Verify Venture Studio has been quietly building ideas since its founders left Nike and went out on their own. This month they announced their first investment in a company not founded in-house.
The team is backing Settlement Intelligence, a software company that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate letters that are part of the legal settlement process.
As part of this investment Settlement will receive in-kind services from Verify, which specializes in building new brands or product lines using human-centered design and the lean startup framework.
Once there is sufficient traction, capital investment could follow said Verify partner Russell McLemore.
“This partnership is a significant milestone for Settlement Intelligence. It will allow us to grow our team, extend our product offerings, and reach a wider audience of legal professionals,” said Settlement CEO Charlette Sinclair in a written statement.
Verify has a team of 12 with six here in Portland.
What is Verify Venture studio?
Verify Venture Studio launched in 2019. Among its founders are a group of ex-Nike employees who at one point in their careers had all worked in Nike’s in-house innovation hub Valiant Labs.
They are part of a growing trend in the Portland metro of Nike alums starting their own businesses. In this case, the Verify team saw a way to take their expertise to help start other new businesses.
As a venture studio, the business is part consulting and part idea hub. On the consulting side, the team works with brands ranging from large companies like retailers Target Corp. and REI Co-op and manufacturers like Nike. On the smaller end it has worked with companies in the $30 million revenue range, said McLemore.
The firm takes the money earned through consulting then puts it back into its own startup portfolio. Those startups could be ideas generated in-house or working with founders of existing startups. The firm has not taken any of its own outside investment. It launched with capital pooled by the founding partners, said co-founder Kirk Dahlgren.
So far the company has incubated four ideas: three have been in-house and Settlement is the first idea with an external entrepreneur. The three in-house ideas are:
- Clean Age, an all natural, sustainable and gender-neutral personal care brand. This startup was a finalist in the 2022 Bend Venture Conference.
- 30 Second Dance Party, a toy company, that the firm sold to an entrepreneur in 2022.
- A software-as-a-service company focused on digital marketing insights and analytics. This company is still in development.
Verify’s team was introduced to Sinclair and Settlement through mutual connections. Sinclair and her co-founder Aaron DeShaw both have experience in the legal profession and generating the demand letters that Settlement performs.
McLemore and Dahlgren expect that their robust networks, as well as Nike alums, will make up the bulk of their business development efforts. But they also said they look for ideas that have compelling teams and domain expertise.
Several of Verify’s partners started Valiant Labs inside Nike in 2015.
“We were there four or five years and decided we were having a good time but saw opportunity to do this for ourselves and others,” he said, adding that he is excited to be part of this wave of Nike alums taking on entrepreneurship.
“We are seeing a healthy surge in people knowing there is life outside some of the large companies,” he said.
Verify Partner Kirk Dahlgren agreed.
“When we started (Valiant Labs) there were 12 of us and over three and half years it grew to 120 people. For so much of the original crew we were less in the trenches building the business. I just missed getting my hands dirty with startups,” he said of his reason to launch Verify.
Both said they thought the influx will only help boost the region’s startup profile.
