February 2023 Newsletter
February 2023 Newsletter
The latest from Garuda Ventures, news from our portfolio, new investments, and a few tidbits!
We hope 2023 is off to a happy and healthy start for you and your families! Welcome to our February newsletter, where we share the latest from us, news from our portfolio, new investments, and a few tidbits.
New Investments:
OpsHelm, the automated security remediation platform, came out of stealth and announced their pre-seed round. We are excited to begin the journey with Bill Gambardella, Kyle McCullough, Bob Bregant, and Lee Brotherston, and the entire OpsHelm team, alongside our friends at Fika Ventures, Patrick Thompson of the Community Access Fund, and Andrew Peterson. You can read more about our investment in OpsHelm here.
We also invested in an amazing team operating at the intersection of SaaS and fintech. As this one is still unannounced, you’ll just have to wait to hear more!
OpsHelm Co-founders Kyle McCullough and Bill Gambardella Garuda Ventures takes SoCal: We partnered with our friends at OpenView and hosted a founder dinner in Los Angeles, bringing together the Garuda community in Santa Monica for a great meal and conversation.
Fun at Calabra in Santa Monica The Emerging 50: We were honored to be recognized as part of an exemplary group of emerging managers in the Signature Block Emerging 50, a list highlighting the venture industry's newest fund managers as nominated by their LPs and founders they've backed. Thanks to our amazing founders and LPs for nominating us!
Work at a Garuda Ventures portfolio company: If you’re in the market for an exciting new role at an early-stage business, head to jobs.garuda.vc to discover opportunities across our network of companies.
As always, thank you for your continued support. If you know compelling founders building or exploring opportunities in SaaS, Fintech & Commerce, Infrastructure & Security, or Climate, please send them our way!
Portfolio News
Airbase, the business spend management platform, rolled out a series of new product capabilities including advanced documentation and data routing, 3-way PO matching, and custom tagging of additional stakeholders, that expand its all-in-one spend management platform to support the sophisticated purchasing processes of today’s mid-market and larger companies
Amperon, the next-generation energy intelligence platform, ended a memorable 2022 having raised $7M in a Series A, growing the team by 3x, and winning the BigDeal Challenge for the second year in a row.
Leap, the platform for monetizing distributed energy resources, was recognized as a top 100 global cleantech company.
Noyo, the connections gateway for modern insurance, recently partnered with the Standard Insurance Company and was recognized as a top startup to watch, and Co-founder and CEO, Shannon Goggin, was accepted into the Forbes Technology Council
To see a complete list of founders and companies we’ve partnered with, visit garuda.vc/companies
Garuda’s Bookshelf
In a world of bite-sized, easily consumable content, we love asking and getting the question, “Have you read any good books lately?” In this month’s bookshelf:
Non-Fiction: Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
By world-famous restauranteur Danny Meyer (of Union Square Cafe, Blue Smoke, 11Madison, and Shake Shack fame, to name a few), Setting the Table is an excellent read on the value of hospitality and how to build relationships, companies, and experiences with service at the center. The content is evergreen and actionable, relevant not just for restaurateurs but for anyone building a business, in a managerial role, or who works with others. We cannot say enough good things about this one.
Fiction: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is a New York Times bestseller for good reason. It features 18-year-old Emmett Watson, recently released from a Nebraskan juvenile work farm, with plans to move to California and make a new life with his 8-year-old brother Billy. However, upon unceremoniously encountering friends from the work farm who have escaped, a whole new plan emerges. Set in 1954, spanning the course of ten days, and told from multiple points of view, it is a great read.
Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused, pre-seed and seed-stage venture firm. Subscribe below to get the latest from us, and visit garuda.vc to learn more.