Brand New Matter

ActiveVenture Capital

Updated: Mar 19, 2026 ·

About

Brand New Matter is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments across diverse technology sectors. It deploys capital into companies within enterprise technology, travel and hospitality, marketplaces, e-commerce, and consumer industries, targeting those with scalable solutions and growth potential.

Co-founded by Thomas Sparico in 2013, Brand New Matter draws on the deep operational experience of its founding team, which includes members from the original Priceline.com and Kayak.com leadership. This background provides unique insight into market dynamics and the complexities of scaling technology ventures, shaping their investment philosophy.

The firm partners with ambitious entrepreneurs, offering capital, operational expertise, and extensive network access to its portfolio companies. Brand New Matter's vision is to foster innovation and build enduring value, supporting the next generation of industry leaders to drive the digital economy's evolution and growth.

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Jun 1, 2022	Kogniz	$10.0M Series A	—	Index Ventures, super{set}, Ulu Ventures, Vayner RSE, Andrew Jones
Apr 1, 2022	Swoops	$4.0M Seed	—	Alpaca VC, Amino Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Asymmetric Capital Partners, B Capital Group, Double Down, Forum Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Long Journey Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Pioneer Fund, Prototype Capital, Revolution Growth, super{set}, SV Angel, Vayner RSE, Adrian Aoun, James Watt, Jason Robins, Johnny Boufarhat, Sue Xu
Jan 1, 2022	Lincode	$2.0M Seed	—	Altaclub VC, Benhamou Global Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Chemi, Matt Ocko, i3 Equity Partners, ICONIQ Capital, InterWest, LombardStreet Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, SeedInvest, TLV Partners, Wildcat Ventures, Keith Masback, Rob Bernshteyn
Nov 1, 2021	Mintus	$5.0M Seed	—	KittyHawk Ventures
Nov 1, 2021	Playground Network	$800K Seed	—	super{set}, Vayner RSE
Jun 1, 2021	Strateos	$56.0M Series B	—	8VC, Altaclub VC, ARCH Venture Partners, Bling Capital, DCVC (Data Collective), Kima Ventures, LombardStreet Ventures, Lux Capital, MetaProp Ventures, Scott Gottlieb, Picus Capital, Recode Ventures, #SecretFund, SeedInvest, Georges Harik, Jean Charles Samuelian, Keith Masback, Rob Bernshteyn, Roxanne Varza, Vince Monical, Yann LeCun
May 1, 2021	Qonsent	$1.0M Seed	—	KittyHawk Ventures
Apr 1, 2021	Kavak	$490.0M Series D	—	9Yards Capital, Bond, Casa Verde Capital, Cupule Ventures, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Insight Partners, Leta Capital, William Hapworth
Apr 1, 2021	LEUNE	$5.0M Seed	—	9Yards Capital, Casa Verde Capital, Cupule Ventures, Founders Fund, Goat Capital, Melo7 Tech Partners, LLC, Partners Resolute, QueensBridge Venture Partners, Serena Ventures, Y Combinator, Emmett Shear, Kevin Lin, Kyle Vogt, William Hapworth
Feb 1, 2021	Carefull	$3.0M Seed	—	14W, 20VC, Adjacent, Alsop Louie Partners, Altaclub VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, BoxGroup, Daffy, Matt Ocko, Fin Capital, Founders Fund, Greylock, Javelin Venture Partners, LombardStreet Ventures, M13, MetaProp Ventures, Mucker Capital, NextView Ventures, Night Capital, Paradox Capital, SeedInvest, Alexandre Scialom, Bradley Horowitz, Casey Neistat, James Beshara, Jean Charles Samuelian, Joshua Webster, Keith Masback, Louis Beryl, Rob Bernshteyn, Steve Schlafman, Thibaud Elziere
Feb 1, 2021	Brightwheel	$55.0M Series C	—	9Yards Capital, Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, A* Capital (A Star Capital), Accomplice VC, Addition, AirAngels, Airtree Ventures, Alt Capital, Alumni Ventures, Amplify.LA, Audacious Ventures, Avenir, Avid Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Banana Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blackbird Ventures Australia, Boldstart Ventures, Bond, BoxGroup, Casa Verde Capital, Craft Ventures, Cupule Ventures, Earl Grey Capital, ENIAC Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Fifth Wall, Founders Fund, Gigafund, Kamran Ansari, Jude Gomila Rolling Fund, Kairos HQ, Kearny Jackson, Kipaki Ventures, Lakestar, LAUNCH, Level2 Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LvlUp Ventures, Manresa Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Mischief Venture Capital, Notable Capital, Offline Ventures, Osney Capital, Pioneer Fund, Polychain Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Quake Capital, Renegade Partners, RRE Ventures, Sarah Smith Fund, Sequoia Capital, Stripe, Thomson Reuters Ventures, TSVC Capital, WGI Group, Work-Bench, XSeed Capital, Y Combinator, YLEM, Aston Motes, Dan Wright, David Petersen, Emily Chiu, Eric Ries, Frederic Kerrest, Gordon Wintrob, Greg Kidd, Jeremy Cai, Jon Runyan, Kamiar Kordari, Louis Beryl, Mathilde Collin, Max Mullen, Namrata Ganatra, Nitay Joffe, Noah Goodhart, Omri Dahan, Paul Rios, Philippe Teixeira da Mota, Ryan Carlson, Ryan Chan, Scott Belsky, Siqi Chen, Tony Xu, Troy Carter, Tyler Willis, William Hapworth, William Hockey, Zack Kanter
Aug 1, 2020	Allergy Amulet	$4.0M Seed	—	AllerFund, Colle Capital, Gotham Gal Ventures
Oct 1, 2018	Kogniz	$4.0M Seed	—	Activant Capital, Balderton Capital, BlueRun Ventures, Buckley Ventures, Company Capital, CrunchFund, Curated, Flex Capital, Founder Collective, Greylock, GSV Asset Management, Indeed.com, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Next Play Ventures, Ride Ventures, Sequoia Capital, super{set}, Ulu Ventures, Vayner RSE, Andrew Jones, Kintan Brahmbhatt, Rob Theis, Vipul Ved Prakash, William Hockey
Nov 1, 2016	Strateos	$13.0M Venture Round	—	Altaclub VC, Bling Capital, DCVC (Data Collective), LombardStreet Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, Recode Ventures, SeedInvest, Georges Harik, Keith Masback, Rob Bernshteyn, Vince Monical, Yann LeCun
Oct 1, 2016	Spruce	$2.0M Seed	—	Altaclub VC, Camber Creek, Matt Ocko, Jenny Fielding, LombardStreet Ventures, Lux Capital, MetaProp Ventures, RRE Ventures, SeedInvest, Social Capital, Marco DeMeireles, Third Prime, Tusk Venture Partners, Ashish Toshniwal, Jaffray Woodriff, Keith Masback, Rob Bernshteyn
Oct 1, 2016	Allergy Amulet	$1.0M Seed	—	Colle Capital, Gotham Gal Ventures
Jul 1, 2016	Roomi	$4.0M Seed	—	1984 Ventures, Altaclub VC, Cathay Innovation, CP Ventures, DCM, Matt Ocko, Felicis Ventures, Fuel Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Innovation Endeavors, Interlock Partners, LombardStreet Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, Montage Ventures, NFX, Pear VC, Polychain Capital, RRE Ventures, SeedInvest, Techstars, The Hit Forge, WestCap, Juney Ham, Keith Masback, Rob Bernshteyn
Mar 1, 2015	ACV	$1.0M Seed	—	9Yards Capital, Casa Verde Capital, Cupule Ventures, Founders Fund, William Hapworth
Feb 1, 2015	Strateos	$9.0M Series A	—	Altaclub VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bling Capital, DCVC (Data Collective), Graypes GmbH, M.G. Siegler, IA Ventures, LombardStreet Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, Recode Ventures, SeedInvest, SQN Venture Partners, Torch Capital, Y Combinator, Georges Harik, Iqram Magdon-Ismail, John Collison, Keith Masback, MG Siegler, Mike Hennessey, Rashaun Williams, Rob Bernshteyn, Sumon Sadhu, Vince Monical, Yann LeCun
Sep 1, 2014	Shippo	$2.0M Seed	—	Colle Capital, Crosslink Capital, FJ Labs, Foundry Group, Gotham Gal Ventures, Hack VC, LAUNCH, Trucks Venture Capital, Uncork Capital, Kevin Love
Feb 1, 2014	Strateos	$3.0M Seed	—	Altaclub VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Bling Capital, DCVC (Data Collective), Graypes GmbH, IA Ventures, LombardStreet Ventures, MetaProp Ventures, Recode Ventures, SeedInvest, SQN Venture Partners, Torch Capital, Georges Harik, Keith Masback, Rob Bernshteyn, Vince Monical, Yann LeCun

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Brand New Matter.

Leadership Team

Key people at Brand New Matter.

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Brand New Matter (BNM) is a strategic advisory and venture capital firm based in New York City, focused on supporting early-stage companies with both capital and hands-on guidance. The firm’s mission centers on helping startups and emerging ventures succeed by combining deep operational expertise with targeted investment. BNM’s investment philosophy emphasizes backing founders who demonstrate vision, talent, and passion, then providing them with resources and mentorship to maximize the impact of every dollar raised. Its key sectors include real estate, hospitality & leisure, consumer products & services, and information technology. Through its dual role as advisor and investor, Brand New Matter plays a significant role in shaping the startup ecosystem, particularly for companies navigating the critical pre-product and early growth phases.

Origin Story

Founded in 2014, Brand New Matter was established by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and executives, many of whom were founding members of industry giants like Priceline.com and Kayak.com. This background in scaling disruptive travel and technology businesses gave the team firsthand insight into the challenges startups face—especially in product development and market positioning. Over time, BNM evolved from a pure advisory firm into a hybrid venture capital and consulting platform, leveraging its founders’ experience to offer both strategic guidance and financial support. The firm’s early traction came from its unique pre-product workshops, which helped entrepreneurs avoid costly missteps and refine their business models before building out products.

Core Differentiators

Dual-Service Model: Combines strategic advisory with venture capital, offering startups both guidance and funding.
Founder-Led Expertise: Team members are former founders and executives with proven track records in scaling startups.
Pre-Product Workshops: Unique offering that helps entrepreneurs validate ideas and avoid expensive product missteps.
Sector Focus: Deep specialization in real estate, hospitality, consumer services, and IT, allowing for targeted, sector-specific insights.
Hands-On Support: Goes beyond capital to provide operational mentorship, fundraising assistance, and strategic planning.
Network Strength: Leverages connections from the travel and tech industries to open doors for portfolio companies.

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Brand New Matter is riding the trend of hybrid advisory-VC firms that recognize the importance of operational support in early-stage success. As the startup ecosystem becomes more competitive and capital-intensive, firms like BNM are increasingly valued for their ability to de-risk early ventures and accelerate growth. The timing is particularly favorable as more entrepreneurs seek not just funding, but also strategic direction and mentorship. BNM’s focus on pre-product validation and sector-specific expertise positions it as a key player in helping startups navigate the complex journey from idea to market. Its influence extends beyond individual companies, contributing to a more resilient and informed startup ecosystem.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Brand New Matter is well-positioned to expand its impact as the demand for integrated advisory and investment services continues to grow. The firm’s unique blend of operational experience and sector focus will likely attract more startups seeking not just capital, but also strategic guidance. As the venture capital landscape evolves, BNM’s emphasis on founder support and pre-product validation could set a new standard for how early-stage companies are nurtured. The firm’s influence is poised to grow, shaping the next generation of successful startups and reinforcing the importance of hands-on mentorship in the innovation economy.

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Dual-Service Model: Combines strategic advisory with venture capital, offering startups both guidance and funding.
Founder-Led Expertise: Team members are former founders and executives with proven track records in scaling startups.
Pre-Product Workshops: Unique offering that helps entrepreneurs validate ideas and avoid expensive product missteps.
Sector Focus: Deep specialization in real estate, hospitality, consumer services, and IT, allowing for targeted, sector-specific insights.
Hands-On Support: Goes beyond capital to provide operational mentorship, fundraising assistance, and strategic planning.
Network Strength: Leverages connections from the travel and tech industries to open doors for portfolio companies.