A strategic advisory firm where entrepreneurial spirit and enterprise markets collide

Our practice sits at the intersection of enterprise software, big data, technology, entertainment and media.

Business Acceleration

  • Scaling Go To Market
  • Enterprise Customer Proof Points
  • Channel Partnerships

Strategic Partnerships

  • Target Identification
  • Asset Mapping
  • Deal Structure & Negotiations

Industry Exposure

  • Thought Leadership
  • Industry Events
  • PR & Media Exposure

M&A

  • Partner Identification
  • Sell Side Strategy
  • Buy Side Operational Due Diligence

Eric Del Balso

Operator, Advisor & Investor in software companies.

Eric Del Balso

Founder & Managing Partner, Ignite Advisors
General Partner, Kohala Ventures LLC

Since its founding in 2008, Eric has run the day to day operations of the firm. Currently, heoversees the early and growth-stage technology practice. Eric began his career in television with ABC News in New York City moving to San Francisco in 1995. Before starting Ignite, Eric held a variety of senior-level commercial roles at Excite, Microsoft, and Yahoo! In 2018, Eric started Kohala Ventures, an independent seed fund. Eric lives in Marin County and is a proud father of two smart beautiful daughters.

Bharath Sithian

Operating Partner

Eric Del Balso

Bharath joined Ignite in 2020 and leads the Operations and Enterprise Readiness practices for early and growth stage companies along with managing the internal operations for Ignite.

Ignite Advisors was founded with the goal of making sure that the best innovative ideas, products and services from all over the globe realize their full potential.

Serving as commercial catalysts, Ignite elevates entrepreneurs by applying operational discipline to the mission at hand. We are a group of seasoned operators bringing commercial rigor to the day to day work that is the lifeblood of every company. Our mission is to connect great ideas with the scale and distribution of major industry players - and bring the Fortune 500 set closer to the heart of innovation.

The Ignite business model is oriented to align with the full life cycle of our portfolio companies helping them navigate all stages of their growth from product market fit<>go to market<>thought leadership<> M&A.

To support this vision - we built a multi-disciplinary and multi-industry network that is united by its ability to deliver impactful bursts of value during all the critical stages of a company's development.

Defense

Defense
Defense

REGENT Craft

REGENT builds seagliders: the first form of zero-emission, high-speed, coastal transportation. REGENT's flagship vehicle will safely transport commercial passengers by 2025.

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Defense
Acquired
Defense

Synapse Technology Corporation

Acquired
Acquired

Artificial intelligence and computer vision company focused on security & defense applications.

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Acquired
Media & Sports
Sold to Quotient
Media & Sports

Ahalogy

Sold to Quotient
Sold to Quotient

Ahalogy is the Passion to Purchase Platform, combining category trend data, influencer network & social optimization software to drive ROI.

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Sold to Quotient
Media & Sports
Media & Sports

Boom Entertainment

Boom Fantasy is the next generation of daily fantasy sports: A real-money, in-game platform that pushes real-time questions to users during live games.

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Media & Sports
Media & Sports

Mido Play

Lottery with friends or yourself on your phone. Play and gift lottery tickets from Superlotto, Powerball and Mega Millions with friends.

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Media & Sports
Media & Sports

Windfall Data

Determining the net worth of every person in the world.

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Media & Sports
Acquired by Doubleverify
Media & Sports

Zentrick

Acquired by Doubleverify
Acquired by Doubleverify

Zentrick provides smart, interactive video solutions for marketers, advertisers and publishers that make video actionable and accountable.

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Acquired by Doubleverify
Sustainability
IPO
Sustainability

Organovo

IPO
IPO

Organovo develops a range of tissue and disease models for medical research and therapeutic applications.

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IPO
Health & Wellness
Health & Wellness

Oura Ring

Oura is a health technology company that makes and designs wellness wearable rings to track and improve sleep and performance.

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Enterprise Software
Enterprise Software

Ayez

Instacart for Egypt

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Enterprise Software
Enterprise Software

Embrace

Embrace analyzes the details of every user session empowering mobile teams to detect, replay, and prioritize what matters most.

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Enterprise Software
Enterprise Software

Glowing

Glowing enables hotels and guests to mobile message with each other via existing popular mobile messaging platforms.

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Enterprise Software
Enterprise Software

Narrative I/O

Narrative is making it easier for companies to manage and buy raw data assets.

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