AZ Disruptors, the startup incubator created by Hamid and Lawdan Shojaee, has made its first two investments in Arizona software companies after it announced a $10 million fund in February.
Tuned, a fintech company for independent traders, and Nurture Boss, a marketing platform for multifamily housing managers, are the first two startups to receive funding from AZ Disruptors.
Hamid Shojaee declined to disclose the size of AZ Disruptors' investments in the two companies, but according to the AZ Disruptors' website companies can receive anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000 in funding depending on the stage of the company.
AZ Disruptors announced in February that it would be investing $10 million in 100 different Arizona startups. Hamid Shojaee is the founder of Valley software companies Axosoft and PureChat. Shojaee also recently revived AZTechBeat, a website for local technology news, which included a new podcast where he talks with other business players in the Valley. His wife, Lawdan, is currently the COO at GitKraken, an Axosoft product.
“I love entrepreneurs, I love software, I love tech and this is sort of like bringing all of these things together," Hamid Shojaee said in a previous interview. "And my wife is very much on board and supportive and wants to make an impact with me on this.”
Pitches being accepted
AZ Disruptors is accepting pitches on its website, both for startups seeking funding and other investors looking to get involved. An emphasis will be placed on women-owned startups.
Here's a quick look at the first two startups that received the funding:
• Scottsdale-based Tuned allows users to develop, automate and monetize their own trading strategies using bots. Co-founder Alkarim Nasser described the company’s goal to “level the playing field between Wall Street and the independent trader” in a blog post from October.
Nasser and fellow co-founder Anurag Gulati previously worked at Facebook, and Tuned is currently hiring.
• Nurture Boss is a mobile marketing platform for multifamily residential facilities to communicate with both prospective tenants and current residents. The platform launched in May 2020, and in December the company announced that it had received seed funding from a group led by PHX Ventures.
The company was co-founded by Jacob Carter, the current CEO, and Aaron Pierson, the chief product officer.
In an interview last month, Shojaee described how there is a lack of funding for early stage companies in the state, and he is hoping to remedy that.
“Even if we lose this $10 million, that's OK. It was a risk worth taking to see if we can make a dent in that problem.”
