Founder Collective

Founded in 2009, Founder Collective is a venture capital firm with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an additional office in New York City. The firm specializes in seed-stage investments, primarily targeting technology-related companies across the United States. It is a Registered Investment Adviser and manages approximately $50 million in assets. Founder Collective operates several funds, including early-stage venture capital funds co-managed with Koa Labs. While the firm is open to various industries, it shows a preference for investments with an information technology component. The firm's approach is driven by a team of successful entrepreneurs who leverage their expertise to identify promising opportunities in the technology sector.

Elliot Cohen

Founder Partner

Joe DeFilippi

CFO

David Frankel

General Partner

Jack Groetzinger

Founder Partner

Amanda Herson

Seed Investor

Zach Klein

Founder Partner

Eric Paley

General Partner

Dan Sommer

Founder Partner

Brent Willess

Principal

Past deals in Recruiting

Otta

Series A in 2022
Otta is an online job portal focused on enhancing the job-seeking experience by providing personalized job recommendations tailored to individual preferences. Launched in August 2019, the platform aggregates job listings from innovative companies, including well-known names in London’s tech and service sectors. Otta enriches job listings with additional data and gathers real-time feedback from users, allowing for continuous improvement in the job search process. The portal features advanced filtering options that enable candidates to receive tailored recommendations based on their saved jobs and preferences. By prioritizing the needs of job seekers, Otta aims to facilitate meaningful employment opportunities at forward-thinking companies. Since its inception, the platform has attracted thousands of users who have shortlisted over 20,000 roles.

Brella

Seed Round in 2020
Brella Ltd. is a company that specializes in developing a networking mobile and web application designed to facilitate connections among attendees at events, conferences, and live streams. Founded in 2016 and based in Jyvaskyla, Finland, the application employs a matchmaking algorithm to help users expand their business network by identifying relevant contacts, including potential collaborators, colleagues, and investors. Brella aims to simplify the networking process, making it more efficient and effective for professionals seeking to form new high-value connections. The platform focuses on providing valuable experiences that enable users to connect with the right people at the right time and place.

Otta

Seed Round in 2020
Otta is an online job portal focused on enhancing the job-seeking experience by providing personalized job recommendations tailored to individual preferences. Launched in August 2019, the platform aggregates job listings from innovative companies, including well-known names in London’s tech and service sectors. Otta enriches job listings with additional data and gathers real-time feedback from users, allowing for continuous improvement in the job search process. The portal features advanced filtering options that enable candidates to receive tailored recommendations based on their saved jobs and preferences. By prioritizing the needs of job seekers, Otta aims to facilitate meaningful employment opportunities at forward-thinking companies. Since its inception, the platform has attracted thousands of users who have shortlisted over 20,000 roles.

Otta

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Otta is an online job portal focused on enhancing the job-seeking experience by providing personalized job recommendations tailored to individual preferences. Launched in August 2019, the platform aggregates job listings from innovative companies, including well-known names in London’s tech and service sectors. Otta enriches job listings with additional data and gathers real-time feedback from users, allowing for continuous improvement in the job search process. The portal features advanced filtering options that enable candidates to receive tailored recommendations based on their saved jobs and preferences. By prioritizing the needs of job seekers, Otta aims to facilitate meaningful employment opportunities at forward-thinking companies. Since its inception, the platform has attracted thousands of users who have shortlisted over 20,000 roles.

Trusted

Series A in 2019
Trusted, Inc. operates a digital employment platform specifically designed for nurses, facilitating their connection to flexible job opportunities in the healthcare sector. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform automates the recruitment process by enabling nurses to create and manage their resumes, credentials, and certifications digitally. It also provides real-time alerts for job openings that match their qualifications and preferences, thereby simplifying the application process. Trusted is supported by notable investors, including Craft Ventures and Texas Medical Center, which underscores its significance in the healthcare employment landscape.

Edmit

Seed Round in 2018
Edmit was founded by innovative university leaders passionate about student success. We believe students should feel empowered in the college admissions and financial aid process, and that colleges should have more effective ways to engage directly with students on pricing in order to effectively bring great students to their institution.

Rekener Inc.

Seed Round in 2017
Rekener Inc. is a customer data platform focused on business-to-business (B2B) markets, established in 2015 and located in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The company specializes in creating and maintaining a comprehensive view of customers by integrating data from various sources, including Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot. Rekener provides analytical applications that assist businesses in prioritizing resources and prospects effectively while automating key performance indicators (KPIs) to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies. As of December 2019, Rekener operates as a subsidiary of Brainshark, Inc.

Trusted

Seed Round in 2017
Trusted, Inc. operates a digital employment platform specifically designed for nurses, facilitating their connection to flexible job opportunities in the healthcare sector. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform automates the recruitment process by enabling nurses to create and manage their resumes, credentials, and certifications digitally. It also provides real-time alerts for job openings that match their qualifications and preferences, thereby simplifying the application process. Trusted is supported by notable investors, including Craft Ventures and Texas Medical Center, which underscores its significance in the healthcare employment landscape.

Troops

Series A in 2016
Troops.ai offers a salesforce automation platform designed to enhance the efficiency of sales teams by providing real-time transparency of Salesforce data. Acting as a Slackbot, it enables users to configure Salesforce reports, communicate deal wins, and access both standard and custom objects directly through Slack. This integration streamlines communication and improves the accessibility of vital sales information, facilitating better decision-making and collaboration among team members. Troops.ai has attracted investment from notable firms such as First Round Capital, Founder Collective, and Next View Ventures, among others.

Karat

Seed Round in 2015
Karat Inc., founded in 2014 and based in Seattle, Washington, specializes in technical interviewing methodologies and software. The company has pioneered the concept of Interview Engineering, conducting technical interviews for organizations seeking software engineers. Utilizing a community of Interview Engineers, Karat employs a proprietary interviewing infrastructure, standardized questions, and data-informed best practices to ensure fair and predictive interviews at scale. Their flagship product allows companies to record interviews, capture candidates' coding performances, structure feedback, and generate recommendations for hiring teams. By building a robust dataset of structured interview intelligence, Karat provides valuable hiring analytics to enhance the recruitment process for its clients.

Hickory

Seed Round in 2015
Hickory is a New York-based startup that focuses on enhancing employee training retention through a specialized application. The company’s innovative tool is designed for Sales and Customer Service teams, transforming them into knowledgeable brand experts. Utilizing a proprietary algorithm, the application predicts when employees are likely to forget their training and schedules tailored review exercises to reinforce their learning based on individual strengths and weaknesses. This approach not only improves retention but also helps businesses save time and resources that would otherwise be allocated to retraining efforts. As a fast-growing entity backed by Y-Combinator, Hickory aims to redefine training methodologies in the corporate sector.

Harvest Automation

Series C in 2013
Harvest was founded by a seasoned technology executive and a trio of robotics experts. The Company now comprises a diverse, commited team with expertise in sales and marketing, engineering (software, hardware, electrical, mechanical), project management, and business operations.

Proven

Series A in 2013
Proven is a hiring tool tailored for small businesses, providing an employment application software that simplifies the recruitment process. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the platform allows employers to manage hiring tasks directly from their smartphones or tablets. Users can post job openings on platforms like Craigslist, as well as review resumes, respond to candidates, and contact them efficiently. Proven's fully native apps for iOS and Android enhance the hiring experience by making it accessible and convenient for busy employers.

Zenreach

Seed Round in 2013
Zenreach, Inc. is a San Francisco-based company that specializes in online marketing solutions for businesses with physical locations. Established in 2011, Zenreach focuses on enhancing customer acquisition and lifetime value through its innovative Walk-Through Marketing approach. The company's offerings include Zenreach Engage, which automatically tracks customer visits and develops comprehensive customer profiles, and Zenreach Attract, designed to improve advertising performance by targeting audiences based on existing customers. Zenreach measures success through its proprietary Walk-Through Rate™, which indicates when individuals exposed to an advertisement subsequently visit a location. The company caters to a diverse clientele, including independent merchants and well-known brands, helping them establish meaningful customer relationships that drive real business results.

YesGraph

Seed Round in 2013
YesGraph can boost your company's growth with high-performance invite and referral flows that leverage social graph analysis and an optimal user interface to acquire the best new users.

Proven

Series A in 2012
Proven is a hiring tool tailored for small businesses, providing an employment application software that simplifies the recruitment process. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the platform allows employers to manage hiring tasks directly from their smartphones or tablets. Users can post job openings on platforms like Craigslist, as well as review resumes, respond to candidates, and contact them efficiently. Proven's fully native apps for iOS and Android enhance the hiring experience by making it accessible and convenient for busy employers.

Zenreach

Venture Round in 2012
Zenreach, Inc. is a San Francisco-based company that specializes in online marketing solutions for businesses with physical locations. Established in 2011, Zenreach focuses on enhancing customer acquisition and lifetime value through its innovative Walk-Through Marketing approach. The company's offerings include Zenreach Engage, which automatically tracks customer visits and develops comprehensive customer profiles, and Zenreach Attract, designed to improve advertising performance by targeting audiences based on existing customers. Zenreach measures success through its proprietary Walk-Through Rate™, which indicates when individuals exposed to an advertisement subsequently visit a location. The company caters to a diverse clientele, including independent merchants and well-known brands, helping them establish meaningful customer relationships that drive real business results.

EmployInsight

Seed Round in 2012
EmployInsight, a web-based platform for measuring and quantifying employees "soft skills" in the workplace. Using EmployInsight's products, employees and potential employees can be measured to determine where their personalities fit in with the work involved. With HireInsight, the company's first product, the focus is on measuring interview candidates.

Recurse Center

Seed Round in 2012
Recurse Center is an independent educational institution that offers a three-month, project-based retreat for programmers. It provides an environment conducive to self-directed learning, allowing participants to explore their interests in programming through hands-on projects. The program is designed to enhance self-learning skills and offers support for career development. Recurse Center operates on a free, online basis, conducting its courses in batches to facilitate collaborative learning among participants. This unique combination of a retreat experience and educational support helps programmers deepen their skills and connect with potential career opportunities.

Harvest Automation

Series B in 2011
Harvest was founded by a seasoned technology executive and a trio of robotics experts. The Company now comprises a diverse, commited team with expertise in sales and marketing, engineering (software, hardware, electrical, mechanical), project management, and business operations.

Jump Ramp

Series A in 2011
Considered one of New York City’s fastest growing mobile-first companies, Jump Ramp is the leader in delivering innovative promotions, rewards and instant winning experiences through free mobile casual gaming. Connecting consumers with our top partners in mobile gaming, commerce, branding and product discovery. We are backed by premiere VCs including SoftBank Capital, Bullpen Capital. Founders Collective and LeadEdge Capital. Our flagship app Lucktastic launched on Android in 2014 and has quickly built an engaged, enthusiastic and loyal customer base attracting nearly 10 million installs in the US on Android and iOS. Lucktastic is consistently ranked in the top 3 within the lifestyle category on the Google Play Store alongside brands like Tinder, Zillow, and Starbucks as well as top 10 respectively in the Apple Store. With a dominant social footprint that includes nearly 2 million Facebook fans, the Lucktastic brand has a reach that extends 12 million weekly unique American consumers. We have a strong focus on extending our brand and becoming a household name in the US. Jump Ramp looks to grow a network of apps and innovative content beyond our flagship app with an eye on expanding to Asia and other International markets. Jump Ramp prides itself on being a close knit team with nearly 40 employees, and looking to double in the next 18 months. We look for talent that thrives in an innovative entrepreneurial environment, is excited about consumer products that touch millions of Americans and who embrace our exciting diverse NYC culture. We’re not afraid to move fast and break things as we release, launch, iterate, update and announce - sometimes all in the same day! So if you thrive on solving problems in the mobile space that have never been tackled before, come join our team!

Recurse Center

Venture Round in 2011
Recurse Center is an independent educational institution that offers a three-month, project-based retreat for programmers. It provides an environment conducive to self-directed learning, allowing participants to explore their interests in programming through hands-on projects. The program is designed to enhance self-learning skills and offers support for career development. Recurse Center operates on a free, online basis, conducting its courses in batches to facilitate collaborative learning among participants. This unique combination of a retreat experience and educational support helps programmers deepen their skills and connect with potential career opportunities.

Harvest Automation

Series A in 2010
Harvest was founded by a seasoned technology executive and a trio of robotics experts. The Company now comprises a diverse, commited team with expertise in sales and marketing, engineering (software, hardware, electrical, mechanical), project management, and business operations.

Recurse Center

Seed Round in 2010
Recurse Center is an independent educational institution that offers a three-month, project-based retreat for programmers. It provides an environment conducive to self-directed learning, allowing participants to explore their interests in programming through hands-on projects. The program is designed to enhance self-learning skills and offers support for career development. Recurse Center operates on a free, online basis, conducting its courses in batches to facilitate collaborative learning among participants. This unique combination of a retreat experience and educational support helps programmers deepen their skills and connect with potential career opportunities.

Readyforce

Series A in 2010
Readyforce is a professional network tailored specifically for college students, enabling them to connect with peers, mentors, and alumni while accessing career-related resources. Students can share their professional information, seek advice, participate in discussions, and discover relevant events, internships, and job opportunities. On the other hand, companies can leverage Readyforce to target top college talent across the United States. They can build engaging company profiles, post job openings, and promote events, while also facilitating communication with students based on various criteria such as school and major. Readyforce also allows companies to gather insights on brand reputation and recruitment practices, transforming traditional resumes into searchable profiles. The platform is free to join, making it a valuable resource for both students and employers in their career development and talent acquisition efforts.
Spot something off? Help us improve by flagging any incorrect or outdated information. Just email us at support@teaserclub.com. Your feedback is most welcome.