About
At Thermal, we’re out to create thriving economies through the marriage of creativity and capital. Economies where ideas are empowered to bring real change to the world. Creating these economies starts by giving founders the fuel they need to get out of the starting gate.
At Thermal, we understand the needs of today’s founders because we’re founders ourselves. Where other firms fuel businesses, we fuel the people behind them, and the driving force that turns ideas into wildly successful brands.
At Thermal, we fuel ambition.
Portfolio
We co-founded, built and scaled the largest consumer-facing online resource in the addiction treatment industry. Led by Rehabs.com, Recovery Brands (RB) helped millions of visitors change their lives while helping treatment operators grow their businesses. In 2015, we led the successful transaction and acquisition of RB by a publicly-traded healthcare company.
400.00M+
Visits Created
50.00k+
Lives Changed
400.00M+
Visits Created
50.00k+
Lives Changed
50+
Brands Scaled
$500.00M+
Commerce Generated
50+
Brands Scaled
$500.00M+
Commerce Generated
Digital and inbound marketing is in our DNA. For years, we ran a highly-skilled and successful digital marketing agency based in Santa Monica, CA. The strategic leadership and digital marketing innovation born at RankLab are now integral to every Thermal project. In a rare transaction, we scaled and sold the agency to a public healthcare company in 2015.
Farmshelf
Bookcase-sized farms making it easy to grow produce where you live, work and eat.
Sprout Therapy
Sprout Therapy is a tech-forward provider of in-home ABA Therapy for children with autism.
Wheels
A dockles e-bike sharing company for last-mile mobility
Besito
Premium, light THC products including vaporizers in three delicious flavors
VaultBank
A Tech Company Using The Blockchain To Create, Issue, And Trade Financial Instruments
Daily Harvest
Making healthy eating easier with fast, easy, no-mess recipes
4th MVMT
A social equity incubator operating retail cannabis stores in Los Angeles
Byte
Bringing doctor-directed, invisible aligner therapy to the consumer's doorstep
Leaflink
The largest marketplace for wholesale cannabis
MedMen
A dominant cannabis enterprise in the emerging industry
Nana
NANA is the world’s first comprehensive, integrated solution for mental health care
CreateTribe
Empowering scalable brands with a positive social impact
TetraScience
A data platform driving the next generation of medicines
Pixalate
Enterprise security platform with real-time fraud protection
Pinger
Market-leading products that make texting and talking free
Miso Robotics
AI-driven robots assisting restaurant chefs with food making
Lyft
A ridesharing app that matches drivers with passengers
Influence.co
Where influencers share their best work
HelloTech
Changing tech support and the way people buy new technology
Eversport
Bringing live sports to fans worldwide via digital media
Bridg
Restaurant and retail marketing driven by buying behavior
ClassPass
A subscription marketplace to find and book fitness classes
Amplify
Digital media for the live entertainment & touring industry
Grown Rogue
A fully integrated seed-to-sale cannabis brand
Cloud Cover Music
A leading provider of the music in retail and businesses
Winc
Revolutionizing the way people discover, buy and share wine
FIGS
The highest quality medical apparel in the world
Fractl
An agency helping brands with content-driven growth strategy
Gyft
An app for customers to buy, store, send & redeem gift cards
Mineral
Mineral is a cannabinoid focused wellness brand based in Austin, TX
Partner Funds
Nosara Capital
Nosara Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in online marketplaces globally.
Treehouse REIT
REIT focused on cannabis retail and industrial properties
Wavemaker Labs
A next-generation corporate innovation venture fund
SEALY
Commercial real estate investment & operating company
MetaStable
Managing Crypto Asset Hedge Funds
M13
A diversified holding and branding development company
Focus
We provide venture investment at early and growth stages, when we can add an unfair advantage to projects that excite us. Whether through strategy, positioning or acquisition, we use our considerable experience in digital and growth to create value—lots of it—for customers, investors, and the ecosystem as a whole. These are the most thrilling times for any company, and we love fueling that excitement.
Helping founders grow their businesses by way of investment is great. But it’s not enough. Ventures need operational expertise if they hope to achieve next-level success. We provide that expertise via incubator services for projects whose needs match our unique skill set. Leveraging our partner network, we provide the right mix of guidance and autonomy to get businesses up to speed and onto bigger things.
We’ve always believed that you do well by doing good for others. And we want to see our friends and partners succeed. So we lend our skills by way of consulting or advising, even when we don’t have a direct interest in the business. Much of the advising we do is for the companies we have an early role in, while the goal of our consulting work is simply to add value wherever we can.
Partners
Early Stage Brands
Experienced operators with exciting new ventures we find uniquely promising.
Growth Brands
Companies with traction & healthy unit economics that need to scale big and scale fast.
Marketing Rockstars
Kick-ass savants in performance marketing, media planning, social, SEO, UX/UI, CRO, etc.
Investment Firms
Firms looking to collaborate and co-invest on projects where our skill set can add value.
Private Investors
Investors seeking unique ventures managed by industry pros and offering amazing returns.
Team
Abhilash Patel is a serial entrepreneur, venture investor, speaker, author, and advisor. He works with companies he believes in, helping them to grow and thrive. Abhilash has advised multiple growing startups including a venture capital fund. He’s also actively involved with several Los Angeles charities and is a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council. Abhilash has been mentioned and/or published in Huffington Post, Forbes, Inc., and more.
Garrett has a proven track record of driving growth, streamlining operations, and implementing innovative business development strategies at scale. He spent 10 years developing a variety of start-ups until he founded The Vitality Group, a management consulting agency. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University where he studied Entrepreneurship & Management while playing varsity lacrosse from 2004-2008.
Buck is a technologist and early stage venture investor with a successful history of building businesses at the leading edge of technology and in transformative high-growth markets, such as robotics, digital media, and consumer products. His operating expertise was honed during his time as a management consultant, working on Capitol Hill in Senator Arlen Spector’s office, and as an Army Blackhawk Pilot.
Connect
Are you a founder, operator, owner or investor with ambition to burn? We want to hear from you.
Careers
Got mad marketing skills? Want to help us create thriving economies through the marriage of creativity and capital? Shoot us your resume and cover letter:
