Category Visionaries

Gary Calnan, CEO & Co-Founder of CisLunar: $5.7 Million Raised to Build the Future of In-Space Manufacturing

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Gary Calnan, CEO & Co-Founder of CisLunar, a space tech company that's raised $5.7 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Passion for Space: Gary’s lifelong interest in space led him to found CisLunar in 2017, focusing on industrializing space and creating sustainable human presence beyond Earth.
Addressing Space Debris: CisLunar tackles the growing problem of space debris by processing it into valuable metals for in-space manufacturing, transforming an environmental hazard into an economic resource.
Government Support: Winning their first NASA SBIR contract in 2021, CisLunar has also secured funding from the Space Force, DARPA, and the ISS National Lab, highlighting strong government backing.
Innovative Power Conversion: CisLunar developed a power converter originally for their own use, which has evolved into a commercial product with applications across various in-space systems.
Market Focus: The company positions itself as a leader in high-power processing for satellites and in-space manufacturing, aiming to be a foundational player in the industrial space economy.
Survival and Adaptation: During tough market conditions, CisLunar took on contract engineering projects aligned with their strategic goals, showcasing their resilience and adaptability.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
 
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co

Hans Elstner, CEO & Founder of Rooom: $25 Million Raised to Power the Future of Enterprise Metaverse

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Hans Elstner, CEO & Founder of Rooom, an enterprise metaverse platform that's raised over $25 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Early Challenges: Hans started Rooom in 2016, spending three years developing the software before launching. Convincing stakeholders and refining the product were significant early hurdles.
First Major Client: Securing the first big customer involved numerous visits and extensive persuasion, ultimately landing a six-figure deal that validated Rooom’s value proposition.
Expanding Vertical Focus: Initially targeting marketing, Rooom now serves multiple verticals including training, onboarding, and virtual events, adapting to the needs of various departments within larger enterprises.
Go-To-Market Strategy: After initially attempting to enter multiple global markets simultaneously, Rooom refocused on select European countries and the US, finding this approach more manageable and effective.
Product-Led Growth: Rooom emphasizes a product-led growth strategy, ensuring their 3D technology is user-friendly and addresses clear ROI metrics for customers, complemented by thought leadership and storytelling.
Pandemic Impact: The pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual events and 3D solutions, significantly boosting Rooom’s growth and reducing the need for extensive educational efforts about the technology.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
 
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
 

Nikola Borisov, CEO & Co-Founder of Deep Infra: $9 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Model Hosting

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Nikola Borisov, CEO & Co-Founder of Deep Infra, an AI company that has raised $9 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Inception and Focus: Deep Infra was founded in September 2022, focusing on hosting top open source AI models and providing them through a simple API.
Market Demand Shift: The company pivoted focus to large language models after the release of ChatGPT, driven by increased demand in the AI space.
Customer Base: Currently, most customers are startups integrating AI into their products, with medium and large enterprises slower to adopt.
Competitive Edge: Deep Infra differentiates by offering cost-effective, easy-to-use access to open source AI models, allowing customers to fine-tune models as needed.
AI Market Dynamics: Nikola sees the AI field as healthy and innovative, with continuous releases of new models from major players like Microsoft and Meta.
Fundraising Insights: Fundraising is a necessary part of the entrepreneurial journey, requiring the ability to attract smart investors aligned with the company's vision.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
 
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co

Meredith Sandland, CEO of Empower Delivery: $6 Million Raised to Power the Future of Food Delivery For Restaurants

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Meredith Sandland, CEO of Empower Delivery, a restaurant tech company that has raised $6 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Unique Founding Story: Empower Delivery is a spin-out from Clustertruck, the largest and most profitable delivery kitchen in the US, providing an innovative restaurant order-to-fulfillment platform.
Industry Insights: The restaurant industry is late to the digitization journey, unlike sectors like travel and retail. Empower Delivery offers a fully digital native experience from order to fulfillment.
Target Market: Empower Delivery serves restaurants with significant delivery volumes, focusing on those doing hundreds of orders a day from a single location, rather than categorizing by SMB or enterprise.
Thought Leadership: Meredith is a recognized industry thought leader, having written two books on restaurant delivery and hosting a popular podcast in the space.
Competitive Landscape: Empower Delivery aims to transform delivery economics by eliminating third-party fees, making delivery more profitable for restaurants and affordable for consumers.
Future Vision: Meredith envisions a future with increased delivery penetration, potentially transforming real estate and restaurant infrastructure in the US, similar to trends seen in other countries.
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
 
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co

Ryan Fink, CEO & Co-Founder of Digs: $14 Million Raised to Power the Future of AI Collaboration for Builders

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Ryan Fink, CEO & Co-Founder at Digs, an AI collaboration platform for builders that has raised $14 Million in funding.
 
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
 
Early Adoption of AR and Computer Vision: Ryan's initial foray into entrepreneurship involved leveraging emerging technologies like augmented reality and computer vision, which eventually led to the strategic acquisition of his first company due to its innovative approach.
Leveraging Past Learnings: The experience and lessons learned from his first venture significantly shaped Ryan's approach in his subsequent startups, particularly in how he managed internal communication and team scaling.
Strategic Exits: Ryan's experience with negotiating exits for his companies has been characterized by a mix of strategic foresight and transparency, ensuring that acquisitions not only provided financial returns but also respected the vision and culture of his startups.
Patents as a Strategic Asset: Holding over 30 patents, Ryan emphasized the importance of intellectual property not just for defensive purposes but also as a value-add for partnerships with large corporations which may be susceptible to patent litigations.
Innovative Use of Technology in Building: With Digs, Ryan is addressing the lack of digitization in the home building process by developing a platform that integrates AI to create a digital twin of homes, enhancing both the builder's and homeowner's experience.
Focus on Customer-Centric Solutions: Ryan's strategy involves deep market research and maintaining a sharp focus on solving core customer pain points without succumbing to the allure of expanding the product's scope prematurely.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. 
www.GlobalTalent.co

Daniele Grassi, CEO of Axyon AI: $5.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Financial Markets with AI

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Daniele Grassi, CEO at Axyon AI, an AI platform for financial markets that has raised $5.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Early Passion for AI and Finance: Daniele's journey into the intersection of AI and finance began early, with him programming a stock market simulation at just eight years old. This early interest led him to pursue software engineering and eventually to the founding of Axyon AI.
Specialization in Financial AI: Unlike broad AI applications, Axyon AI focuses on the specific challenges of applying deep learning and advanced machine learning techniques to financial time series, aiming to optimize financial market predictions without typical pitfalls like overfitting.
Building a Startup in Modena: Known for high-performance automotive brands like Ferrari and Maserati, Modena, Italy, provided a surprisingly rich environment for AI development, with a strong engineering focus spurred by local industry demands.
Challenges of Early AI Adoption: In the early days, Daniele faced significant challenges explaining what AI is and convincing stakeholders of its potential, especially following the disillusionment from the previous AI hype cycles.
Impact of Generative AI on Perception: The release of more advanced AI models like ChatGPT significantly changed public perception and acceptance of AI, easing some earlier challenges Axyon faced in market education and acceptance.
Vision for AI in Investment Strategies: Looking forward, Daniele sees AI becoming an indispensable component of investment strategies, not just for gaining an edge but as a fundamental necessity to compete effectively in financial markets.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. 
www.GlobalTalent.co

Sergey Litvinenko, CEO & Co-Founder of Koop Insurance: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Insurance for Tech Companies

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Sergey Litvinenko, CEO & Co-Founder at Koop Insurance, an insurance technology company that has raised $7 Million in funding.
 
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
 
Preventive Insurance Model: Koop Insurance distinguishes itself by offering a preventive insurance model tailored for the tech sector, where traditional insurance falls short due to a lack of historical data for new technologies.
Founding Inspiration: The initial idea for Koop emerged from the challenges faced in the autonomous vehicle space, which led to the realization that these challenges were prevalent across the tech sector, prompting a pivot to insurance.
Aha Moments: Sergey describes multiple "aha" moments in Koop’s journey, such as shifting from an API for autonomous vehicles to an insurance model when realizing the existing market’s inefficiencies.
Growth and Scaling: Discussing the growth from a bootstrap startup in Pittsburgh to a pre-series A stage company in New York with nearly 20 full-time employees.
Trust and Branding: Emphasizing the importance of trust in the insure-tech space, Koop focuses on building a brand that combines expertise, reliability, and partnership with giants like Munich Re and Lloyd’s of London.
Market Strategy and Evolution: Koop’s strategy involves not selling insurance in the conventional sense but offering compliance and risk management as part of a comprehensive package to tech companies.
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. 
www.GlobalTalent.co

Brandon Lucia, CEO & Co-Founder of Efficient Computer: $16 Million Raised to Build the World’s Most Energy-Efficient Programmable Computers

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Brandon Lucia, CEO & Co-Founder at Efficient Computer, a chip startup that has raised $16 Million in funding.
 
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
 
Academic Origins: Brandon's journey into Efficient Computer began in academia, where he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. His research into energy-efficient computing systems laid the groundwork for what would become Efficient Computer.
Energy Efficiency Focus: The core idea behind Efficient Computer was to radically improve the energy efficiency of processors, focusing not on incremental gains but on rethinking architecture to prioritize efficiency from the ground up.
Startup Genesis: The decision to transition from academic research to a startup was spurred by the development of a new chip architecture that promised substantial improvements in energy efficiency over existing technologies.
Challenges of Starting Up: Brandon discussed the initial challenges of starting a business, from incorporating a company to understanding the commercial aspects of technology entrepreneurship.
Market Education and Adoption: One of the key hurdles they face is educating the market about their revolutionary chip architecture, especially explaining the tangible benefits of their energy-efficient chips to potential customers.
Future Vision: Looking forward, Brandon is focused on expanding their technology's applications, scaling up production, and exploring high-performance uses for their chips, including potential applications in aerospace and other energy-constrained environments.
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. 
www.GlobalTalent.co

Joselyn Lai, CEO & Co-Founder of Bedrock Energy: $9 Million Raised to Power the Future of Geothermal Energy

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Joselyn Lai, CEO & Co-Founder at Bedrock Energy, a distributed geothermal energy company that has raised over $9 Million in funding.
 
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
 
Origin Story: Joselyn was drawn to the potential of geothermal energy due to its proven, yet underutilized capability for scalability and immediate impact on the climate crisis. The technology's readiness aligned perfectly with her passion for sustainability.
Technology Application: Bedrock Energy is innovating in the geothermal space by significantly reducing the cost and expanding the feasibility of geothermal systems, making sustainable heating and cooling solutions more accessible and financially viable for urban developments.
Market Differentiation: Unlike traditional energy sectors, distributed geothermal energy has not been caught up in cultural or political conflicts, making it broadly acceptable across different stakeholders, which simplifies market entry and scaling.
Economic and Environmental Impact: Joselyn highlighted how geothermal systems can provide financial returns to property owners while contributing to environmental sustainability, emphasizing the dual benefit of their technology.
Pilot Projects and Learning: The recent pilot in Austin with CIM Group not only demonstrated the practical application of their innovations but also provided crucial learning opportunities about integrating geothermal technology with existing building infrastructure.
Vision for Geothermal Energy: Joselyn shared a compelling vision for the future, where geothermal energy solutions are ubiquitous, providing cost-effective and environmentally friendly heating and cooling solutions worldwide.
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. 
www.GlobalTalent.co

Mike Weiland, CEO & Co-Founder of Govly: $13 Million Raised to Power the Future of Public Sector Procurement

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Mike Weiland, CEO & Co-Founder of Govly, a public sector procurement platform that's raised over $13 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
From Necessity to Innovation: Govly was born out of the need for software to manage internal operations at Mike's previous government contracting company, leading to a platform that now serves the industry.
The Value of Process in Government Contracting: Despite the bureaucracy, Mike highlights the dependability of government contracts due to their strict rules and regulations.
Misconceptions About Government Contracting: Many believe that all government opportunities are available on public forums like Sam.gov, but Mike explains the importance of private contract vehicles in the process.
Marketing Approach: Initially, Govly's growth was driven by founder-led sales and word-of-mouth, with a significant marketing push only beginning recently.
Challenges in Fundraising: Timing and market conditions play crucial roles in successful fundraising. Maintaining relationships with top VC firms is essential.
Growth and Stickiness: Govly's platform has become business-critical for its users, leading to significant growth, from $360,000 ARR in 2022 to an expected $4 million by the end of this year.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co