Global VC Pi Labs has kicked off its 2023 Growth Programme, backing five early-stage start-ups that have developed technological solutions that are expected to positively impact the way businesses and societies interact with the built world.
In addition to an initial cash injection, and possible follow-on funding, Pi Labs will act as a long-term partner with the founders on their journey to scale and become global companies.
This latest round – covering a diverse collection of innovators, scientists, and visionaries behind seed and pre-seed stage ventures – brings the VC’s global portfolio to 79 investments since inception in 2015.
Faisal Butt, CEO of Pi Labs, commented: 'This is by far the broadest variety of entrepreneurs that we have brought together for our Growth Programme. From monitoring community health in sewers to environment health from out in space, this exceptional group of founders is tackling some of the most pressing issues facing the future of cities, communities and companies.
'By addressing how data is collected, analysed, deployed and managed, we believe these companies will play a role in shaping how we build more sustainable communities, thriving cities, and resilient businesses for years to come.'
Pi Labs investment approach reflects its ongoing mission to seek out and champion founders who can improve the built world’s impact on communities, business and the environment, with a strong focus on contributing to more sustainable, healthy, inclusive, safe, and technologically enabled cities globally.
Now on its eleventh cohort, the Pi Labs’ Growth Programme attracted over 1000+ applications from 34 countries, with tech entrepreneurs seeking capital and a route to all major markets through Pi Labs’ global ecosystem of investors, advisors, alumni and real estate companies.
The growth programme takes place between February and May, where Pi Labs will facilitate introductions to prospective investors and clients, as well as offer mentoring and training to help founders grow their business. At the end of the programme, the companies will be invited to pitch to an audience of VCs, angel investors, and potential clients, at the company’s annual Demo Day in London.
This year’s cohort includes Airmo, which pioneers the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions from space using satellite constellation and novel LiDAR technology. Ambr, meanwhile, seeks to help managers prevent stress & burnout in their teams, integrating with workplace tools, scanning for burnout risks, and alerting management when action needs to be taken.
Kertos is a no-code SaaS solution connecting an organisation’s entire infrastructure to manage personal data and fully automate their privacy operations, while Trunk tackles the collaboration and scheduling challenges in prefab construction, for teams to dynamically schedule, improve build quality and deliver projects 20% faster.
Untap, meanwhile, has a mission to monitor community health in real-time to detect viruses before symptoms emerge and therefore preventing viral transmission, using sewage.
Since launching its Growth Programme in 2015, Pi Labs has taken 51 pre-seed or seed stage start-ups through the programme.
Notable alumni include London-based LandTech, a data analytics platform helping real estate developers source development opportunities, alternative residential lender Generation Home, and co-working software platform, OfficeRnD.
