Oct 25, 2024

We’re excited to announce our 2024 Catalyst Cohort! Since our first cohort in 2021, Catalyst has been helping founders build scalable, sustainable revenue engines and level up their go-to-market (GTM) with tactical, hands-on guidance from the Stage 2 team and our unrivaled network of elite GTM executive Limited Partners (LPs). Today, we’re beyond excited to welcome our new Catalyst cohort of select companies. We had a record breaking number of applications with exceptionally high caliber founders and companies, making this year the most competitive to date. Choosing the Catalyst Cohort for 2024: At Catalyst, we invest in and support early stage B2B software companies across various industries that are early in their scaling journey. We emphasize the quality of the founding team and company and invest across a range of themes, software, and end markets. With our unique DNA of dual VC-and-GTM lenses, we look for founders who have vision, gritty conviction, and coachability. “We chose Catalyst due to Stage 2 Capital's unparalleled GTM prowess and deep bench of best-in-class industry practitioners,” said Julia Tolmachyov, Co-founder and CEO at DayZero, a 2024 Catalyst company. “We’re at a critical inflection point in our GTM journey as we begin to establish processes and hire a GTM team, and we couldn't be happier to have Stage 2 and their expansive network of LPs by our side. We're looking forward to learning frameworks from the Stage 2 team and tactical execution from practitioners, both of which are a need-to-have for our success.” The 2024 Catalyst companies: Aldoa: Modernizes project management for consultants and engineers by replacing outdated, fragmented systems with an integrated solution American AI Logistics : Empowers businesses to win government contracts by automating and customizing proposal creation. Champion : Drives revenue growth by using data to help companies identify and cultivate true customer advocates. Curated for You : Creates curated online shopping experiences for consumers by leveraging buyer intent signals. DayZero : Uses AI to simplify accounting for small businesses. Haize Labs : Reduces AI errors and hallucinations by identifying and addressing LLM vulnerabilities before they reach production. Korl : Enhances team alignment by automating project management data and transforming them into polished presentations. Nickel : Manages transactions, prevents fraud, and automates sales tax in the construction materials industry. Restoke : Optimizes restaurant and hospitality operations with an AI-powered co-pilot. Trackfly : Empowers retailers and brands with supply chain visibility by providing independent retailers and their suppliers with improved market intelligence. Upwell : Improves cash flow and invoicing efficiency for transportation and logistics companies by automating and modernizing accounts receivable processes. Wizerr AI : Simplifies technical decision-making and accelerates sales cycles in the electronics industry. WingWork : Enhances workflow efficiency and integration in private aviation operations. For our 2024 Catalyst Cohort, we leaned into several trends: Horizontal AI We saw advancement of horizontal AI with more technical applications. Haize Labs, DayZero, Korl, and Champion address specific use-cases that are core to a company’s operations but are applicable across a wide range of industries. For example, DayZero provides easy-to-use accounting, compliance, and financing tools while Korl increases the speed and ease with which product details and updates can be shared both inside and outside a company. Haize Labs is targeting GenAI itself with its pioneering red-teaming protocols. Champion is enabling businesses to better activate, attribute, and track top customer and employee voices. Vertical Solutions and AI This year, we also saw great progress in companies building solutions for historically-underserved sectors. Aldoa, American AI Logistics, Nickel, Restoke, UpWell, WingWork, and Wizerr have created vertical solutions to age-old challenges in industries like construction, logistics, aviation maintenance, sanitation, environmental engineering, restaurant and hospitality operations, government proposals, and computer component datasheets. Improving the Retail Experience We saw unique applications of AI in the retail space with TrackFly and Curated For You. Both companies are introducing new ways for retailers to be more efficient in creating and improving the consumer experience. "We've been laser-focused on transforming the online shopping experience to anticipate our customers' needs and it's resonating with the market. Now it's time to take our growth to the next level, and Stage 2 Capital Catalyst gives us the essential building blocks we need to create a best-in-class growth engine,” remarks Katy Aucoin, Co-Founder and CEO of Curated for You (2024 Catalyst Cohort). Building on Success: Stage 2 Capital Catalyst Enters Fourth Year We’re proud of the impact Catalyst has had on the tech ecosystem. We’ve helped founders focus on sustainable growth and customer value while also managing unit economics and efficiency. For instance, one-third of our 2022 cohort grew from ~$100K ARR to over $1M ARR within a year of graduation. Catalyst has also been instrumental in preparing startups for future investments, with many graduates, including  Metaplane , NodaFi , Rally , and MedScout securing funding rounds shortly after completing the program. After closing a $15M Series A, Skylar Talley, Co-Founder and CEO of MedScout (2022 Catalyst Cohort), reflects on the program’s impact, “Stage 2 Capital Catalyst was a game-changer. It helped us pinpoint exactly where we stood in our journey to product-market fit and provided a clear roadmap to scaling Go-to-Market Fit. Their guidance was foundational in shaping my perspective on essential early-stage company-building, including capitalization and understanding timing and profile for key roles. Catalyst helped us make informed decisions that set us up for sustainable success." As we welcome our 2024 Catalyst Cohort, we would also like to acknowledge the elite GTM executives who have joined us as LPs on this journey. We are proud to see LPs continuing our culture of collaboration and mutual support that remains core to our LP network. And for those eager to follow along with this year’s Catalyst Curriculum, we're thrilled to introduce our LinkedIn series, "Inside Catalyst," giving you a behind-the-scenes look at our program and methods. Each week, we'll be sharing content, tips, and guidance directly from the Catalyst experience. Congrats again to our 2024 Catalyst cohort of amazing founders. We look forward to helping you build scalable, sustainable growth!