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(GNN) - David Tisch has been quietly working on a project called Jello Labs for over a year. He hasn’t said much about what the product will be, other than that it involves mobile commerce. However, today we can shed a bit more light on the super stealth project. For one, the product is actually called Spring, with Jello Labs being more of a company name or a placeholder name.
Secondly, the company has secured a $7.5 million Series A round led by Thrive Capital, Groupe Arnault, and Box Group, wiht participation form 41 other VCs and angel investors. Previous to the Series A round, Tisch was providing runway for the startup out of his own pocket.
Spring was co-founded by David Tisch (who is chairman of the board) and his brother Alan Tisch, who has taken the position of CEO. Other founding members of the team include Octavian Costache (an ex-Googler who will be taking over the CTO position) and Ara Katz (who will be leading marketing efforts as CMO).
David Tisch has his own venture fund called Box Group, which was started shortly after he left TechStars NY as Managing Director.
But what about the product itself? Tisch has confirmed that Spring will launch in the fall, likely around August, but he wouldn’t tell us much more than that.
However, we have learned that part of the slow roll-out has to do with exclusive partnerships that are currently being forged with big fashion and retail brands.
This seems to be somewhat confirmed by the fact that a good number of Spring’s investor don’t necessarily come from the tech world. Some of the investors include Desiree Gruber (the producer of Project Runway), Rachel Zoe Ventures, Uri Minkoff (CEO of Rebecca Minkoff), Steven Alan, and Shirley Cook (CEO of Proenza Schouler), among others.
Of course, there are plenty of tech-related investors participating in the round as well, including Aaron Levie, Gary Vaynerchuk, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Google Ventures, and SV Angel.
Currently, Spring has 26 full-time employees, including 14 full-time engineers.
Spring was co-founded by David Tisch (who is chairman of the board) and his brother Alan Tisch, who has taken the position of CEO. Other founding members of the team include Octavian Costache (an ex-Googler who will be taking over the CTO position) and Ara Katz (who will be leading marketing efforts as CMO).
David Tisch has his own venture fund called Box Group, which was started shortly after he left TechStars NY as Managing Director.
But what about the product itself? Tisch has confirmed that Spring will launch in the fall, likely around August, but he wouldn’t tell us much more than that.
However, we have learned that part of the slow roll-out has to do with exclusive partnerships that are currently being forged with big fashion and retail brands.
This seems to be somewhat confirmed by the fact that a good number of Spring’s investor don’t necessarily come from the tech world. Some of the investors include Desiree Gruber (the producer of Project Runway), Rachel Zoe Ventures, Uri Minkoff (CEO of Rebecca Minkoff), Steven Alan, and Shirley Cook (CEO of Proenza Schouler), among others.
Of course, there are plenty of tech-related investors participating in the round as well, including Aaron Levie, Gary Vaynerchuk, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Google Ventures, and SV Angel.
Currently, Spring has 26 full-time employees, including 14 full-time engineers.
