Scott Stern

Partner at Origin Ventures

📍 DuPage County, Illinois, United States🔄 Updated September 2026💼 15 investments📅 9 years investing🗓 Last invested Nov 2022
Angel investor🌍 United States
15
Total investments
4
Early stage
9
Mid stage
1
Late stage
9y
Years active

Portfolio

15 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Board Observer
Nov 2022
Save time, stay compliant and save money while creating the best leave experience for your employees. Tilt is a third-party leave administration software built with our own proprietary technology and automation, backed by leave law experts, software engineers, and Leave Success Managers that blend software and the human touch. The problem is that you’re overworked, unsure, and unsupported. The average leave takes 25 hours to manually manage, and getting it wrong can mean lawsuits which can end up costing nearly $78,000. You want a smoother process and assurance that you’re legally compliant, but: you don’t have the bandwidth, time, budget, or expertise, and great dedicated leave management that works is hard to find. Confusing spreadsheets, random email chains or not offering anything are just temporary fixes that end up costing your company thousands of dollars each year while you and your employees are left feeling lost. You need a solution that will scale for you and with you. That’s why Tilt was created. To make leave NOT suck. Sparked by one too many unjust leave experiences, our Founder and CEO Jen Henderson has been leading this charge since 2017 because she knew there had to be a better way. And it’s here. With streamlined processes, an HR dashboard, employee views, compliance and management for all leave types, HRIS integration, payroll calculations, and a dedicated Tilter for you and your employee to offer support through the entire journey. Tilt will save you time, money, and undue stress. When an employee requests a leave, we’ll automatically determine eligibility, create custom step-by-step instructions, track FMLA usage along with any other time they quality for, calculate their payroll, and put in all in one place for you and them to see. Finally, have time to be there for your people and help your company thrive, but for a price you can invest in. Book some time to chat with us. https://hellotilt.com/
Board Member
Jun 2022
Cloverleaf is on a mission to ensure every team thrives with people doing work that energizes them. Our Automated Coaching™ provides short, actionable nudges in the flow of work so that people can learn, apply, and grow in the moment. Using industry-leading assessments on a centralized platform, we help build human skills at scale. Get context specific coaching, find side-by-side insights of teammates, or journal on the tips that resonate the most with you. You can even get Daily Coaching in workplace tools like email, Slack, and MS Teams. Cloverleaf supports Talent Development, Learning, and HR leaders in democratizing coaching. Automated Coaching™ is built on four pillars that transform learning opportunities into real development for everyone in your organization: 1. Personalization For Every Individual 2. Continuous Learning In The Flow Of Work 3. Scalable Technology That Democratizes Development 4. Delivering ROI For The Organization We’ve helped hundreds of thousands of humans in the biggest brands across the globe unlock effective teamwork with short microlearning each day. Every day, people in companies around the world harness personalized insights to drive powerful, collaborative change. Experience bite-sized learning that helps you and your team work better together immediately. Shift from information overload to coaching for your situation at your fingertips– all through the magic of Automated Coaching™.
Board Observer
Mar 2022
We believe in affordable compute solutions. Salad is a comprehensive cloud infrastructure platform offering containers-as-a-service (CaaS) for virtually any use case—whether it's bootstrapping VPN services, spinning up P2P gaming ecosystems, or securely distributing batch jobs to globally geodistributed nodes. Thanks to voluntary contributions from hundreds of thousands of real-life webizens, Salad's container solutions are equally performant, GPU-enabled, and up to 10x more affordable than the leading spot instances. Our recipe? We built the web’s most trusted computesharing network on a principle of mutual exchange. The Salad desktop application securely applies latent consumer compute resources like GPU VRAM, CPU L3 cache, and bandwith to enterprise-scale container workloads, and rewards our users—the mighty Salad Chefs—with meaningful rewards, like video games, gift cards, streaming subscriptions, PayPal credits, and more epic loot. Salad Chefs redeem over 3,000,000 digital and real-world items from the Salad Storefront every year! Learn more about the Salad Container Engine (SCE) at https://salad.com.
Board Observer
Jan 2022
stealth
Board Member
Nov 2021
Carketa uniquely enables vehicle dealerships around the world to reach new heights. Our customers turn their inventory quicker, increase gross, and compete above the new wave online dealers. Let us show you how. The future of inventory management and automotive retail.
Board Member
Jul 2021
Lumanu is building the infrastructure of the creator economy, for both creators and the businesses they work with. We offer a free business app for creators, and payables software especially designed for the unique workflows of agencies, talent managers and brands. Discover why tens of thousands of creators and businesses love Lumanu at www.lumanu.com
Board Observer
Aug 2020
Anthill helps you understand your employees by giving you an award winning, simple platform to communicate, engage, assess, reskill and map opportunities with your employees that don’t sit at a desk. We’re on a mission to include every employee. No desk required.
Investor & Board Observer
Sep 2019
At Voxpopme, we believe you shouldnt sacrifice quality to get the insights you need quickly, at a reasonable cost. Insights teams are under immense pressure to deliver reliable answers to crucial business questions with limited resources. We can help. Voxpopme transforms insights teams by collecting, centralizing, and analyzing qualitative data. Voxpopmes Insights Platform combines the speed of Video Surveys with the depth of Live Interviews and UX research, then applies AI to produce insights 60x faster at a fraction of the cost. More brands trust Voxpopme to enrich their research studies and fundamentally transform how they build better products and shape visionary companies. Want to learn how we help solve these problems? Visit www.voxpopme.com today.
Investor & Board Member
Sep 2019
Idelic is a leading provider of advanced fleet management solutions, empowering transportation companies and insurers to enhance safety, efficiency, and profitability. With a mission to revolutionize the commercial auto industry, Idelic offers innovative technology platforms that enable data-driven decision-making, risk mitigation, and driver management. By harnessing the power of data and analytics, Idelic is transforming the way fleets and insurers operate, ensuring safer roads for all.
Board Observer
Nov 2018
X-Mode is creating the new standard for accuracy and transparency in location data, bridging gaps in the industry by building the worlds largest, most accurate, first-party privacy-conscious location data panel at scale. Powered by the XDK -- X-Mode’s industry-leading location data SDK -- this new standard will improve the entire location data ecosystem, and allow companies to develop disruptive tools built on a foundation of quality data. Whether it is through their suite of popular safety apps, the solutions they offer to data sellers and licensors, or their newly-launched social impact initiative Picket, the company is dedicated to creating a more efficient, just, and sustainable world, and constantly aims to power innovation with quality location.
Investor & Board Observer
Jun 2018
OPENLANE is a nationwide wholesale marketplace that is revolutionizing how dealers buy and sell inventory. We use the latest technology to create a truly dealer-centric experience that makes wholesale easier, and dealerships more successful. Learn more about how you can use OPENLANE to streamline your business at openlane.com. Got a drive to make a difference? Check out our current job openings at openlane.com/careers.
Investor
Jan 2018
Cameo’s mission is to create the most personalized and authentic fan experiences on earth! Cameo is celebrating another busy and exciting year as the world’s leading fan engagement platform having enabled over 27,000 hours of personalized connections across the globe. From TV stars and notable athletes to TikTok creators and comedic legends, Cameo has helped fulfill 2.5 million magical moments since our launch in 2017, and just in this past year, we have welcomed almost 10,000 new stars. In support of our employer brand efforts, we’ve grown our employee base by 30% and reached 50/50 gender parity on our global leadership team. In addition, in March of 2021, we announced Cameo’s $100M Series C funding, which brings our total funding to more than $165M, at a valuation of just over $1B. Some of the recognition were most proud of includes LinkedIns Top 50 Startups in 2021, our very own Steven Galanis being recognized by Goldman Sachs as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2021, Cameo was ranked #1 on The Information’s TI50 Most Promising Startups, among Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies, Inc.’s Best In Business 2020, and Business Insider’s Top 100 Startups of 2020. Read more on our Cameo Blog today: https://cameoblog.medium.com/
Investor & Board Member
Dec 2017
Were Tovala, a food-tech company completely reinventing how people eat & live. Through an innovative combination of hardware, software, and food creation, we give our customers a way to enjoy really good, good-for-you meals without sacrificing time to do the things that matter to them. Weve amassed a loyal, rapidly growing following in just a few years, radically changing the day-to-day lives of people across the country and successfully creating a new model for the food industry. A 2x Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators winner -- at the heart of Tovala is an ever-growing community of passionate, unique, culture-centric teammates from all different backgrounds and industries working together to make the magic happen. Were looking for great people to join our team of hard-working, fun-loving, food-focused folks who bring their full selves to work every day. Our Values: - Put the Team First - Embrace the Obstacles - Connect the Dots - Be Direct - Get S#!t Done (Well) - Champion the Customer
early stageFood & Beverages
Investor & Board Observer
Apr 2017
Fountain is the AI-native Operating System for the global frontline workforce. With modular products, intelligent agents, and a unified orchestration layer, Frontline OS helps HR and operations teams automate tasks, streamline workflows, and accelerate hiring without losing control. From logistics to retail to healthcare, Fountain powers performance where it matters most: at the frontline. Fountain’s all-in-one high volume hiring platform empowers the world’s leading enterprises to find the right people through smart, fast, and seamless recruiting. Candidates can apply anytime, anywhere in minutes, right from their phone. Automated and customizable processes streamline the candidate experience and save time for recruitment teams so they can scale with growing hiring needs. Advanced analytics provide end-to-end process visibility so managers can make swift, data-driven decisions. Throughout the candidate journey, the openly integrated platform enables companies to find, qualify and convert more applicants. Fountain’s global customers hire over 1.2 million workers annually in 78 countries. Why Work with Us: - Generous compensation - 100% Remote and Flexible Hours - Flexible PTO - Equity grants - Comprehensive healthcare benefits - Generous paid parental leave for all parents - Wellness and gym reimbursement - Home office stipend - Phone stipend - 401K plan - Learning and development reimbursement - Company events - FSA & HSA - Life Insurance & Long-Term Disability/Short-Term Disability Visit us at https://www.fountain.com to learn more.
Investor & Board Observer
Mar 2017
Kidizen is the peer-to-peer marketplace for pre-loved kidstuff. We help parents keep up with their kids'​ constantly changing needs – from the next size to the next style to the next season – by providing a platform through which they can shop and sell a curated selection – all within a trustworthy, environmentally friendly parent community.
Experience · 17 entries
All (17)
Investments (15)
Board (14)
2022
Board Observer
Nov 2022
Save time, stay compliant and save money while creating the best leave experience for your employees. Tilt is a third-party leave administration software built with our own proprietary technology and automation, backed by leave law experts, software engineers, and Leave Success Managers that blend software and the human touch. The problem is that you’re overworked, unsure, and unsupported. The average leave takes 25 hours to manually manage, and getting it wrong can mean lawsuits which can end up costing nearly $78,000. You want a smoother process and assurance that you’re legally compliant, but: you don’t have the bandwidth, time, budget, or expertise, and great dedicated leave management that works is hard to find. Confusing spreadsheets, random email chains or not offering anything are just temporary fixes that end up costing your company thousands of dollars each year while you and your employees are left feeling lost. You need a solution that will scale for you and with you. That’s why Tilt was created. To make leave NOT suck. Sparked by one too many unjust leave experiences, our Founder and CEO Jen Henderson has been leading this charge since 2017 because she knew there had to be a better way. And it’s here. With streamlined processes, an HR dashboard, employee views, compliance and management for all leave types, HRIS integration, payroll calculations, and a dedicated Tilter for you and your employee to offer support through the entire journey. Tilt will save you time, money, and undue stress. When an employee requests a leave, we’ll automatically determine eligibility, create custom step-by-step instructions, track FMLA usage along with any other time they quality for, calculate their payroll, and put in all in one place for you and them to see. Finally, have time to be there for your people and help your company thrive, but for a price you can invest in. Book some time to chat with us. https://hellotilt.com/
Board Member
Jun 2022
Cloverleaf is on a mission to ensure every team thrives with people doing work that energizes them. Our Automated Coaching™ provides short, actionable nudges in the flow of work so that people can learn, apply, and grow in the moment. Using industry-leading assessments on a centralized platform, we help build human skills at scale. Get context specific coaching, find side-by-side insights of teammates, or journal on the tips that resonate the most with you. You can even get Daily Coaching in workplace tools like email, Slack, and MS Teams. Cloverleaf supports Talent Development, Learning, and HR leaders in democratizing coaching. Automated Coaching™ is built on four pillars that transform learning opportunities into real development for everyone in your organization: 1. Personalization For Every Individual 2. Continuous Learning In The Flow Of Work 3. Scalable Technology That Democratizes Development 4. Delivering ROI For The Organization We’ve helped hundreds of thousands of humans in the biggest brands across the globe unlock effective teamwork with short microlearning each day. Every day, people in companies around the world harness personalized insights to drive powerful, collaborative change. Experience bite-sized learning that helps you and your team work better together immediately. Shift from information overload to coaching for your situation at your fingertips– all through the magic of Automated Coaching™.
Board Observer
Mar 2022
We believe in affordable compute solutions. Salad is a comprehensive cloud infrastructure platform offering containers-as-a-service (CaaS) for virtually any use case—whether it's bootstrapping VPN services, spinning up P2P gaming ecosystems, or securely distributing batch jobs to globally geodistributed nodes. Thanks to voluntary contributions from hundreds of thousands of real-life webizens, Salad's container solutions are equally performant, GPU-enabled, and up to 10x more affordable than the leading spot instances. Our recipe? We built the web’s most trusted computesharing network on a principle of mutual exchange. The Salad desktop application securely applies latent consumer compute resources like GPU VRAM, CPU L3 cache, and bandwith to enterprise-scale container workloads, and rewards our users—the mighty Salad Chefs—with meaningful rewards, like video games, gift cards, streaming subscriptions, PayPal credits, and more epic loot. Salad Chefs redeem over 3,000,000 digital and real-world items from the Salad Storefront every year! Learn more about the Salad Container Engine (SCE) at https://salad.com.
Board Observer
Jan 2022
stealth
2021
Board Member
Nov 2021
Carketa uniquely enables vehicle dealerships around the world to reach new heights. Our customers turn their inventory quicker, increase gross, and compete above the new wave online dealers. Let us show you how. The future of inventory management and automotive retail.
Show all 17 entries ↓
Investment activity
2017–2022 · 15 investments
201732018320192202012021220224
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