Synder, Candidate, Finley, Nice, Ecologi— 21st June, 2021

Nicolas von Blottnitz
4 min readJun 22, 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.

Synder

EVA Growth Index:

Product:
Software platform that links to the payment processor of all major e-commerce platforms to automate revenue conciliation with QuickBooks/Xero to ensure reliable and real-time revenue reporting

Lead Investors:
TMT Investments

Total Raised:
$2M

Comparables:
Recurrly for non-subscription businesses

My Thoughts:
Modern direct-to-consumer brands are incredibly lean from a staffing perspective which enables them to operate profitably. I am, therefore, super bullish on any software that automates a knowledge worker’s task as it keeps headcount low. Looking at the EVA growth they are well on their way to building a great business here.

Candidate

EVA Growth Index:

Product:
A network of quality “referrers” who help job seekers gain access to high-quality jobs in the tech space and enables employers to gain access to their employee's network

Lead Investors:
Voyager Capital

Total Raised:
$5M

Comparables:
Freshworks has a referral incentive feature

My Thoughts:
We all know the saying that A’s hire A’s and B’s hire C’s. In the remote work world, I see network-based sourcing as more powerful than ever as it is not restricted to a single geography, so if you believe you have a bunch of A’s on your team you should definitely incentives them to get you even more A’s.

Finley

EVA Growth Index:

Product:
Software platform automates due diligence, compliance, and streamlines ongoing reporting for debt raises

Lead Investors:
Bain Capital Ventures

Total Raised:
$3M

Comparables:
DebtBook

My Thoughts:
In this low-interest environment, debt has become an attractive option, even for early-stage businesses. The process around managing it though can become costly though, so streamlining this with software like Finley seems like a no-brainer.

Nice

EVA Growth Index:

Product:
App-based primary care provider with a home-visit and telehealth first focus

Lead Investors:
Waterline Ventures

Total Raised:
$6M (Last seed round undisclosed so this figure is not accurate)

Comparables:
OneMedical

My Thoughts:
In this remote world, I see employers being more open than ever to test new health insurance benefits and the Nice offering looks incredibly intriguing from the outside in. I like their brand and I see a world where an employer providing Nice becomes a key way to compete from a hiring perspective.

Ecologi

EVA Growth Index:

Product:
Monthly subscription for consumers to fund ecological initiatives to fight climate change starting at $6.40 per month

Lead Investors:
General Catalyst

Total Raised:
$6M

Comparables:
Wren, TreeClicks

My Thoughts:
The category is massive and their EVA growth explosive, sometimes that is all that matters. The one thing I’d look out for as an investor here is if Ecologi has some form of proprietary access to supply as it would enable them to build defensibility until scale becomes the real long-term moat.

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.

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Nicolas von Blottnitz
Nicolas von Blottnitz

Written by Nicolas von Blottnitz

Early-stage venture capitalist at the global venture firm Headline and passionate surfer.

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