James Swingos

Noble Mobile, a New York-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) founded by Andrew Yang, has raised a $10.3M seed round led by Corazon Capital, with participation from Scott Galloway, Circle Ventures, IDEA Fund Partners, Oversubscribed Ventures, Hustle Fund, Brown Angel Group, Acquired Wisdom Fund, Jim McKelvey (founder of Square), and David Ko (CEO of Calm). The company operates on T-Mobile’s network, offering a $50/month unlimited plan and providing users with “Noble Cash” back for using less than 20GB of data—a business model inspired by Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. Noble Mobile aims to lower consumer costs, incentivize reduced phone usage, and promote healthier tech habits, with initiatives like “no-phone parties” in major cities. INVESTORS: Corazon Capital, Scott Galloway, Circle Ventures, Idea Fund Partners, Oversubscribed Ventures, Hustle Fund, Brown Angel Group, Acquired Wisdom Fund, Jim McKelvey, David Ko ROUND: Seed AMOUNT: $10,300,000 HQ: #NewYork #NewYork #VentureCapital #NobleMobile #AndrewYang #CorazonCapital #ScottGalloway #CircleVentures #IdeaFundPartners #OversubscribedVentures #HustleFund #BrownAngelGroup #AcquiredWisdomFund #JimMcKelvey #DavidKo #MVNO #TMobile #TradedVC

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Every #VentureStudio GP knows some portfolio bets won’t hit. That's expected - and it's one of the reasons studios are such a powerful vehicle for innovation. And while a venture's failure might be what's visible to the outsider, what keeps them up at night isn’t failure at the venture level — it’s failure at the systemic level within the studio. One bad entity design. One IP misstep. One governance gap. That’s how studio operations fall apart. We break down how to spot (and fix) these cracks before they turn into fault lines in our latest paper, "The GP Dilemma" - DM me and I'll send you a copy!

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The #fundraising function is always-on for #VentureStudio founders. And many emerging studio leaders report it being much harder than they expected. In my experience, the problem isn't with the studio model, but rather the way it's being explained. The mechanics of running venture studios are different - and I'd argue more complex - than a typical startup or a VC fund. For many studio GP's, the instinct is to explain that complexity upfront. We sometimes call this the "Studio Monologue." Instead of leading with complexity, we help our studio partners win with clarity. Our framework turns scattered narratives into crisp, investor-ready theses. We cover this - and a lot more - in our latest paper - "The GP Dilemma: Escaping the Venture Studio Trap." I've linked it to this post - for free. Want to learn more? DM me and we'll find a time to connect!

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💲 Emergent announced $23 million in Series A funding to empower more people to build and run businesses simply The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from YC, Together, Prosus Ventures and angels including Jeff Dean, Devendra Chaplot, Balaji Srinivasan and brings Emergent’s total funding to $30 million, including a $7 million seed round. “My brother and I built Emergent to equip anyone with an idea and a phone with the tools to create software affordably,” said Mukund Jha, Co-Founder and CEO. 📖 Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/e-fPZh-w #StartupsMagazine #Startups #Entrepreneur #Funding

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Brooklyn-based startup Mega has raised $11.5M in Series A funding to scale its AI-powered growth platform for SMBs. The round was led by Goodwater Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Atreides Management, LP, SignalFire, and Kearny Jackson, alongside investments from Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and Nneka Ogwumike. Founder Lucas Pellan said the platform uses networks of specialized AI agents to automate marketing functions including SEO, paid advertising, and analytics. Vivek Subramanian of Goodwater Capital highlighted the shift toward AI-native growth infrastructure for smaller businesses. https://lnkd.in/eNEEQy7f #AI #AIAgents #MarketingTech #ArtificialIntelligence #AIStartups #GrowthTech

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The founders and investors shaping early-stage tech don't all think alike, and that's exactly the point. The Skin in the Game VC podcast brings you unfiltered conversations with the people who've actually built companies, raised capital, and figured out what works through trial and error. Every episode, you get a different perspective. Our guests span different industries with different approaches, but share the same commitment to sharing what's real. Subscribe now for weekly conversations that cut through the noise. https://hubs.la/Q03QdL6-0

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🚀 Stop chasing investors blindly. Here's the 5-step system that gets startups funded: Define financial needs (12-18 months) Research aligned investors Build a killer pitch deck Systematize outreach Prep due diligence docs Most founders skip steps 1 & 5. Don't be like most founders.

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