Dear AlleyCorp Community,
It’s been a banner year for our team, our companies, and our industry. Despite the many challenges that various domestic and global predicaments continue to bring us, our community has the opportunity and responsibility to pursue and grow new ways for technology to improve lives across virtually every vertical. It has been incredibly exciting to see entrepreneurs and investors in New York and more broadly rise to the occasion, and we ring in 2022 knowing there is much more we can and will do together.
We are currently operating out of a $600M evergreen fund at AlleyCorp, which we are allocating across both generalist incubations and investments as well as four newly established dedicated funds across areas where we are particularly bullish. Our core team is now 16 people, each of whom brings exceptionally unusual skills, insights, experiences, and interests into the fold. Together, we made 35 new and follow-on investments and founded four new companies in 2021 - while honing in on areas of excitement and interest for this coming year.
We have long known that New York has an incredibly important role to play in the technology sector but we have really seen this come to life over the past year, particularly in some of the industries we are known for: e-commerce and consumer marketplaces, healthcare, crypto/web3, and financial technology, to name a few. We are continually reminded that the depth and breadth of talent, ideas, and opportunities here is unparalleled.
We at AlleyCorp enter 2022 with optimism and energy, ready to dive into new opportunities in partnership with the amazing founders, operators, and fellow investors in this city and beyond.
Kevin
Team expansion
We grew our team substantially this year and could not be more pleased. In addition to the new team members we’ve already announced (Aya, Omar, Tai, Jane, and Michael), we are thrilled to share that Marshall Porter and Jay Hass have joined us as Partners (more on this below). We are forging ahead in our work as a New York team of 16, with our 30 person engineering team in Montréal.
Welcoming Marshall Porter as Partner
We are so pleased to welcome Marshall to AlleyCorp as Partner. Marshall’s new role is a natural continuation of his long-time involvement in the AlleyCorp community and his longstanding career in the New York startup ecosystem more broadly (which began when he joined AlleyCorp incubation Gilt Groupe in 2010!) Most recently, Marshall was US CEO of GymPass; prior to that he served as CEO of marketplace Spring and as Chief Strategy Officer at ShopRunner. Marshall has dedicated significant time and energy as a community builder and a sought-after advisor to numerous companies both within the AlleyCorp portfolio and beyond.
In Marshall’s words, “I've long thought about moving to the investing side, but it was a question of finding the right team and the right fit. I wanted to join a team where could leverage what I've learned over the last 20 years in building and operating e-commerce businesses and marketplaces. AlleyCorp is a very unique place where I will get involved and work hands-on with founders and teams at that critical early stage, to bring all those lessons I’ve learned as an operator to bear.”
Welcoming Jay Hass as Partner & CFO
We are thrilled to welcome Jay to AlleyCorp as Partner & CFO. Jay’s responsibilities will include the firm's finance and administrative operations and strategic business initiatives. Jay also supports business and corporate development for AlleyCorp portfolio companies.
Prior to joining AlleyCorp Jay was a Partner at RRE Ventures, where he remains a strategic advisor. Earlier in his career, Jay was a Managing Director at Brown Brothers Harriman, and previously spent several years in national political campaign management. Jay graduated with a BA from Princeton University and completed the CFA Institute’s Investment Management program at Harvard Business School.
Jay is CEO of Ionic Recording Company; serves as a director of Bridgetown Holdings Ltd. and Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd.; and is a strategic advisor to Raftr, Inc., Decode_M and the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation. He is a former director of the J.P. Morgan China Region Fund Inc. and Cheetah Korea Value Fund, and is a board member emeritus of the Tory Burch Foundation and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Jay has completed 22 marathons, including multiple finishes at Boston and Death Valley.
In Jay’s words, "From our first conversation many years ago, I knew that Kevin had both a compelling vision and a unique platform to build transformative new businesses. Having collaborated ad hoc on several successful deals since then, I'm thrilled to join the AlleyCorp team as we enter our dynamic next phase of growth."
New AlleyCorp Funds
In addition to our ongoing capital deployment as a $600M evergreen fund investing across all categories, going forward we will also be carving out dedicated and focused capital toward specific verticals of interest.
AlleyCorp Crypto Fund: AC Crypto
We launched our crypto and web3 fund, AC Crypto, last quarter to double down on the work we have been doing in crypto and blockchain since 2015. AC Crypto will be investing $40M over the next few years and will support the next generation of entrepreneurs in this category. Cameron Porter, a longtime member of our team, has moved into the role of Head of Crypto to lead this work.
AlleyCorp Social Impact Fund
We will be launching our social impact fund, a $25M initial commitment to civic, social, and environmental issues, in Q1 2022. Through the social impact fund we’ll be founding and funding nonprofit and for-profit entities across myriad categories, with an emphasis on civic engagement and social justice, education, climate change, and mental health & mindfulness. We have hired an incredible Partner who has long been active in the New York nonprofit and tech ecosystems to lead this fund and we will be introducing her to our community very shortly.
AlleyCorp Healthcare Fund
We announced our $100M healthcare fund in Q4 2021. In addition to our core healthcare team led by Brenton Fargnoli, MD and Jeff De Flavio, MD, we are pleased to welcome Bridget Martell, MD and Dr. Anil Rustgil, MD as Venture Partner and Senior Healthcare Advisor respectively.
Welcoming Bridget Martell, MD as a Healthcare Venture Partner
We are very pleased to welcome physician and seasoned biotech executive Bridget Martell to AlleyCorp as a Healthcare Venture Partner. Recently appointed CEO of Artizan Biosciences, Bridget has brought extensive scientific acumen to her leadership roles and has been a pivotal leader or major contributor in the success of six marketed products: Kadcyla®, Elelyso®, Intermezzo®, Ogivri®, as well as secondary indications for Pradaxa® and Sutent®. She has held leadership and C-suite executive roles at companies including Kura Oncology and Juniper Pharmaceuticals. Martell is also currently a member of the Board of Directors at Achieve Life Sciences.
Welcoming Dr. Anil Rustgi, MD as Senior Healthcare Advisor
We are thrilled to have Dr. Anil K. Rustgi, MD joining our team as a Senior Healthcare Advisor. Anil is the Interim Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine at Columbia University and the Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
AlleyCorp Robotics Fund
We announced our $30M robotics fund in partnership with Eliot Horowitz last year, and will be making our first investments in 2022.
2021 AlleyCorp Incubations
Transcend Therapeutics discovers, develops, and delivers the next generation of psychedelic medicine to work towards a world in which people no longer suffer from neuropsychiatric disease. The Transcend leadership team includes the first scientist to receive federal funding for clinical psychedelic research in 54 years, a drug development executive with significant contributions to nine FDA approvals of New Drug Applications and 5 major M&A deals worth $3.5 billion, and former AlleyCorp teammate Blake Mandell as Co-Founder and President. We will be announcing Transcend’s substantial Series A later this quarter.
Mixo is a new digital creator platform for the $1.7T food market, where anyone can easily create and distribute content, build a following, monetize, and find community. We are building the new food network for the long tail, enabling anyone across the world to build their own food channel and in turn revolutionizing the way that consumers interact with food content and e-commerce. Mixo is currently hiring for both technical and non-technical roles - please reach out if you’re interested in learning more.
SynapseBio
SynapseBio is a new neurobiomarker platform for dementia and other neurological disease. Sitting at the intersection of fundamental biology and value-based care solution development, SynapseBio’s mission is to change the approach to novel drug development and address the medical complexity of dementia in all forms, including the testing procedures and validation processes. We are actively building out the leadership team and of course welcome inbound from anyone interested in learning more.
Stealth: Healthcare x Fintech NewCo
We are launching a new company at the intersection of healthcare and financial technology to bring better planning tools and infrastructure to healthcare professionals. Despite their critical importance, healthcare practitioners still face significant personal liabilities and financial sacrifices in carrying out their day to day work. Our Newco will bring to market a first of its kind support for this critical population. We are actively building out the leadership team and excited to speak with leaders that share our mission.
Q4 2021 Raises
Everphone, the Berlin-based smartphone-as-a-service company, raised a $200M Series C. Read more in TechCrunch.
Quinio, a Mexico-based e-commerce aggregator, raised $20M in Seed funding. Read more in TechCrunch.
Valon, a tech-enabled residential mortgage servicer, announced a $43.9 million investment, which follows a $50M Series A round that closed in February. Read more in BusinessWire.
Smallhold, the farming technology company that provides subscription-based growing systems for mushrooms, raised a $25M Series A. Read more in Crain’s and Forbes.
Mosaic Foods, a plant-based food company, raised $6M in Seed Funding. Read more in TechCrunch.
Recent Press
Kevin was featured on the StrictlyVC podcast, where he spoke about the opportunity in healthcare investing.
AlleyCorp portfolio founders and leaders Andrew Wang, Jonathan Hsu, Eric Ho, Andrew Myers, Kunaal Naik, Nisarg Patel, Manav Sevak, and Matt Breuer received Forbes 30 Under 30 recognition.
Phone-as-a-service pioneer Everphone announced its expansion into the US.
Tech:NYC, the nonprofit advocacy group that represents the New York technology sector (where Kevin Ryan is a longtime Board member), was featured in Crain’s Business.
Real Estate Weekly featured AlleyCorp incubation Reside Health in a recent profile about concierge medicine.
Kevin spoke to TechCrunch about AlleyCorp’s further investment in healthcare.
AlleyCorp continues to catalyze innovation with top universities and resource organizations, including partnerships with the Math Meets Bio Columbia Accelerator and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Kevin also joined the Board of the Blavatink Fund at Yale.