At KingsCrowd, we want to be part of the democratization of startup investing. We also want to do what we can to uplift underrepresented founders. To those goals, we have put together all the KingsCrowd deals and founder profiles from August 2021 that feature traditionally underrepresented founders.
Deals to Watch
Prep to Your Door
Prep To Your Door is a closed-loop meal kit delivery service providing healthy, plant-based meals in reusable glass jars to customers in Austin and Houston, Texas. Prep To Your Door is playing to several growing trends, including the rise of meal kit and grocery delivery, a renewed interest in healthy eating, and a growing concern about the environmental impact of single-use plastics. The company posted more than 100% year-over-year revenue growth in 2020 and continues to welcome new customers from purely organic marketing channels. Faiez Rana and Heather Emerson founded Prep To Your Door in February 2018.
Dims.
Dims. is a direct-to-consumer, design-focused furniture company partnering with independent designers to create stylish couches, tables, and more. These artistic pieces are sold to consumers via the Dims. website, which emphasizes the perspective of each designer and the limited-edition nature of their creations. The company is also focused on modernizing the furniture industry with transparent supply chains, almost made-to-order production cycles, and reduced markups. The company is cutting out the big-box mystery of the furniture industry and giving customers an insight into the journey of their furniture all the way from design to delivery. Eugene Kim founded Dims in March 2017.
Actipulse Neuroscience
Actipulse Neuroscience has developed a proprietary neuromodulation device to treat major depressive disorder. The company began by offering its device for in-hospital use but now intends to bring the treatment into individual’s homes. The at-home device is a simple headpiece that the user wears twice a day over a time period to treat their depression. The device transmits information to the user’s doctor, who can monitor the treatments to ensure there are no issues or side effects. Adrien Chatillon founded Actipulse Neuroscience in June 2019.
Arrow AI
Arrow AI by Custom Social hopes to save the day for small businesses at their wits’ end with Facebook ads. The company’s simple Google Chrome browser extension layers on top of brands’ Facebook ads manager, leveraging an extensive data set of user interests to recommend innovative audience targeting strategies. For just $9 a month (or $49/month for larger teams), small businesses can run ad campaigns at 80% accuracy. Rolan Reichel and Pablo Munoz De Cote founded Arrow AI by Custom Social in January 2019.
Neutral Deals
Baby Barista
Baby Barista is a Keurig-like machine that helps parents make formula bottles for their babies. The elegant machine can dispense bottles at precise temperatures and sizes with the touch of a button, either on the front of the machine or through the Baby Barista mobile app. It’s a high-quality, elegant product that meets an obvious need for parents, and Baby Barista’s founder is an excellent spokesperson with a very compelling origin story. Cara Armstrong founded Baby Barista in October 2014.
The Good Kitchen
The Good Kitchen aims to pair the convenience of ready-made frozen meals with the health benefits of whole veggies and proteins. The company offers healthy prepared meals in individual servings, shipped directly to consumers’ doors and ready to eat after a few minutes in the microwave. The Good Kitchen has meal plans for a variety of healthy diets, including paleo, vegetarian, keto, Whole30, and more. All of The Good Kitchen’s ingredients are sourced from sustainable, organic farms. Amber Lewis founded The Good Kitchen in November 2011.
Iris
Iris allows users to create profiles and sync their accounts with their existing brokerage accounts in both newer apps like Robinhood and Webull and traditional players like Fidelity. Users can follow other members in real time and are given the opportunity to make the same trades as the people they’re following. Brian Schardt founded Iris in September 2020.
Eyetamins
Eyetamins is marshalling the power of natural, ancient remedies like lutein, zeaxanthin, and Tibetan sea buckthorn to support modern eyes. The company has developed multiple treatments and supplements for treating eye strain, macular degeneration, and other visual conditions. Its ingredients are harvested through fair-trade practices and have been demonstrated through research to alleviate symptoms of eye disease. Eyetamins offers dietary supplements like sea serry, blue blocker, and vitaleyes sold direct-to-consumer through Amazon and Shopify, with each bottle holding a 30 day supply. Kaushal Kulkarni founded Eyetamins in May 2019.
Founder Profiles
Hylio
Hylio has designed drones and software, namely AgroDrones and AgroSol Ground Control software, to help eliminate human error and optimize crop yield. We reached out to one of Hylio’s four co-founders, Arthur Erickson, to learn about precision agriculture and the future role of robots in the agricultural industry.
Everybody Water
Everybody Water sells clean water in cartons instead of plastic bottles, donating a portion of its profits to nonprofits working to give more people access to clean, running water. We reached out to co-founder Kimberly Reilly to learn about the inspiration for the company and its goals for the future.
Amplio.ai
Amplio.ai has created an AI-powered platform to help employees maintain mental and physical health. We reached out to co-founder and CEO Trug Tran to learn the origins of the company and how AI can help people in the future.
Actipulse Neuroscience
Actipulse Neuroscience has adopted neuromodulation in order to help as many patients as it can. The company has developed a patent-pending technology that uses neuromodulation to treat patients with major depressive disorder right at home. We reached out to CEO Adrien Châtillon to learn more about the company’s goals and how investors can help.
