FuturePerfect Ventures Is A Small Fund Launched To Back Applications For Big Data

Looking to harness the flood of data streaming from every networked and sensor-enabled smart device, computer, and machine that circumscribe our modern world, FuturePerfect Ventures has launched a small venture fund to focus on the bedeviling problem of big data.

Founded by Jalak Jobanputra, the former director of mobile investments for the Omidyar Network, and previously senior vice president of the New York City Investment Fund,
FuturePerfect Ventures intends to invest in what one person with knowledge of the firm calls interpretive intelligence.

“The thesis is around interpretive intelligence,” the person said. “[Backing] companies that are using all the data that’s being collected and crunching it in ways that are useful for all of us.”

The thesis, the person said, is closer to cognitive computing, than investing around pure data — because the firm is taking into account human intelligence as well as machine learning.

For a small fund, the firm has already made several investments, with over 11 companies already in the FuturePerfect Ventures portfolio.

Companies include the body scanning startup, VirtualU; career advisory and planning company The Muse (formerly The Daily Muse); Kanjoya, which collects unstructured data to give companies information on emotions and behavior that influence customer decisions;
and Fuisz Media, which develops technology for in-video sales and interactions.

“Being thesis driven helps,” our source said of the new fund. Firms can make a name for themselves with a tight concentration on a particular thesis. Entrepreneurs know that the firm will be receptive to their pitches, and the firm becomes more of a “go-to” option with the approach.