Jim Brailean

Dedicated funds investing in high-growth enterprise software firms through transactions with existing shareholders. Since our founding in 2013, we have invested in leading software companies across many verticals.

Co-founded with Karen Brailean, BFT Equity Partners advises and invests in companies trying to take a disruptive technology or manufacturing process to market. Portfolio companies include Intelligent Blends, Flock Freight, BURL Concepts, Freedom Flight, Atmosfy, Mobix Labs, Permission.io, Tenant Base, Tern Inc, Tillable, Matcherino, and Omnislash.

Formed in 2016 by Jim Brailean (entrepreneur and technologist) and Christian Buckley (entrepreneur and technology lawyer), Pelagos Ventures leverages decades of experience in leadership, negotiation, strategy, innovation, operations, and funding to find, help, and fund great new ideas. Over the years, we have had the privilege of building, helping, or funding a variety of significant business and non-profit organizations. We work within a network of funders, experts, and advisers to bring capital and strategic relationships to new ventures. ​Our current efforts include: ​ - TenantBase - e-commerce CRE leasing platform (scaling revenue, mid-venture) - Peachjar - SaaS school and community email communications platform (scaling revenue, mid-venture) - Flock Freight- big data optimization algorithm and service for LTL shipping (unicorn, venture growth) - Matcherino - event management and e-funding platform for e-sports (early revenue, early-venture) - BURL Concepts - brain ultrasound for stroke and profusion detection (pre-revenue, mid-venture) - Freedom Flight Works- air/land tactical mobility and logistics solutions (early -revenue (confidential), Seed) - ​Intelligent Blends - single-serving coffee production for private in-house label (high revenue, LP) - Valona Labs - mobile device management and security (sold to HMD Nokia in 2020)​ - Coacing.com

Co-founded with Dr. Thilo Hoelscher, BURL Concepts (www.burlconcept.com) is developing the BURL Device, a portable, battery-powered ultrasound device designed for the non-invasive, transcranial diagnosis of strokes ‘In The Field’. Using disposable ultrasound transducers it works in combination with ultrasound microbubbles. Acoustic Response Analysis (ARA) has been developed as an innovative technology to adapt automatically the acoustic output power to the individual skull ‘finger print’ of a patient. Based on acoustic pattern recognition ARA allows to differentiate between underlying hemorrhagic or ischemic events as a cause for the stroke. The BURL Device carries wireless technology for real-time data transfer to a dedicated location. BURL Concepts is part of the BFT Equity Partners portfolio of companies.

Our mission is to reimagine and reinvent the freight industry by relentlessly eliminating waste and inefficiency through algorithmic pooling. Pooled shipments do not pick up and deliver along inefficient LTL routes, reducing greenhouse gas emissions up to 40%. Our proprietary product, FlockDirect, seamlessly pools multiple freight shipments on a single truck to create efficiencies for carriers, savings for customers, and a smooth experience for all. Our innovative algorithm would be nothing without our brilliant people, who obsess over growing our customer base, developing our carrier network, and improving our technology platform. Flock Freight aims to fundamentally change the freight industry across North America with FlockDirect—one pooled shipment at a time.

Mobile and IoT cybersecurity software company. The business was acquired by HMD Global (The New Nokia) in June of 2020.

Snaptracs, a recent investment by Karmel Capital and BFT Equity Partners, is the maker of Tagg the Pet Tracker. Tagg was developed by Qualcomm specifically to monitor a pets location and activity. Pet owners are alerted through text, push and email messages if their pet leaves a preset location. By monitoring a pet's activity, Tagg's cloud service is able to monitor a pet's health and wellness, providing useful information to both the pet's guardian and their vet. In January 2016 we merged with Whistle, another pet-tech business focused on pet safety. The combined business was sold to Mars Inc in January of 2016.