

Tens of thousands of times a day, customer care teams and contact centers try to help people navigate complex situations — answering insurance questions, scheduling someone with the right physician, fixing a product, etc. Yet those agents typically have to hunt through docs and spreadsheets to find the right information, which leads to errors, slow resolution times and a sub-optimal experience for the customer. Frontline teams crave better tools to translate complex information into clear actions, which is why we’re excited to announce our recent investment in Zingtree.