15: Broadcast & Spellbound

Hi everyone, and welcome to another exciting edition of !

Before we jump into the exciting startups we have lined up, we would like to take a moment to introduce our sponsor, Masterworks. If you're looking for a new way to diversify your portfolio, Masterworks may be just what you need. This NYC-based fintech unicorn has grown an impressive 304% since securing a $110mm Series A round in 2021. Their platform allows investors to easily invest in blue-chip art, including pieces by iconic artists like Banksy and Picasso, which has outperformed the S&P 500 by 131% over the last 26 years. With all 11 of their exits being profitable, Masterworks has made investing in blue-chip art more accessible than ever before. In fact, they returned over $25.8 million dollars to investors in 2022 alone. Don't wait, skip the waitlist and learn more about Masterworks today!1

Founder(s) background: Founder and Chairman @ V2 Ventures, Payability

Backed by (public source): Tru Arrow Partners, Left Lane Capital, Galaxy Interactive

And now, back to our regular programming.

Startup spotlight

1.

Startup name: Broadcast (US, 2021)

Description: The current manual approach of writing multiple updates every week for various stakeholders is time-consuming and problematic. A study from Asana found that managers are spending over 60 percent of their time simply managing and directing the flow of information. As a result, they are unable to focus on building value or solving problems, which are critical to driving organizational success.

Founder(s) background: Varadh Jain (CEO, prev. Product @ Opendoor); Connor Jacobsen (CTO, prev. Software Engineer @ Opendoor)

Backed by (public source): Raised $1.3mm pre-seed from investors like Lachy Groom (ex-Stripe), Weekend Fund (Ryan Hoover), Eric Wu (Opendoor), Terrence Rohan (Otherwise Fund), and 30+ operators and executives.

...

2.

Startup name: Spellbound (US, 2021)

Description: Let's face it: traditional email marketing is far from exciting. Low click-through rates and limited user engagement are common issues.

But what if we told you that there is a way to make email marketing more fun and interactive? Enter interactive email! With this super cool new approach, consumers can actually engage directly with the email, without ever leaving their inbox. That means they can take surveys, make purchases, leave reviews, and more - all without any extra effort on their part! For brands, this means more opportunities to create engaging content that users will actually want to interact with.

Founder(s) background: Akshaya Dinesh (CEO, Thiel Fellow, prev. Co-Founder @ Ladder)

Backed by (public source): Browder Capital, Base Case Capital, Soma Capital, Good Friends, Neo, ex-CEO of Github, Founder of Loom, Founder of Kayak, CEO of Product Hunt, COO of Notion, CEO of Warby Parker, ex-CEO of Sendgrid and more.

Further reading:

• The rise of direct-to-consumer: How businesses are taking advantage of D2C models and approaches.

That's it for the week! We'll be back in your inbox next Tuesday!

Kenneth

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