AlleyCorp in Q4 and What's Ahead for 2025
As we close out 2024, we have many exciting things in store for the year ahead including the opening of our new building and a new Deep Tech summit.
2024 represented another standout year for us at AlleyCorp - both in the investments we made, and in the ways we hope to build an even stronger tech ecosystem in New York and across the country.
This year, we deployed just under $100M in capital across our portfolio, which included 19 new investments and one of the biggest bets we’ve made in AI through our incubation of Radical AI.
We also achieved a number of meaningful portfolio milestones with two companies reaching unicorn status (Altana and Blueground), the successful exit of Meetup (a company that we first acquired in 2020), and nine new investments in healthcare alone (making us the most active early-stage investor in that industry).
Alongside our incubation and investing work, I’m also incredibly proud of our team for the impact they continue to make as thought leaders and true changemakers.
In 2024, we launched our $1M Peerless pitch competition which resulted in our investment in Halo Braid, an automated hair braiding robotics solution for stylists, founded by Yinka Ogunbiyi. We’re excited for all that Peerless can do in better supporting diverse founders.
We also made significant progress on our new building in Soho - capturing our vision of a new VC hub for New York tech - as well as launching our first DOC: Truth in Medicine summit (which you can read more about in the sections below).
Just as we celebrate that historic growth, in 2025 we’re excited to unveil our newest initiative called Deep Tech New York (DTNY). Our inspiration for DTNY is to champion the Northeast’s contributions to the deep tech ecosystem, built around an inaugural summit that will be hosted in NYC this upcoming Nov/Dec.
We hope this community, which will include smaller satellite events and gatherings throughout the year, will better unite the incredible leadership that continues to emerge in New York and the East Coast across robotics, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, materials science, energy transition, and more.
Please reach out if you are interested in getting involved.
New Investments in Q4
AlleyCorp led World Class Health’s $8M seed with a number of reputable investors joining in the mission: LifeX Ventures, Joyance Partners, City Light Capital, Vivek Garipalli (Founder of Clover Health), and Munjal Shah (Founder of Hippocratic AI).
World Class Health empowers employees and their families to overcome geographic, financial, and informational barriers to access the top 1% of care all around the world.
Portfolio Fundraises in Q4
Ualá is now one of the most valuable startups in Latin America following their $300M Series E round led by Allianz X at a $2.75B valuation. New investors include: Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Foundation, angel investor Alan Howard, Mexican family office Rodina, and Claure Group.
Following our pre-seed investment last year, AlleyCorp was excited to participate in Alchemy’s $31M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Notable angel investor and basketball great Magic Johnson, as well as former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, also participated in the round. With this new funding, Alchemy will have the resources it needs to reach 20 new safety net clinics by the end of the year.
Stepful announced its $31.5M Series B led by Oak HC/FT with backing from AlleyCorp, Y Combinator, Reach Capital, and others. Stepful has now grown from 50 students in its first year to 30,000 enrollees in 2024.
Agentio announced its $12M Series A led by Benchmark with investments coming from AlleyCorp, Craft Ventures, and others. With the new funding, Agentio aims to scale its marketplace for YouTubers and bolster its AI tech.
Recent & Upcoming Events
Nonprofit ENG(INE)
As part of our civic commitment, AlleyCorp created the Nonprofit ENG(INE) to offer $1M in tech engineering support to four deserving nonprofits that are solving key issues across the country. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with our 4 awardees: Planned Parenthood, Recidiviz, Upsolve, and Mobile Pathways.
You can read more about each project and the tech stacks we'll be designing and developing here.
DOC
In October, AlleyCorp hosted our inaugural DOC: Truth in Medicine summit, in partnership with John Battelle and Jordan Shlain, MD.
The weekend was filled with an incredible lineup of speakers (including Eric Verdin, Karl R. Pfleger, Vinod Khosla, Arjun Desai, Leonard Zon, and more) highlighting new discoveries, actionable insights, and innovative technology that can help reshape the way we approach longevity sciences and health.
Peerless
On April 3rd, AlleyCorp and Management Leadership for Tomorrow will host the final pitches for our 2025 $1M Peerless pitch competition at Google's NYC HQ. This year, we continued to see amazing support for Peerless' mission with more than 500 founders submitting applications.
Thanks to Pillsbury, JPMorgan, and Citrin Cooperman for their partnership in the program.
Team Expansion
We’re excited to welcome Kenneth Auchenberg as a Partner joining the AlleyCorp team, where he’ll focus on investing and incubating in AI, developer tools, and digital infrastructure.
With extensive experience at Stripe and Microsoft, as well as spending the last several years angel investing and advising startups, Kenneth will be an integral addition to our team as we continue to invest in founders who are building for developers.
We’re also thrilled to announce Madeline Spates as Director of Special Projects at AlleyCorp, where she will focus on experiential events and brand extensions that drive community and growth.
Prior to AlleyCorp, Madeline led partnerships and marketing initiatives for Air Mail and Artsy, building business development and sponsorship opportunities for the digital platforms.
AlleyCorp in the News
“He’s rightfully earned the title of the ‘Godfather’ of the New York tech.” - Fortune
AlleyCorp was featured in Fortune’s recent piece on the history of VC in New York. The article highlighted the beginnings of New York’s booming startup and venture scene.
“A founder’s main job is to build up an incredible team and have them work well together….Having the right people is everything.”
Kevin was profiled by Inc. Magazine as part of their year-end Best in Business Awards for 2024. Throughout the story, he shares his top advice for founders as well as the outlook of VC in 2025.
AlleyCorp was recognized as the #1 Most Active Early-Stage Investor in HSBC’s Annual Venture Healthcare Report.
“The transition stage from concept to commercialization is notoriously challenging, and so that is where there can often be the most need from a founder's perspective."
Brannon Jones was highlighted on Business Insider’s list of Rising Stars in VC!
“There’s plenty of evidence that MA offers big market opportunities, and the plans that drop off will leave an opening for the best-run plans to win.”
Bill Georges penned an op-ed for MedCity News, outlining his thoughts on Medicare Advantage and how plans that embrace technological and operational innovation will succeed.
Tanya Beja joined leaders across VC at this year's J.P. Morgan Innovation Economy Summit to discuss the ways AI and tech can fundamentally add value to startups and the stakeholders involved.
California Wildfires
Our hearts go out to all those affected by the recent fires in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, especially Justin Dawe (founder and CEO of Earth Force) who shared this chilling post on LinkedIn after his aunt, uncle, and cousins lost their home to the Eaton Fire.
Portfolio Companies in the News
Carmoola was named to Bloomberg’s list of the top 25 UK startups to watch.
CNET highlighted the launch of Eyebot’s first self-serve vision kiosks in Boston through a partnership with Zenni Optical.
Aescape was awarded a top honor in tech as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024.
ShopMy was named to The Information’s list of the top 50 most promising startups in 2024.
Avo was the winner of Fierce Healthcare's Innovation Award for Clinical Information Management.
Agentio and ShopMy were both featured on Business Insider’s list of the top creator economy startups to watch in 2024.
368 Broome Street
Space is continuing to fill up at our new office building in New York (368 Broome Street), set to open later this year. If you or your company are interested in workspace options including desk rentals, half floor leases, or full floor leases, please indicate your interest here and a member of our team will be in touch.