Welcome to Edition 2 of the ORCA Weekly Newsletter!

Lots of new folks this week, so a quick intro: my name is Max Comolli, and I’m the Head of Growth here at ORCA. We’re an innovation network helping connect 670+ startups with funding, resources, and the network they need to launch a successful venture.

Read on for trending startups, ORCA investor activity, highlights from July’s new startups, and a look at our latest VC partners.

If you want to meet any of the startups in this week’s newsletter, just reply to this email and let us know!

Enjoy, and let us know if you have any feedback!

Trending Startups

This week’s hottest startups (pro tip: there were 40+ more startups getting meetings with investors this week – if you’re not already onboarded as an investor, get the chance to see more of them here)

Ocular Diagnostics

Ocular Diagnostics: Innovative eye-tracking technology for accurate and efficient assessment of neurobehavioral disorders.

3 ORCA investors booked meetings with Ocular Diagnostics this week. Want an intro? Reply to this email and let us know!

HAIGHT

HAIGHT: Accelerating pathology diagnoses with the power of machine learning, revolutionizing patient care.

2 ORCA investors booked meetings with HAIGHT this week. Want an intro? Reply to this email and let us know!

Wisdolia

Wisdolia: Active learning made easy through smart flashcards from any YouTube video, PDF, or article along with personalized feedback on your responses

ORCA investors booked meetings with Wisdolia this week. Want an intro? Reply to this email and let us know!

Investor Activity This Week

The investors viewing and meeting the most founders in the last week 👀 

Wondering how to get featured in this list? Easy! Make sure you’re onboarded as an ORCA investor, and review the startups we curate for you. The more active you are, the better chance you have to see your firm here!

#1: Blue Collective

Blue Collective: A generalist VC firm investing at early stage (the earlier, the better): from day one to Series A, they want to be your first big check.

Know a founder who’s a fit? Refer them here

#2: Antler

Antler: Antler partners with exceptional founders across six continents to launch and scale startups that address meaningful opportunities and challenges. Their global community of builders, investors, operators, experts, and partner organizations backs people from the very start of their founder journey—pre-team or even pre-idea.

Know a founder who’s a fit? Refer them here

#3: PJC

PJC knows that all big things start small and wants to be the first firm you go to when you’re embarking on your new venture. They focus on pre-seed, seed, and A rounds, and they’re in it with you for the whole journey.

Know a founder who’s a fit? Refer them here

#4: Upfront Ventures

Upfront Ventures is proud to be an early investor and long-term partner to tech founders and startups. Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and San Francisco, Upfront has backed teams across all technology sectors. They invest about half of our capital in the fast-growing Southern California ecosystem, with the balance across the country as well as investments in Europe, India, and Israel.

Know a founder who’s a fit? Refer them here

New Startups This Week

ORCA has brought on 30 new startups in the last week. Here are some highlights:

LeanCon

LeanCon: The first construction engineer created by AI. LeanCon is an AI-powered product that automatically utilizes CAD (BIM) building models to make all engineering decisions before and during construction.

Want an intro? Reply to this email and let us know!

Carbon Loop

Carbon Loop converts captured CO2 to renewable methanol via electrolysis using a proprietary catalyst.

Want an intro? Reply to this email and let us know!

Bolder

Bolder: Revolutionize e-commerce with our cutting-edge platform that seamlessly integrates personalized creator videos, transforming brand experiences and skyrocketing conversions for businesses.

Want an intro? Reply to this email and let us know!

New Investors

This was a big week for our investor network: 29 new investors from 27 different firms! Some common themes on investment criteria: B2B SaaS, manufacturing, and (surprise!) AI/ML.

As one of those “good problems to have”, there are too many firms to list them here in the same format as edition 1. Instead, here’s a snapshot of our latest VC partners:

• Dorm Room Fund: Built by students and backed by Midas-List winners and some of the best VCs in the country, we help student founders get all the help they need to take their companies to the next level- while helping our student investors become next generation of venture capitalists

• Pear VC: 0 to 1 venture capital. We partner with entrepreneurs from day zero to build category-defining companies.

• +25 more

Investor Spotlight

🚧 This section is under construction 🚧 
Want to be featured here and have startups apply directly to a personal portal? Let’s chat.