Ajira Ventures invests up to €100k into early-stage tech start-ups.

Ajira Ventures

Ajira Ventures focuses on early-stage tech start-ups. We invest $20k-$100k in promising ventures, acting as angel investors to support strong founders with great ideas.

Meet get-ikigai.

Luca Dombetzki was one of the first people to touch GPT-3 during his time at MIT and kick-started the AI ecosystem by building the renown student club TUM.ai in Munich. 

His sister Ramona Dombetzki adds the designer’s perspective to the team. She has previously launched a design magazine and was awarded top 10 women in tech - as the only Bachelor of Arts. 

Sebastian Wilhelm is not just IKIGAI’s finance expert; he also founded the AI Entrepreneurship Lab, Munich’s AI incubator, and you can even find him working as a cycling instructor—his literal side hustle.

Together they form a strong team to build THE HR tool for talents and team leads to authentically and quickly connect with relevant opportunities. 

We are extremely excited to support another young, talented team from our home town Munich! 

#Founder #YoungTalent #HumanResources #Hiring #Investing

Meet Piramidal (YC W24). 

Dimitris Fotis Sakellariou has a PhD in AI and neuroengineering and brings 12 years of clinical EEG expertise. His deep knowledge in data annotation is fundamental to Piramidal's AI development. 

Kris Pahuja is the master of bringing products to a market, having monetized Chrome OS from zero to 300m in ARR, complementing Dimitris’ deep knowledge about EEG perfectly.  

Piramidal automates the data analysis of brain waves (EEG) which traditionally requires manual annotation by experts - a time-consuming and bottleneck process.

We love seeing scientists like Dimitris and Kris turn into founders, which is why we are excited to invest in their and Piramidal's journey to innovate brain-computer interfacing.

#Founder #Startup #YCW24 #MedTech #Investing #Tech #innovation

We are backing ParcelBio!

Founded by David, a 20-year industry veteran, and Christopher, who is ParcelBio’s CSO.

Together, they are developing a programmable technology to safely and specifically deliver mRNA to diverse cell types in the body. mRNA can be programmed to produce just about anything the body could need. However, the greatest bottleneck today is the delivery of mRNA. 

The preferred current delivery mechanism is the lipid nanoparticle (LNP), a type of fat droplet that encases mRNA. While LNPs are effective for vaccines, their use in other applications demands more precise targeting and greater dosages than top LNP technologies. Their proprietary STAmP technology is an entirely new way of delivering an mRNA medicine without a nanoparticle. It converts mRNA into a more stable form to survive the journey to desired cell types, unlocking novel drug development.

#Founder #Startups #Angel #Biotech #Investing #YCW24

Meet Elodin (YC W24). 

Daniel Driscoll, Sascha Wise, Tom Gurka, Andrei Khvalko, and Akhil Velagapudi knew each other before starting Elodin (YC W24) and have experience working together. They are a true blend of diverse backgrounds, combining technical knowledge and experience in building software.

Elodin (YC W24) accelerates development cycles, reduces costs, and democratizes access to advanced aerospace simulation technology. 

Their GPU-based physics engine, in particular, allows for faster and more affordable Monte Carlo simulations.

If you have watched the YC W24 Demo Day, you might agree that Elodin (YC W24) stands out this year - which is why we are happy to back them! 

#Founder #SoftwareSimulation #Investing #YCW24 #Angel #Startups #Investing

We are now hiring a Business Development Associate to help our team accelerate our mission to increase crop yields in hydroponic fruit and vegetable production! If you have a background in Agriculture, Horticulture, or Plant Science and want to transition to the business side of things this position would be perfect for you.
https://lnkd.in/gw2wcm4X

Meet YonedaLabs. 

Michał Mgeładze-Arciuch is an AI brain, having completed studies in nowhere less than Cambridge and Berkley. 

Jan Oboril is a chemistry talent, rewarded with three gold medals in the International Chemistry Olympiad. 

Daniel Vlasits won first place at the international robotics competition Pi Wars, and ranked 5th in the Cambridge Computer Science cohort.

These skills combined, offer an ideal set-up for the intersectional problem solving they are doing. YonedaLabs empowers chemists to refine conditions for chemical reactions with the aid of machine learning, streamlining what has traditionally been a laborious process, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry.

The YonedaLabs founding team is a prime example of how young, brilliant minds and overachievers combine their skills to solve complex problems.

Our chemistry definitely worked out, which makes us excited to have invested in their journey!

#Founder #YoungTalent #Outlier #ChemicalReactions #Investing #YCW24

I have some news.

I started a new venture, and we’re calling it Splash. We plan to acquire hundreds of small pool cleaning companies and build the first national brand in pool service.

We raised a $4.5M pre-seed round led by Asymmetric alongside 40+ exceptional founder/CEOs.

Why pools, you ask? Simple. The market is large, customers are recurring and sticky, and the competitive landscape is fragmented and low-tech. Most critically, there’s no dominant, national brand in pool cleaning and no law of nature that says there can’t be—so we're building one.

We just completed our first acquisition in Southern California, with many more to come. Here’s our playbook:

Step 1: Acquire hundreds of wonderful pool cleaning companies.

Step 2: Build and integrate vertical software to boost margins, optimize routes, streamline operations, and elevate the customer experience.

Step 3: Recycle cash flows generated from steps 1 and 2 to buy more amazing pool cleaning companies, and keep compounding for a decade.

Over the last 10 years, the average unicorn raised $400M to get to $1.6B in enterprise value. Those days are over. The winners of the future are going to be companies that can reach multi-billion dollar outcomes, but do so in a capital efficient way. That is what we’re building at Splash.

I’ve spent the last fifteen years building companies at the intersection of home services and tech, and plan to spend the next fifteen building a true juggernaut in this category. Thrilled to be partnering with incredible investors like Sam Lessin, Sam Clayman, Kaz Nejatian, Ryan Hoover, Austen Allred, Andrew Wilkinson, Rob Biederman, and many others that LinkedIn won't let me tag.

Let’s get to it.

Meet Nick. 

Nick fought against the odds. 

Nick grew up with family members experiencing substance abuse. 

Nick grew up to dive into the world of law and governmental regulation. 

Nick is THE blend to lead a startup such as Recover, which is fighting substance abuse in the US with telemedicine. 

We are excited about Nick and invested in Recover. 

#Founder #YoungTalent #Outlier #SubstanceAbuse #Investing

🚀 Investment Alert! 

We have completed another investment: Ceragen!

What made us invest: 

🛠️ Product: Ceragen is revolutionizing the design and production of microbes for hydroponic systems, enhancing not only plant health but also increasing crop yields. 

🌍 Market: Rethinking and advancing agriculture is one of the essential steps we have to take, when considering our engagement with our ecosystems. In this context, Ceragen emerges as a key contributor to a movement towards hydroponic agriculture, aiming to refine agricultural practices.

👥  Founders: We are huge fans of Danielle Rose! Her deep passion for the topic has captivated our team. Further, her clear communication, ambition, and interpersonal skills stand out. Danielle Rose is complemented by her brother Matthew Rose, a true geek in the field of microbiomes. We’re excited to have this talented founding team in our portfolio! 

#Investing #AgriTech #Ceragen #Startups #YoungLeaders

🚀 Investment Alert! 

We have completed another investment: Splash!

What made us invest: 

🛠️ Product: Introducing SaaS into a completely undigitized market. While most pool services businesses are run on a small scale, Splash will step in and support them to get to the next level.

🌍 Market: We don’t only see pools, but a blue ocean market in this case! Splash wants to become the first US-American pool brand in cleaning - something that only somebody like the founder Jeremy Yamaguchi has the potential to achieve.

👥  Founder: Jeremy Yamaguchi has previously built and successfully exited Lawn Love Lawn Care, a YC company in the home services industry. His energy and vision captivated us from the minute we met him. We are confident that his next journey in the home services industry will be yet another exciting one. 🙌🏽


#Investing #Digitizing #Splash #Startups #YoungLeaders

AJIR

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Ajira Ventures

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