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.

Sold to Alibaba
Sold to Alibaba
Ad Tech

AdChina Inc

Sold to Alibaba
Sold to Alibaba

AdChina operates the leading technology-driven integrated advertising technology platform in China and is now part of Alibaba.

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Sold to Quotient
Sold to Quotient
Influencer Platform

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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On-Demand Food Delivery

Ayez

Instacart for Egypt

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Real Money Sports

Boom Fantasy

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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Marketplace

CasaOne

CasaOne helps you furnish your home or office with flexible rentals and without the hassles of ownership.

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Mobile App Performance

Embrace

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

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Saas

Glowing

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

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Sass / Marketplace

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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Sass / Marketplace

Narrative I/O

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

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IPO
IPO
Life Sciences

Organovo

IPO
IPO

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

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Acquired
Acquired
National Security & Defense

Synapse Technology Corporation

Acquired
Acquired

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

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Data

Windfall Data

Determining the net worth of every person in the world.

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Acquired by Doubleverify
Acquired by Doubleverify
Ad Tech

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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