Here Are 5 Celebrities Who’ve Backed Boston Startups

For any emerging business, a celeb investment isn’t just welcome funds for expanding their business - it’s also a valuable endorsement that can boost its cred. Here are a few stars have seen potential in startups based out of The Hub: Ashton Kutcher It’s no secret that Ashton Kutcher (pictured above, duh) is an investor in Uber — and has even taken it upon himself to defend the ride-sharing service’s rep. After Emil Michael proposed launching a smear campaign against a journalist who reported on the company in a negative light, Kutcher tweeted: "What is so wrong about digging up dirt on shady journalist?" Uber controversy aside, Kutcher is also invested in another startup: Boston-based Panorama Education, which has been making headlines for very different reasons. The company conducts surveys with parents, teachers and faculty as well as students to provide school districts with useful feedback for improving the quality of education. To simplify the process, Panorama works with these institutions through every step, from survey design and reporting to analysis and follow-through. Aaron Feuer, Panorama Education's CEO, told me in an email that his company presented and pitched to Kutcher at the Y Combinator Demo Day back in summer 2013. "He's been extremely helpful and we're grateful to have him on board," Feuer said. Feuer said a possible reason why Kutcher chose to invest in Panorama is that he deeply cares about public education. "I think he was excited to see our approach to helping public schools, and the fact that so many school districts were already using Panorama showed him that teachers and principals and district leaders love our product," Feuer said. Kutcher isn't the only one who saw promise in Panorama, either... Mark Zuckerberg Nabbing the attention of Mark Zuckerberg is probably any startup's dream — and it's a feat that Panorama Education accomplished last year. In October 2013, the company announced that it raised $4 million in seed funding during a round led by the Facebook CEO's foundation, Startup: Education. This was both the foundation's first national equity investment as well as Zuckerberg's first ed-tech investment. Zuckerberg has also been mentoring the Panorama team. When the Panorama founders met Zuckerberg initially, they didn't even think that an investment might be a possibility, Feuer previously told Kyle Alspach. After an event at Y Combinator, ...Feuer and his co-founders were introduced to Zuckerberg by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham, because "he knew Mark enjoyed education — knew it was a passion of his." "It never crossed our mind that (Zuckerberg) would be an investor of ours," Feuer said. "We weren't actually pitching him — we were just talking shop with him." Months later — after Panorama Education had landed in Cambridge and was ready to close a funding round — the startup ended up back in touch with Zuckerberg, who offered to invest in the round. Nas ViralGains, a viral video marketing firm headquartered in Boston, may only have launched in 2012, but it boasts an impressive client list that includes Nestlé, Exxon, Showtime, State Farm and Lexus. The company provides agencies and brands with a platform that helps them to ensure their videos are watched and shared by their target audiences. To boot, ViralGains announced in July that it's raised $2.8 million in new funding. Among the 45 investors was rapper Nasir "Nas" Jones, along with Nas' manager. "I grew up listening to Nas and it's a pleasure having him and his manager Anthony Saleh as investors," ViralGains CEO Jay Singh said on Nas' AngelList page. "They are true value adds and smart guys." Nas has also backed startups including Washio and Coinbase, according to the AngelList page. ViralGains, meanwhile, is using the funding to expand into new markets, including New York City, Chicago and Southern California. Mark Cuban Even though Cuban famously admitted that he thinks an MBA is a waste of money, last September he invested $450,000 into HourlyNerd, a startup launched out out of Harvard Business School that lets businesses leverage the help of MBA students and grads looking for part-time or freelance work. Cuban, who also owns the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures, received an email pitch from the HourlyNerd team and the high-profile Shark decided to bite. In mid-2013, the Cambridge-based streaming-TV-for-colleges startup Philo raised $6.3 million Series A from investors including Cuban's Radical Investments. And back in July of 2012, Cuban invested $500,000 into Apptopia, an eBay-esque marketplace allows developers to sell their mobile apps. This allows companies to customize existing apps that resemble what they want to create for a much lower cost than building their own from scratch. Bill Gates At the core of Cambridge-based Ambri's mission is to leverage wind and solar power in the grid to ultimately lower the cost of energy. The company raised $35 million in funding from Gates and other investors in April, money that will help the company to continue producing and enhancing the efficiency of its "liquid metal battery" technology. Additionally, the company will put some of the funding toward its first full-scale manufacturing facility. Gates has been an investor in the company since its early days in 2011, and also took part in the company's $15 million round in 2012. The firm's technology came to Gates' attention through the lecturing of Donald Sadoway, an MIT professor and co-founder of Ambri. All images via Shutterstock: Ashton Kutcher, Mark Zuckerberg, Nas, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates.