Sandbox Industries

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Sandbox Industries is a United States venture capital firm and startup foundry based in Chicago. The firm operates two primary branches of business: the startup foundry, which creates, invests in, and grows its own tech-enabled startups; and the BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners team, which has an exclusive partnership with BCBS to manage and invest the company's two Funds.

History

Sandbox was founded in Chicago in 2003 by Bob Shapiro and Nick Rosa. In March 2012, the firm opened a second office located in San Francisco.[1][2]

The Foundry

Sandbox's startup foundry employs entrepreneurs, called Founders-in-Residence, who are tasked with researching and testing the viability of a startup concept. Successful tests are launched into businesses, run by a Founder-in-Residence and helped by an internal team of developers, designers, accountants, and communications specialists. These companies are provided with seed funding, mentorship, and office space in exchange for equity.[3]

Sandbox Foundry portfolio companies include CakeStyle,[4] doggyloot,[5] Lab42,[6] and Marbles: The Brain Store.[7]

BCBSVP

Sandbox has an exclusive partnership with BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners to manage and invest BCBSVP Funds I and II.[8] This team researches healthcare-related startups which, if invested in, could further BlueCross and BlueShield's own goals or provide it with insight into industry trends, and makes recommendations to the venture partners.[9]

Funds

Sandbox Industries manages five Funds. Two are traditional funds: Sandbox Venture Fund and Sandbox Advantage Fund; and three are Collaborative Investment Vehicles: Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners I, L.P., Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners II, L.P., and Cultivian Sandbox Food and Agriculture Fund II.

Sandbox Venture Fund

Sandbox Venture Fund (SVF) invests primarily in Sandbox Industries' Foundry companies. SVF invested in doggyloot in April 2011[10]

Sandbox Advantage Fund

Sandbox Advantage Fund (SAF) invests in consumer technology, food and agriculture, and healthcare-related startups. SAF invested $1M in CakeStyle in 2012.[11]

Collaborative Investment Vehicles

A Collaborative Investment Vehicle, or a CIV, is an investment model pioneered by Sandbox Industries; the first Fund to use this model was Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners I, L.P. CIVs invest in new businesses that are of strategic relevance to the Fund's corporate investors. These investors then become potential customers or acquirers for those startups in which the fund invests. Sandbox Industries manages three CIVs: Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners I, L.P.;[12] Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners II, L.P.;[13] and Cultivian Sandbox Food and Agriculture Fund II.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners Funds I and II

Sandbox Industries is the Fund manager for BCBSVP Funds I and II, which are CIVs that invest in healthcare-related startups of strategic relevance to BlueCross BlueShield. BCBSVP has made investments in Bloom Health,[14] Nexidia,[15] and Patientco,[16] among others.[17]

Cultivian Sandbox Food and Agriculture Fund II

Cultivian Sandbox is a partnership between Cultivian Ventures and Sandbox Industries which invests in food and agriculture technology companies (www.cultiviansbx.com)

New Business Accelerators

Sandbox Industries has founded two new business accelerators, Healthbox and Excelerate. Both programs aim to help teams grow their startups, advance their business models quickly, and get in front of potential investors.

Healthbox

Healthbox, founded in 2011 and a strategic partner of BCBSVP, is a three-month startup accelerator program that provides seed capital, mentorship, office space, and advisors to healthcare-related companies.[18] The Healthbox program culminates with an Investor Day, during which teams present their business and progress in front of angel and corporate investors. The accelerator launched its first program in Chicago in January 2012,[19] its second in Boston in August 2012,[20] and its third in London in October 2012.[21] Healthbox was founded by Nina Nashif, who was named one of Crain's Chicago Business' Tech 50 in 2012.[22]

Excelerate

Excelerate, founded in 2010 and based in Chicago, is a three-month startup accelerator program for tech-enabled startups.[23] It provides 10 teams with office space, seed capital, mentorship, and advisors, culminating with a Demo Day where teams present their business models and progress during the program to angel and corporate investors. Excelerate was named one of Tech Cocktail's Top 15 USA Startup Accelerators in 2012.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Betaworks With A Twist: Sandbox Brings Its Startup Foundry To San Francisco, TechCrunch, April 2012
  2. ↑ Sandbox Industries Plays In San Francisco, Raises Funds, WSJ Venture Capital Dispatch, April 2012
  3. ↑ Become an Entrepreneur--No Idea Required, Inc., April 2012
  4. ↑ The 25 Coolest New Businesses In Chicago, Business Insider, October 2012
  5. ↑ DoggyLoot: 12 years after Pets.com, is now the time for online sales of pet products?, VentureBeat, September 2012
  6. ↑ Who Will Social Media Users Vote For? (INFOGRAPHIC), Mashable, October 2012
  7. ↑ Lost Your Marbles? Consider Them Found!, ChicagoNow, January 2012
  8. ↑ BlueCross BlueShield, BMW, Best Buy, And De Beers Venture Into New Investments, Fast Company, February 2012
  9. ↑ Startup Fever Grips Chicago Companies, From Blues To Law Firms, Crain's Chicago Business, October 2012
  10. ↑ doggyloot Raises Funding from Sandbox Ventures, FinSMEs, April 2011
  11. ↑ CakeStyle Raises $1M To Bring Handpicked Women’s Fashion To Your Doorstep, TechCrunch, August 2012
  12. ↑ BlueCross BlueShield Closes $116M Debut Fund, Dow Jones VentureWire, November 2008
  13. ↑ BlueCross BlueShield Closes Second Health Venture Fund At $176M, Dow Jones VentureWire, June 2011
  14. ↑ Startup Bloom Health raised $5M, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, January 2010
  15. ↑ Nexidia Secures over $23 Million in New Equity Funding, BusinessWire, October 2010
  16. ↑ Healthcare Expense Management Leader Patientco Receives $3.75M in funding led by BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners and Sandbox Industries, PR Newswire, August 2012
  17. ↑ BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners on CrunchBase, CrunchBase, December 2012
  18. ↑ Thinking Outside the Box About Healthcare, World Business Chicago, November 2011
  19. ↑ Chicago health-focused startup chooses 10 firms for first class, Chicago Tribune, December 2011
  20. ↑ Healthbox arrives in Cambridge, with 10 healthcare startups and a partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston.com, August 2012
  21. ↑ Bupa and Serco back healthcare start-up scheme, The Telegraph, June 2012
  22. ↑ Meet Chicago's Tech 50, Crain's Chicago Business, September 2012
  23. ↑ 150 Resources for Tech Startups, DailyTekk, April 2012
  24. ↑ Top 15 US Startup Accelerators Ranked; Y Combinator and TechStars on Top, Tech Cocktail, August 2012

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