Portfolio

Isabel Rafferty ZavalaCanela Media

Isabel Rafferty Zavala is the Founder and CEO of Canela Media, a leading digital media tech company that effectively connects brands with multicultural audiences through various touchpoints including its newly launched free-to-stream platform, Canela.TV, influencer marketing, branded content, and more than 180 exclusive Spanish-language sites. In its first year of operation, 2019-2020, the majority-female and majority-Hispanic/Latinx Canela team went from launch to #4 in Hispanic audience reach according to Comscore. The company further validated its distinctive value proposition by growing and gaining traction during a turbulent industry interval marked by intense competition for shifting, shrinking, or frozen advertising budgets.

Isabel is recognized in the industry for her avant-garde approach and success launching digital marketing companies and is regarded as one of the most accomplished Hispanic business leaders in advertising. Isabel previously founded Mobvious Media in 2016, to reach U.S. Hispanic and African American audiences through mobile advertising. Under her leadership, Mobvious became the second largest Hispanic-focused ad network according to Comscore and was acquired by PRISA Group in 2017. From 2012-2016, she was Vice President at Adsmovil, leading the company’s expansion in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, driving annual sales from zero to ten million dollars. Isabel was Culture Marketing Council’s 2019 Rising Star Award recipient.

Reinventure led the company’s first institutional capital round, with co-lead BBG Ventures and a closely aligned syndicate: Angeles Investors, Portfolia Rising America Fund, Mighty Capital, and Alumni Ventures Group.

Dexter TurnerOpConnect

Dexter Turner is the founder and CEO of OpConnect, Inc., a provider of turnkey electric vehicle fueling solutions. Its comprehensive solution includes: 1) smart charging ports, 2)  a bluetooth interface with its mobile app enabled software platform for payment processing and energy management, 3) high quality customer services and 4) product white-labeling options. The OpConnect solution enables it to scale its customer base on lean operations while offering among the best “high value for price” to its customers. It specializes in providing these solutions for EV fleet managers and multi-unit property owners throughout the nation and several international locations.

Dexter began his professional career as an aerospace engineer at Boeing followed by a tenure at Honeywell Aerospace. After 17 years of servicing corporate America, Dexter used his acquired expertise to launch his entrepreneurial career by first founding Optimization Technologies, Inc., a software company producing cockpit displays and software targeted at private aircraft. Optimization Technologies experienced a successful exit when it was sold in 2007 to Aerosonic Corp. Dexter subsequently founded OpConnect in 2012. In the process of developing the software platform for OpConnect, Dexter was awarded nine patents.

Reinventure led the company’s first institutional capital round of syndicate investors.

Dennis CailZirtue

Dennis Cail is the founder and CEO of Zirtue, a fintech company pioneering in the $200 billion relationship-based lending market segment by automating the loan process between family and friends with payments going directly to designated creditors.   The service is provided free for borrowers and lenders on a patent-pending online app platform in collaboration with a network of creditor partners keen to reduce bad-debt losses. During 2021, Zirtue will also introduce a complementary debit card service targeted at the 25% of American households that are unbanked or underbanked.

Dennis began working with technology while serving in the Navy, then earned a computer science degree and MBA from Southern Methodist University. Before founding Zirtue, he served as Senior Director of Corporate Services at IBM Global Services, Managing Director at Uptown Financial Group and at PwC, and Managing Partner at Convince Capital Partners.  Dennis founded Zirtue as a response to his own difficulty lending to family and friends. His mission became to provide a fair, transparent lending solution that empowers underserved individuals to change the way they lend, borrow and bank with friends and family.

Reinventure participated in the company’s first institutional capital round of investors.

Devo HarrisAdventr

Devo Harris is the founder and CEO of Adventr, an AI-powered streaming platform that connects smart media with data at scale. On its platform novice and professional video content producers alike can transform traditional, passive, watch-only video into immersive video that engages viewers in a highly personalized experience by bringing the full capabilities of the web to video. The Adventr platform also excels due to its low cost, extensive patented features and ease of use.

Devo is a serial media executive who merges world class creative with scalable business strategies . He started his career in technology by hacking YouTube to create some of the first interactive web video experiences in 2010, followed by time leading Product at Vimeo. Before pursuing a technology career, Devo worked in entertainment industry, helping found the popular record label, GOOD Music, with Kanye West. At GOOD, Devo discovered and signed EGOT winner John Legend and won a Grammy for Best Rap Song while producing and writing for artists from Britney Spears and Aretha Franklin to Jay-Z and more. Devo started his career in business strategy at PwC and is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School.

Justin Turk and André DavisLivegistics

Co-Founders Justin Turk and André Davis are respectively CEO and CFO of Livegistics, a real-time software platform transforming the archaic paper-based construction industry into a 21st century digital sector. Using the Livegistics platform, construction and demolition, trucking / hauling, landfill, recycling and quarry companies alike save time and money and eliminate fraud and litigation risks arising from incomplete, lost, or damaged paperwork. Livegistics customers further save vehicle emissions and fuel costs associated with idling and repeat trips, enabling people, vehicles, and facilities to be safer and more productive.

Justin is a third-generation professional in construction, with a Master’s in Civil Engineering from Lawrence Technical University and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science Specialization in Business Systems Operations from Bowling Green State University. André is a CPA and experienced financial officer and business owner, with a Master’s in Accounting and Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Accounting, both from Bowling Green State University. They both played Division I football for BGSU. Together, Justin and André won Pharrell Williams’ $1 million Black Ambition grand prize in 2021.

Livegistics is a Certified MBE.

Julie MesservyHome Outside

Home Outside is on a mission to combat climate change one beautiful landscape at a time.

Home Outside’s 3D digital configurator platform enables homeowners and DIY landscapers to envision, plan, and create beautiful, sustainable, enjoyable yards and projects that increase property value and decrease carbon footprint. The Home Outside 3D configurator will provide expert site-specific landscape design guidance; plant and other product selection; placement, planting, and maintenance support; and click-to-buy functionality that gives DIY homeowners the convenience, personalization, and confidence they seek — all while providing retailers with a sales lift of up to 30%. At scale, Home Outside aims to transform 50M US yards into thriving outdoor spaces that conserve over 50B lbs of carbon each year.

CEO Julie Moir Messervy is a world-renowned landscape designer, author, and pioneer in online/digital landscape design. She and her team are drawn together by the ambition to create meaningful climate impact by transforming residential landscapes at scale.

Fatemeh ShiraziMicrovi

Fatemeh Shirazi, PhD is Founder and CEO of Microvi. Drawing on her innovative research and years of industry leadership, Fatemeh and her team are commercializing the proprietary MNE biocatalyst platform for water, wastewater, and bioprocessing. Featuring specially targeted, high-performance microorganisms that are completely incorporated into Microvi MNE biocatalysts, Microvi’s processes provide superior performance at significantly lower cost, reduced energy and chemical consumption, smaller footprint, and far less operator attention than existing alternatives. Microvi is currently deploying MNE solutions for customers across the US and UK.

Fatemeh is an engineer’s engineer with an abiding commitment to delivering global solutions for water, energy, health and the environment, having earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Tulsa, and an MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering with honors from Oklahoma State University. The Microvi team has received multiple industry honors and recognitions, including as a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer.

Reinventure provided bridge funding.

Ruben AriasBeeReaders

Founder Ruben Arias is CEO of BeeReaders, a Spanish literacy digital program platform aiming to build literacy solutions to strengthen the cornerstones of learning for the ~100 million K-12 Spanish-speaking students worldwide, including the faster growing student cohort in the US. BeeReaders’ solution combines an integrated assessment, authentic Spanish content with monitoring capabilities and personalized learning solutions for students in a fun, easy-to-use, adaptive, game-like environment.

From Chile, Ruben is a seasoned Edtech entrepreneur with more than 12 years of experience having founded and led previous Edtech start-ups. Ruben comes from a humble background, a low-income household and is the first in his family to pursue a college education. Through sheer perseverance and a series of scholarships, he earned his university degree in engineering in Chile. He started his entrepreneurial journey with a strong commitment to empowering students facing struggles similar to his own, and developed various innovative products to enhance the learning experience of K-12 Spanish-speaking students in Latin America and the United States. To date, their Edtech solutions reach over half a million students.

Martha MontoyaAgtools

Josh ItanoCareCar

Rodrigo Tamellini and Maria OliveiraGamerSafer

Led by co-founders Rodrigo Tamellini and Maria Oliveira, GamerSafer is a leading-edge  technology that helps game publishers and developers prevent  the crime, fraud, and toxicity to which their gaming communities are too often subjected on their platforms.  GamerSafer does so by providing an end-to-end solution that protects players on every step of their gaming experience — from pre-game biometric verification, to in-game use of gamer insights to moderate behavior, to post-game reinforcement of player accountability. It also provides services that particularly prevent the exploitation and abuse of children and facilitates parental engagement.

Rodrigo, CEO of GamerSafer, has 20 years of experience leading product, marketing and business strategy teams with global technology companies designing and launching over 100 products worldwide and driving billions in revenue. He started his career as a product engineer in Brazil but his ability to successfully drive business and consumer products led him to climb the corporate ladder and land an executive position in Silicon Valley as Product Director of Virtual Reality, Gaming and Esports at Intel. Rodrigo was also a General Manager at LG Electronics and started up ASUS operations in Latin America. He holds an engineering degree, an MBA in strategic business management, and received the prestigious Honorable Mention Award from the Brazilian Army.

Maria, COO of GamerSafer, is an award-winning impact entrepreneur who has been recognized by AWS as an Impact Fellow, and Headstream Innovation for enhancing digital spaces for youth. She excels at advising organizations driving positive change in online spaces, such as Common Sense Media and TheGameHers. She has also collaborated with research and other impact initiatives from the Anti-Defamation League, Take This, Stanford Reach Lab, WeProtect Global Alliance, and the Fair Play Alliance. Maria was born and raised in Brazil, is an alumna of Stanford LBAN and UC Berkeley Skydeck, and persistently advocates for women, Latinas, and other underrepresented groups in tech and games.

Rodrigo Diez and Facundo JorgeNovo Space

Novo Space, under the leadership of CEO Rodrigo Diez and CTO Facundo Jorge, specializes in the production of advanced, high-performance computer systems for large satellites. These systems are designed to be standardized, modular, and plug-and-play, ensuring seamless integration and flexibility. Novo Space’s innovative technology and standards enable the reuse of its hardware, firmware, and software, significantly reducing time to orbit, risk, and cost. The company’s ecosystem includes a wide range of products such as computers, signal processors, mass memory units, and more.

Before co-founding Novo Space, Rodrigo Diez spent a decade designing and leading teams in the development of advanced electronic systems for space and defense applications. His expertise includes machine learning, laser and RF communications, 3D radars, synthetic aperture radars, and various satellite subsystems. Recognized as the top graduate in his electrical engineering class in Argentina, Rodrigo was awarded a prestigious Fulbright-administered Presidential Fellowship in Science and Technology, allowing him to pursue a Master of Science in Engineering and Management at MIT. He then continued his academic journey at MIT with a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering.

During his time at MIT, Rodrigo was selected as one of 50 experienced engineers from around the world, chosen for their potential to make a significant impact on global technology. In 2019, he made the strategic decision to suspend his Ph.D. studies to focus entirely on building Novo Space.

As the co-founder and CTO of Novo Space, Facundo Jorge oversees product development, the technological roadmap, and engineering efforts. He has played a pivotal role in designing a substantial portion of Novo Space’s product ecosystem, supporting manufacturing processes, and conducting functional testing. With over a decade of experience in the field, Facundo previously worked as an electronics and subsystem engineer at INVAP in Argentina and Surrey Satellite Technology in the UK. His expertise spans FPGA firmware development and electronics design, with a strong proficiency in both radiation-hardened and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Facundo holds a five-year Electronics Engineering degree from the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology.