True Ventures

True Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California, founded in 2005. The firm specializes in early-stage technology investments, focusing on seed and Series A funding for startups across various sectors, including consumer internet, software, hardware, health, and emerging technologies. True Ventures manages over $2.8 billion in capital and has supported more than 300 companies, contributing to the creation of over 25,000 jobs globally. The firm's investment strategy typically involves contributions ranging from $0.25 million to $3 million, aiming for ownership stakes between 20 and 25 percent. True Ventures is recognized for its commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and providing a supportive environment for founders, emphasizing personal and professional growth through its True Platform. The firm has achieved notable exits, including investments in companies that have been acquired by major corporations or gone public.

Dave Balter

Venture Partner

Phil Black

Co-Founder

Jon Callaghan

Managing Partner

Caroline Ciaramitaro

Associate

Gus Coldebella

Partner

Tony Conrad

Partner

Ann Crady Weiss

Venture Partner

Sahiti Enjeti

Analyst

Amy Errett

Partner

Ulrike Kellmereit

CFO

Om Malik

Partner

Fiona McCarthy

Principal

Michael Montano

Venture Partner

John O'Connell

Senior Associate

Natasha Sharma

Principal

Rohit Sharma

Partner

Jim Stewart

COO

James Stewart

COO and Partner

Priscilla Tyler

Vice President

Ann Weiss

Partner

Ariel Winton

Principal

Past deals in Publishing

Submittable

Series C in 2022
Submittable, Inc. is a cloud-based submission management platform that enables organizations to curate and manage digital content submissions, applications, and media. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Missoula, Montana, with an additional office in New York, Submittable provides tools for publishers, competitions, academic institutions, and grant management, allowing users to accept, review, and make decisions on various types of submissions, including documents, audio, and video. The platform streamlines the submission process, making it easier for organizations to manage and track submissions through a web and mobile application. Submittable has facilitated over 10 million submissions for thousands of clients globally, reflecting its mission to improve the submission experience for users in diverse fields.

Academia.edu

Series D in 2022
Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. It aims to accelerate the world's research. Academics use Academia.edu to share their research, monitor deep analytics around the impact of their research, and track the research of academics they follow. Over 132 million academics have signed up to Academia.edu, adding 25 million papers. Academia.edu attracts over 52 million unique visitors a month. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Quantum Art

Series A in 2022
Quantum Art is the first platform focused solely on photographers and their work, curating and dropping NFT collections and making NFT photography accessible for both artists and collectors.

Automattic

Series D in 2019
Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com and WordPress.com VIP, the cloud version of WordPress. Automattic hosts and supports all WordPress.com sites ensuring that there is continuous and strategic development of the software available to its users. Automattic also supports WordPress.com VIP, a premium service designed for large-scale enterprises. WordPress.com VIP combines the benefits of WordPress.com and the ability to run custom code. In addition, WordPress.com VIP offers companies a robust CMS and 24/7 service.

Submittable

Series B in 2019
Submittable, Inc. is a cloud-based submission management platform that enables organizations to curate and manage digital content submissions, applications, and media. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Missoula, Montana, with an additional office in New York, Submittable provides tools for publishers, competitions, academic institutions, and grant management, allowing users to accept, review, and make decisions on various types of submissions, including documents, audio, and video. The platform streamlines the submission process, making it easier for organizations to manage and track submissions through a web and mobile application. Submittable has facilitated over 10 million submissions for thousands of clients globally, reflecting its mission to improve the submission experience for users in diverse fields.

npm

Series A in 2018
npm, Inc. is a package manager specifically designed for the JavaScript programming language, facilitating the installation, management, and publication of shared JavaScript code for both front-end and back-end applications. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Oakland, California, npm provides a registry that supports the JavaScript community by allowing developers to publish and share open-source modules. In addition to its core services, npm offers paid products for the storage of private packages, enabling developers to manage confidential code securely. The platform serves as a crucial resource for discovering, sharing, and reusing code, thereby enhancing collaboration and efficiency within the developer community.

Submittable

Series A in 2017
Submittable, Inc. is a cloud-based submission management platform that enables organizations to curate and manage digital content submissions, applications, and media. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Missoula, Montana, with an additional office in New York, Submittable provides tools for publishers, competitions, academic institutions, and grant management, allowing users to accept, review, and make decisions on various types of submissions, including documents, audio, and video. The platform streamlines the submission process, making it easier for organizations to manage and track submissions through a web and mobile application. Submittable has facilitated over 10 million submissions for thousands of clients globally, reflecting its mission to improve the submission experience for users in diverse fields.

Madefire

Series B in 2016
Madefire, Inc. is a storytelling platform based in Berkeley, California, that offers an innovative mobile application for reading and sharing stories through an interactive format. Established in 2011, the company has developed a proprietary Motion Book Tool, allowing creators to combine words, images, motion, and sound, moving beyond the limitations of traditional comic book formats. The Madefire app provides a rich catalog of digital comics and graphic novels, featuring original titles from notable storytellers, including comic book legend Dave Gibbons. By leveraging the interactive capabilities of mobile devices and the web, Madefire aims to redefine how stories are created, experienced, and shared, offering users a continuous flow of new episodes and an engaging reading experience.

npm

Series A in 2015
npm, Inc. is a package manager specifically designed for the JavaScript programming language, facilitating the installation, management, and publication of shared JavaScript code for both front-end and back-end applications. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Oakland, California, npm provides a registry that supports the JavaScript community by allowing developers to publish and share open-source modules. In addition to its core services, npm offers paid products for the storage of private packages, enabling developers to manage confidential code securely. The platform serves as a crucial resource for discovering, sharing, and reusing code, thereby enhancing collaboration and efficiency within the developer community.

Storehouse

Series A in 2014
Storehouse is an online multimedia story-sharing platform that enables users to create and share narratives through photos, videos, and text. The application allows individuals to combine various media elements to tell their stories compellingly and creatively. Recognized for its innovative design and functionality, Storehouse received the TechCrunch Crunchie Award for Best Mobile App in 2015 and the Apple Design Award in 2014. Through its platform, Storehouse aims to enhance the storytelling experience by providing tools that facilitate the seamless integration of visual and written content.

Teachers Pay Teachers

Venture Round in 2014
Teachers Pay Teachers (or TpT, as they call it) is a community of over 4 million educators who come together to share their work, insights, and inspiration with each other. TpT is the world’s first and largest open marketplace where teachers share, sell, and buy original educational resources. There are more than 2 million available resources for every aspect of PreK-12 education. In the last year alone, two in three U.S. teachers downloaded a teaching resource from TpT. They're looking for engineers, designers, product managers, community and customer support specialists with a deep sense of mission to support educators around the world.

Automattic

Series C in 2014
Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com and WordPress.com VIP, the cloud version of WordPress. Automattic hosts and supports all WordPress.com sites ensuring that there is continuous and strategic development of the software available to its users. Automattic also supports WordPress.com VIP, a premium service designed for large-scale enterprises. WordPress.com VIP combines the benefits of WordPress.com and the ability to run custom code. In addition, WordPress.com VIP offers companies a robust CMS and 24/7 service.

Quarterly

Series A in 2014
Quarterly, Inc. is a subscription-based service established in 2011 and located in West Hollywood, California. The company offers a unique platform that allows users to receive curated physical gifts by mail from influential contributors, such as prominent figures in design, entrepreneurship, and technology. This service aims to enhance the connection between subscribers and the influencers they admire, bridging the gap between online interactions and tangible experiences. Unlike traditional subscription models that deliver content in digital formats, Quarterly provides subscribers with physical items every three months that reflect the curated tastes and insights of their chosen contributors. This innovative approach emphasizes the value of real-world connections and storytelling through carefully selected gifts.

npm

Seed Round in 2014
npm, Inc. is a package manager specifically designed for the JavaScript programming language, facilitating the installation, management, and publication of shared JavaScript code for both front-end and back-end applications. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Oakland, California, npm provides a registry that supports the JavaScript community by allowing developers to publish and share open-source modules. In addition to its core services, npm offers paid products for the storage of private packages, enabling developers to manage confidential code securely. The platform serves as a crucial resource for discovering, sharing, and reusing code, thereby enhancing collaboration and efficiency within the developer community.

Storehouse

Seed Round in 2014
Storehouse is an online multimedia story-sharing platform that enables users to create and share narratives through photos, videos, and text. The application allows individuals to combine various media elements to tell their stories compellingly and creatively. Recognized for its innovative design and functionality, Storehouse received the TechCrunch Crunchie Award for Best Mobile App in 2015 and the Apple Design Award in 2014. Through its platform, Storehouse aims to enhance the storytelling experience by providing tools that facilitate the seamless integration of visual and written content.

Madefire

Series A in 2013
Madefire, Inc. is a storytelling platform based in Berkeley, California, that offers an innovative mobile application for reading and sharing stories through an interactive format. Established in 2011, the company has developed a proprietary Motion Book Tool, allowing creators to combine words, images, motion, and sound, moving beyond the limitations of traditional comic book formats. The Madefire app provides a rich catalog of digital comics and graphic novels, featuring original titles from notable storytellers, including comic book legend Dave Gibbons. By leveraging the interactive capabilities of mobile devices and the web, Madefire aims to redefine how stories are created, experienced, and shared, offering users a continuous flow of new episodes and an engaging reading experience.

Academia.edu

Series B in 2013
Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. It aims to accelerate the world's research. Academics use Academia.edu to share their research, monitor deep analytics around the impact of their research, and track the research of academics they follow. Over 132 million academics have signed up to Academia.edu, adding 25 million papers. Academia.edu attracts over 52 million unique visitors a month. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Madefire

Venture Round in 2013
Madefire, Inc. is a storytelling platform based in Berkeley, California, that offers an innovative mobile application for reading and sharing stories through an interactive format. Established in 2011, the company has developed a proprietary Motion Book Tool, allowing creators to combine words, images, motion, and sound, moving beyond the limitations of traditional comic book formats. The Madefire app provides a rich catalog of digital comics and graphic novels, featuring original titles from notable storytellers, including comic book legend Dave Gibbons. By leveraging the interactive capabilities of mobile devices and the web, Madefire aims to redefine how stories are created, experienced, and shared, offering users a continuous flow of new episodes and an engaging reading experience.

Academia.edu

Series A in 2011
Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. It aims to accelerate the world's research. Academics use Academia.edu to share their research, monitor deep analytics around the impact of their research, and track the research of academics they follow. Over 132 million academics have signed up to Academia.edu, adding 25 million papers. Academia.edu attracts over 52 million unique visitors a month. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Bandcamp

Series A in 2010
Bandcamp is a publishing platform for musicians. Bandcamp both hosts homepages and provides a space for musicians with existing websites to stream full music tracks and albums. It also provides the platform for fanbase management and statistics, digital distribution, search engine optimization, web programming, audio transcoding, server scalability and internet marketing.

20x200

Series A in 2010
20x200 is a New York City-based e-commerce platform that aims to make art collecting accessible to design-minded consumers. The site offers a curated collection of affordable, limited-edition, exhibition-quality prints, each accompanied by an artist-signed certificate of authenticity. Collaborating with a diverse range of artists, from emerging talents to established figures, the platform introduces new exclusive editions weekly, with prices ranging from $24 to $10,000. By focusing on limited-edition prints that utilize archival pigment inks on cotton rag paper, 20x200 enables art enthusiasts to acquire unique, museum-quality works at accessible price points.

20x200

Series A in 2009
20x200 is a New York City-based e-commerce platform that aims to make art collecting accessible to design-minded consumers. The site offers a curated collection of affordable, limited-edition, exhibition-quality prints, each accompanied by an artist-signed certificate of authenticity. Collaborating with a diverse range of artists, from emerging talents to established figures, the platform introduces new exclusive editions weekly, with prices ranging from $24 to $10,000. By focusing on limited-edition prints that utilize archival pigment inks on cotton rag paper, 20x200 enables art enthusiasts to acquire unique, museum-quality works at accessible price points.

VoxPop Network

Series B in 2009
VoxPop Network operates a pop culture gaming platform that enables online publishers to transform their existing content into engaging and relevant games centered around current events and trending topics. By collaborating with top publishers, VoxPop facilitates the creation and distribution of games that resonate with audiences, enhancing user engagement and interaction. The platform serves as a bridge between media content and gaming, allowing publishers to expand their reach and offer innovative experiences to their users.

Automattic

Series B in 2008
Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com and WordPress.com VIP, the cloud version of WordPress. Automattic hosts and supports all WordPress.com sites ensuring that there is continuous and strategic development of the software available to its users. Automattic also supports WordPress.com VIP, a premium service designed for large-scale enterprises. WordPress.com VIP combines the benefits of WordPress.com and the ability to run custom code. In addition, WordPress.com VIP offers companies a robust CMS and 24/7 service.

VoxPop Network

Series A in 2007
VoxPop Network operates a pop culture gaming platform that enables online publishers to transform their existing content into engaging and relevant games centered around current events and trending topics. By collaborating with top publishers, VoxPop facilitates the creation and distribution of games that resonate with audiences, enhancing user engagement and interaction. The platform serves as a bridge between media content and gaming, allowing publishers to expand their reach and offer innovative experiences to their users.

Surphace

Series A in 2005
Surphace, formerly known as Sphere, specializes in contextual content tools designed to enhance the online reading experience by connecting text, video, photos, and advertisements. The company's offerings include related content widgets and the proprietary Content Genome, a patent-pending technology that automates the delivery of relevant content without the need for a predefined taxonomy or extensive training. This enables online publishers to engage their audiences more effectively, resulting in increased site visit duration and page views, while also generating new revenue streams. Surphace's technology is currently integrated into over 150,000 websites, reaching more than 1.2 billion article pages monthly. The integration process for publishers is efficient, requiring minimal time and no additional metadata, allowing for seamless adoption. Surphace caters to a diverse clientele, ranging from major publishers to independent blogs, both in the United States and internationally.
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