SelfDecode, TestGorilla, Mailmodo, Boundless, Co-op— 5th July, 2021
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.
SelfDecode
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Online platform that gives personalization suggestions around optimizing a consumer’s health based on their gene report
Lead Investors:
Undisclosed
Total Raised:
Undisclosed
Comparables:
23 and Me
My Thoughts:
DNA tests have largely become commoditized and will become cheaper/more accessible as time goes on. I see the next wave in this market to make the actual gene data actionable, beyond just seeing who your great great great grandma was. SelfDecode looks to be getting traction doing exactly that, which makes it one to watch in my eyes.
TestGorilla
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Horizontal software approach for pre-employment testing
Lead Investors:
Notion Capital
Total Raised:
$11.2M
Comparables:
CodeSignal
My Thoughts:
We at Headline invested in CodeSignal, the leading solution for pre-employment testing for software developer positions. Our thesis was always that in the US one needs a license to cut hair but anyone can code software for Boeing or NASA. This is applicable for all types of digital knowledge work, so I see a massive opportunity here that will probably create multiple large winners.
Mailmodo
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
Drag and drop email creation solution for app-like interactive AMP emails
Lead Investors:
Surge
Total Raised:
Undisclosed
Comparables:
MailChimp
My Thoughts:
How annoying is it when someone sends you a “rate our service” email with a 0–10 scale and you actually click on one of the numbers and then get linked to another site to give the actual review there. I love seeing Mailmodo solving this tiny issue and go beyond it. This might be the first real innovation in email in decades.
Boundless
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
HR platform for employers to manage multi-country payroll, and comply with local tax/employment regulations
Lead Investors:
Ada Ventures
Total Raised:
$4M
Comparables:
Panther
My Thoughts:
I keep touching on how bullish I am on remote work and I just see such a big market opportunity for a cohort of new HR tools that take existing local SaaS value proposition onto the global scale.
Co-op
EVA Growth Index:
Product:
e-commerce recommendation engine for D2C e-commerce sites, that recommends complimentary products at check-out from other D2C brands in the Co-op network in exchange for a referral fee
Lead Investors:
Sugar Capital
Total Raised:
$6M
Comparables:
N/A
My Thoughts:
D2C brands are acting as a revolutionary joint community that is formidably competing against Amazon. Co-op enables these brands to team up in a very intriguing incentive structure that should only grow in value as the network scales. As a venture investor, I really like how quickly this model will build a moat through scale and become the market winner.
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.
