David Karol

Yala Greek Ice Cream brings the beloved flavors and traditions of Greek ice cream, perfected over generations, to the U.S. Inspired by “Papou,” our founder’s grandfather who left his village in Greece with a dream and brought his loving heart and pride in making things the best to America.

Spargo Space is building the infrastructure backbone for in-space refueling. We develop AI-enabled, refuellable orbital propellant depots and the autonomous docking systems required to service them. Our focus is infrastructure-scale logistics: repeatable, high-throughput propellant storage and transfer that enables sustained spacecraft operations without reliance on single-use propulsion margins. Space missions are fundamentally constrained by onboard propellant. This drives conservative mission design, shortened lifetimes, and inefficient architectures. Most refueling efforts focus on small demonstrations or one-off servicing. We are building scalable logistics infrastructure. Spargo Space is developing 2000 kg orbital fuel depots capable of storing and transferring hydrazine and cryogenic propellants at operational scale. These depots are paired with closed-loop autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, and propellant transfer systems designed for repeatability, fault tolerance, and minimal ground intervention. Our core technologies include long-duration propellant storage, hydrazine and cryogenic-compatible docking and transfer interfaces with thermal isolation and robust sealing, AI-augmented GNC for autonomous RPOD under degraded sensing, and modular architectures supporting multiple vehicle classes and mission profiles. Near-term applications include life extension for spacecraft in LEO and cislunar space, logistics support for stations and orbital platforms, refueling nodes for tugs and servicers, and enabling higher-energy missions without dedicated launch stages. We treat autonomy as a core operational requirement. Our systems are engineered for repeated docking cycles, standardized interfaces, and scalable propellant throughput. Our mission is to make propellant a service, not a constraint, and enable persistent operations in Earth orbit and beyond.

New York Angels is a member-led organization committed to finding, funding and mentoring great young companies from pitch through successful exit. Our 120+ members are entrepreneurs, CEOs, venture capitalists and business leaders who have founded, funded and built world-class companies. We come from a wide array of industry backgrounds and together create an extensive network of entrepreneurial support. We mentor and coach the entrepreneurs in whom we invest, serve on their boards, provide contacts and assist with team building, strategic planning and fundraising. The mission of New York Angels is to foster an engaged and smart New York City angel investment environment in an effort to enhance the opportunities for entrepreneurs to be financed and succeed through exit. We provide opportunities for our members to obtain outstanding financial returns by investing in early-stage companies and accelerating them to market leadership. We lead and participate in investments ranging from $100,000–$2,000,000, and have a large network of angel groups and venture capital firms with whom we syndicate to do rounds up to $3 million. New York Angels has been the leading seed investment organization in NYC since 2004, with members investing over $112 million into more than 270 exciting startup companies. Through their participation in New York Angels, members were the first investors in such startups as Pinterest and Comixology, and portfolio companies have been acquired by Google, Intel, CBS, Living Social and others.

Mana Ventures is a San Francisco based VC firm that invests in early stage software and deep tech companies. Angel List syndicate: https://angel.co/mana-ventures/syndicate

The Venture Cooperative is a free educational program and inclusive community that makes Laconias investments, processes, and learnings accessible for the next generation of early stage investors. The first of its kind, this structure expands financial access into the asset class and sheds light on the inner workings of a venture firm. . Members financially share in our success, participate in our investment processes, share expertise within our community, and collaborate with early stage founders. Apply for our next cohort here: https://bit.ly/3e0VPjm

Yala Greek Ice Cream brings the beloved flavors and traditions of Greek ice cream, perfected over generations, to the U.S. Inspired by “Papou,” our founder’s grandfather who left his village in Greece with a dream and brought his loving heart and pride in making things the best to America.