Welcome Friends! Well, it’s the season of giving thanks and as you may recall, last year while trying to come up with a new way to thank the same groups of people, we decided to pivot to deal flow awards (though we do still love you just as much, LPs and port co founders).
As a reminder, this came about from all of the times people asked us how we manage to get through so many deal submissions each week without losing our minds. Okay, we’re pretty sure we’ve never been asked this, but if you did ask... the answer would be to find the fun/funny wherever it may be hiding (trust us, there’s a lot of it, usually in plain sight).
This levity-in-the-monotony is something we are truly thankful for and since we’re already jamming a nearly-no-holds-barred word salad on the world every month, we figured why keep all of the fun to ourselves.
(Quick aside: should we translate “levity-in-the-monotony” into Latin and use it as the motto for this awards column in the future? Ala, “e pluribus unum” or “deus ex machina”?)
So, without further ado, we give you our second annual edition of…
The Spammys
(One more quick aside: we really need intro music for this in case anyone wants slap something together. Preferably in the spirit of an ‘80s movie or SNL sketch theme song — think St. Elmo’s Fire, Tiny Elvis, anything by Kenny Loggins, etc.).
Okay, here we go…
Best Cold Email Subject Line
“Matt - are you DTF? (Down to Fund)”
We’re just amazed this had been sitting there this whole time and no one had jumped on it until a few months ago.
If there’s one nit to pick it’s that this would have been even funnier if they had waited to explain the acronym until the end of the email, but still a worthy winner.
Best Company Tagline
Runner-Up:
“Bumble for jobs”
Not necessarily a comp we’d choose for this (or just about any) product, but at least it’s no worse than PG-13…
Winner:
“OnlyFans for zoos”
We… um… you know what, let’s just get out of here before we say something we can’t un-say
Real Startup Name That Most Resembles a Fictional Startup Name You’d Come Up w/For a Movie or TV Show Award
Vandrax Technologies
Best Impersonation of a Russian/Chinese/North Korean Malware Bot Award
Are we allowed to give this to an actual Chinese malware bot? If so, DeepSeek ran away with it. If you thought it was a bad idea to put TikTok on your phone...
Related note, we’re not sure you should be any more comfortable handing your phone’s contents over to Larry Ellison
And before you say, “Yeah, but at least you won’t be helping a self-interested, possibly nefarious actor use disinformation to manipulate public opinion, elections, etc. for self-serving purposes”… well, are you sure that’s not what you’ll be doing? Maybe you could find someone willing to let you watch them dance or pack boxes in real life instead? Just spitballing here.
Best Indavertent Reminder of a Legendary 90’s Commercial Award
To autonomous helicopter company, HELI-D (and maybe the beginning of the end for Purple Stuff Aviation)
Dirtiest, Dullest, and/or Most Dangerous Conference Award
We asked our founders for their most mundane industry conferences and the response was truly incredible. So much so that events like the annual meetings of the Association of Payment Professionals - Risk and Underwriting and the American Public Works Association, Texas Chapter couldn’t make the cut.
In other words, nothing but winners here… but in the spirit of earning our newsletter subscription fees (of $0), we’ll do our best to narrow it down:
Honorable mentions (in no particular order):
Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Summit
Louisiana Parish Engineers And Supervisors Association Fall Conference
Society of Industrial and Office Realtors Spring Conference
World of Asphalt
Runner-up:
RoofCon
And your winner is…
Compost 2025
Congrats to WATS for that winning submission (and Alivo who probably takes this in any other year)
Best Shamelessly Self-Promoting Award Award⬆️
Nailed it
Most Words Used to Provide the Least Amount of Information Award
“Empowering Built Infrastructure to Thrive: Robust Solutions for a Lasting Future.”
Closest We’ve Come to Regretting Our Investment Thesis Award
Product description: “Adult Diaper Smart Wearables”
Yes, this is real
Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like
Yes, we absolutely walked ourselves right into this
No, we still have no regrets. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
(In fairness, this did seem to be a legit product and was quite well presented… but still…)
Best Founder Response to a Pass Award
“Ok! But keep an eye out for us bc we are going places!”
It is not easy to say “you worthless fools will regret this” (which we do occassionally get) while sounding respectful, positive and upbeat (which is mostly what we get), but they nailed it. Well done.
Folks, Some Human Effort is Still Required Here Award
“We see you invest in , and we thought you’d be a great fit” [yes, it really had a blank there]
The ubiquitous use of AI-generated emails for funding outreach is probably inevitable, but you could at least make the effort to fill out the Bot Mad Lib.
Worst AI Bot Name
Tie between “Pete,” and “Cindy”
Founders, we need to talk about this (again). You cannot give your AI bot a common human name. As we noted last year, think about naming your bot like you’d think about naming your dog. Have you ever met a dog named “Mike”? Exactly.
Best AI Bot Name Award
Runner Up
Sparky (from our friends at Beagle Labs)
We feel seen
Winner:
Takeoff Monkey
They get it.
One-Percentiest Product Award
(Always our favorite category)
Runner Up
[Name redacted] - An app for livestreaming animal enclosures at zoos (and our first ever two-category nominee!)
Problem: “Zoos See 10x More Attendance than the NFL. So Why Are NFL Revenues 10x More than Zoos?”
This was clearly written by someone who hasn’t been awakened at 6am on a Saturday by two kids jumping on them, or they’d know that 9.99x of that attendance delta was just parents’ default answer for “How the hell am I going to entertain these two for the next 12 hours?”
Winner
[Name redacted, but as icing on the cake, it’s ripped off from a song so well known it’s been played at a Super Bowl halftime show] - “The nightlife platform Gen Z actually wants”
“The problem? Young people often decide to go out spontaneously, but waste time figuring out where to go. We’re solving this with live activity maps, local group chats, and tools to discover, create, or join parties anywhere, all in one place.”
No seriously, this is really cutting into Gen Z’s training of Larry Ellison’s future mass-mind-control bots.
Jokes aside, if you’re serious about starting a tech company and it even once occurred to you to build a startup focused on something your immediate circle of friends does in their leisure time, we would strongly encourage you to push pause, close your eyes and point to a spot on a map of the US, pack a backpack (and only a backpack), take a bus there (not a train or a car, and definitely not a plane; a bus), check yourself into a motel (with an “m” not an “h”), and stay there until you realize you were born halfway between third base and home (with no outs and a .380 hitter at the plate ) and you need to look outside your personal bubble for problems to solve because you and your friends have never had a real problem in all of your lives combined.
While you’re at it, consider spending some meaningful time outside of SF lest you wake up one day and find you’re on a podcast, introducing yourself and your abhorrent friends as “the besties”.
Not Quite Sure How to Feel About This Award
To this email…
On the one hand — Do we have a stalker to worry about here?
On the other hand — We have a stalker! Does just any run-of-the-mill VC warrant stalking? Didn’t think so.
What a moment.
That will do it for the 2025 Spammys!
Many thanks to all who participated (intentionally or otherwise). You truly delighted us once again. Please keep them coming so we can do this again next year.
Levitas in taedio. (It works, right?)
Robotics is Entering its Breakout Moment
The latest Q3 data makes one thing clear: Robotics is accelerating as manufacturing deployments hit record highs, healthcare robotics crossed major commercial milestones, and AI-powered automation is moving from pilot to production across every “unsexy” sector of the economy.
This is exactly the moment we’ve been building toward at C2 Ventures.
Our thesis has always been simple: The biggest opportunities live in the Dirty, Dull, and Dangerous, and robotics with AI integrated are finally transforming those industries at scale.
As physical AI matures, labor pressure rises, sensors become cheaper, and robotics infrastructure becomes plug-and-play, the adoption curve has officially shifted.
2026 is shaping up to be a breakout year for automation.
And the next generation of category-defining robotics companies is being built now, and we’re backing the founders on the front lines of that shift.
What Keeps Coming Up in Every Conversation
Chris has been talking to a lot of founders and VCs this month, and one thing keeps creeping into every conversation:
Everyone wants returns on a year 5 timeline… but all the real outcomes still happen in year 10–12.
It doesn’t matter how markets cycle or how much AI hype gets pumped in. Building a billion-dollar company still takes a decade. Minimum.
Yes, there will be earlier wins: the singles, doubles, and steady capital-returning moments. But the unicorns? The generational outcomes? They require patience, endurance, and teams that simply refuse to die.
If a company is still standing in year 8 or 9, that’s usually a green flag.
Struggling companies don’t survive that long.
And that’s been the throughline in every conversation lately:
conviction + time > everything else.
Especially now, as early-stage B2B, robotics, and automation collide with AI. Legacy industries are being rebuilt from the inside out. Construction, manufacturing, logistics, energy, and field services are all going through their biggest shift since the internet.
This moment massively favors early-stage investors who are willing to underwrite the long game, not chase the hot hand.
AI is finally hitting the dirty, dull, and dangerous parts of the economy where it actually moves the needle.
The upside starts now.
The outcomes, as always, will take time.
Boostr Celebrates 10 Years of Innovation
Boostr is marking a major milestone this month: a full decade of building tools that move the media industry forward. To commemorate the moment, CEO Patrick O’Leary shared a special anniversary message recorded in the Redwoods — the same place where the name Boostr was first envisioned.
From the beginning, Boostr has been guided by a simple mission:
build great products that solve important problems and deliver exceptional service.
That commitment has carried the company from its roots as a specialized CRM to today’s unified Ad Management Platform used by leading media organizations.
As Boostr celebrates ten years, the team is also looking ahead to its next breakthrough:
The Boostr AI Agent Series
This new innovation represents a major step forward in applying AI to real operational challenges, automating repetitive tasks, improving accuracy, and unlocking operational excellence across the ad lifecycle.
Boostr credits its clients as the driving force behind this progress, shaping the platform through their partnership, feedback, and ambition.
Here’s to the next decade, the best is yet to come.
Watch Patrick’s full message and learn more about Boostr’s AI-powered future
Airports Going Green®
We are proud to share an update from portfolio company WATS, which is partnering with LaGuardia Gateway Partners and the Memphis–Shelby County Airport Authority as they advance new initiatives in sustainable materials management.
WATS continues to demonstrate how data intelligence can transform airport operations. Their platform provides the standardized, actionable waste and materials data that leaders need to build effective, measurable, and truly sustainable programs.
As WATS connects with more airports across the country, the mission remains clear:
Better data leads to greener, more efficient airports.
C2V is excited to support their momentum and the growing demand for smarter sustainability infrastructure in aviation.
Civ Robotics Founder on Winning Over Tech Skeptics
Civ Robotics co-founder and CEO Tom Yeshurun published a new SmartBrief article on one of the construction industry’s biggest challenges: bringing innovation to teams that are wary of new technology.
Drawing from his field experience, Tom outlines why skepticism is so common in traditional industries — from deep trust in long-standing methods to budget concerns and past negative tech experiences. He shares practical strategies for introducing automation and AI that reduce risk, fit existing workflows, and lower the effort required to try something new.
Tom also emphasizes the importance of securing buy-in from the right decision-makers and staying patient — because in construction, a “no” today often becomes a “yes” once teams see the real-world value.
It’s a thoughtful look at how to drive adoption in sectors where innovation is needed most.
Gripp Featured on The Germinate Podcast
Tracey Wiedmeyer, co-founder of Gripp, was featured on The Germinate Podcast to discuss how the platform is transforming maintenance tracking across agriculture and beyond.
Introduced through connections at FEMA, Tracey shared Gripp’s origin story inside Purdue University’s venture studio, Dial Labs, where the team set out to solve one of ag’s most persistent operational challenges: fragmented, paper-based equipment record-keeping.
On the podcast, Tracey walks through how Gripp’s “dead-simple” QR code tagging system enables farmers to log maintenance, access manuals, capture videos, and preserve tribal knowledge — all with a single scan. With no training required and universal accessibility, Gripp has quickly stood out in a space crowded by hardware-heavy solutions, including at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Ag Innovation Challenge.
While Gripp was built for agriculture, its design philosophy — simplicity, empathy, and scalability — is driving adoption across construction, manufacturing, and other maintenance-intensive industries.
Why 2025 Is a Breakthrough Year for Zero-Waste
2025 has become a reality check for zero-waste goals. Many companies across consumer goods, industry, and commercial real estate are discovering they’re far off track — not because of a lack of intention, but because waste data remains fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to measure.
As regulatory pressure rises, tenant expectations increase, and disposal costs climb, organizations are being forced to confront the limits of their current systems.
This year marks a turning point: a shift from broad aspirations to clearer measurement, better data practices, and more realistic strategies for reaching long-term waste and circularity goals.
Gripp Launches on All Walkabout® Mother Bin Models
Walkabout® Mother Bins has announced that all of its grain storage models will now come equipped with Gripp, the asset-tracking and maintenance app developed by C2V portfolio company Gripp. Through QR codes on each bin, operators can instantly access service videos, manuals, parts ordering, and a shared maintenance history — making it easier for teams to manage equipment in the field.
Walkabout CEO Dave Hedt described the integration as a major step in improving customer support and real-time access to equipment information. Gripp co-founder Tracey Wiedmeyer noted that the partnership reflects Gripp’s mission to deliver simple, practical tools built for operators, not office workflows.
The rollout gives Walkabout customers a more efficient, connected, and transparent way to manage the equipment that keeps their harvest operations moving.
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