🐝 Issue #31: Cross Campus Pollination
Major Fintech initiatives in Claremont, blood testing on demand, 2022 fundraises, and mealworms for breakfast
💬 Welcome to issue #31 of Between the Lines
One of the most challenging parts about writing this newsletter is somehow trying to fit all of the impressive Claremont tech news in just one weekly newsletter. Claremont alumni somehow seem to be everywhere! Professors are driving new cross-campus fintech initiatives, Claremont companies are doubling in valuations, founders are serving up crickets for lunch, and everybody wants to hire Claremont talent. Carry on, shed no tears for us…
~ Josh & Miles
📢 👥 Community Voices: Professors Michael Imerman & Nishant Dass
Dr. Michael Imerman is an Associate Professor of Finance in the Drucker School of Management at CGU and Prof. Nishant Dass is the Charles M. Stone Associate Professor of Finance in the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at CMC and the Director of CMC’s Financial Economics Institute (FEI). Together, they have launched a new fintech initiative that is being funded by the BLAIS Award.
“So, here’s the thing — a lot of folks mistake fintech with either just cryptocurrencies or the payments sector, and somehow brush it aside as just another short-lived obsession of some. However, that is a huge misconception. The reason I am excited about Fintech is because it is the future of finance, not just the latest fad. Fintech, in the broadest sense of the word, is anything at the intersection of technology and finance. As such, it includes applications of AI/ML or IoT in Finance, and spans areas as diverse as insurance, asset management, regulations, and yes, payments as well. If the future of finance lies in these areas, then it is incumbent upon us as educators at premier institutions to prepare our students for that future.”
Both professors share specifics about what has them the most excited for this cross-campus initiative as well as some of the other exciting work they have their hands in this semester. 👇
📣🩸Pardon the Announcement: Blood Testing on Demand
Back in 2019, CMC alumnus Sam Corcos helped co-found Levels. Now, Levels is an a16z-backed health tech company, here to help you see how food affects your health. By leveraging biosensors like continuous glucose monitors (CGM), Levels provides real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Their members are using personalized data to discover their optimal diet, control their weight, and reduce long-term health risks.
They also just launched their new product — the Levels Metabolic Health Panel, a set of blood tests with convenient in-home sample collection by a licensed phlebotomist. Read more about it here.
💼 Who’s Hiring?:
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) is an early-stage investment fund and technology accelerator based in NYC. Since 2011, ERA has invested in 265+ companies (including three “unicorns”) through its accelerator platform. Pitzer alumnus Ritika Rao is currently working with ERA and helping them find a new Program Associate. Candidates or community members can also email Ritika directly if they're interested in learning more about the role and company, or want to chat about the best desserts in NYC (spoiler: it's City Cakes).
Looking for someone with 2-4 years of experience in operations, logistics, and/or business development. Ideal role for someone who wants to work with startups and enjoys building and managing stakeholder relationships.
Hiki, meaning "able" in Hawaiian, is the first-ever social ecosystem for the Neurodivergent community. It is a space where neurodiversity is embraced and being atypical is celebrated. Founder Jamil Karriem founded Hiki almost three years ago and is now looking to hire a contractor or consultant database schema expert (GraphQL & PostgreSQL) and a contractor or consultant DevOps role who specializes in Kubernetes. Interested or know someone? Email Jamil.
AgVend is the leading provider of digital engagement software to serve the producer of tomorrow. Their white-labeled information and commerce portals are designed to strengthen the relationship between the ag distribution channel and their grower-customers. Co-Founded in 2017 by Claremont alumnus Alexander Reichert, Agvend operates a distributed organization model with local coverage in all major US and Canadian ag regions. They’re looking for some Claremont folks to join the team (agricultural experience isn’t required nor is location):
Seth Winterroth is a Claremont graduate and a Partner at Eclipse Ventures. Seth and the team are looking for a talented Venture Associate. This role is an integral part of the investment team, responsible for sourcing and evaluating potential startups for our early-stage portfolio. Great candidates should possess a blend of both analytical and communication skills, as the role is responsible for developing relationships with entrepreneurs, other investors, and the wider ecosystem; while also synthesizing data from a variety of sources to uncover opportunities and build investment theses.
Make sure to check out the other 5,000+ open jobs at 400+ Claremont-affiliated companies here on our Storyboard. Plus, make sure to create a profile and enter your preferences to get alerted to new job postings relevant to you, be they the 750+ remote-jobs, 180+ internships, or 30+ part-time positions available. We’ve published research that shows that Claremont-founded companies that disproportionately hire Claremont talent outperform — so pay attention Claremonsters!
As always, if any of these roles catch your eye 👀 , apply and mention Between the Lines. Or if you are an employer and are looking to hire tip-top Claremont talent, fill out this form to have your jobs featured.
🗣️ Conversations on the Interwebz:
This week’s top read 🔥
Dremio, co-founded by PO graduate Jacques Nadeau, is a high-performance SQL (data) lakehouse that helps to accelerate BI and Analytics directly on cloud data lake storage. Oh, and they happened to double their valuation to $2B in less than a year.
Everything else you need to know….📖
Humu is a human resources company that aims to make work better with a combination of science, machine learning, and a little bit of love. Co-founded by PO alumnus Laszlo Bock almost five years ago, Humu just finished raising their $60M Series C.
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🍽️ BTL Snacks:
🔑 The unexpected key to the metaverse….. the metaverse is coming, and Matterport, co-founded by Claremont graduate Michael Beebe (HMC), is quietly helping make it possible
📚 Too old to be a child prodigy….. Novelist Tom Lin (PO), the author of The Thousand Crimes of Min Tsu, which he started in his dorm at Pomona, talks about his short tenure thus far and his new novel
🐛 Crickets, mealworms, and grasshoppers….. have just been approved for human consumption. Hear what Pat Crowley (CMC), founder of Chapul Farms, has been up to ensure future food security for the world
📈 Emerging crypto platform leader….. Ozone, co-founded by CMC alumnus Ben Colman, is a series of interconnected web 3.0 technologies dedicated to making life easier with the help of blockchain technology
Feedback? We love to hear it. Hit us with an email. 👊🏼