Date: 2026-09-17 11:00 AM EDT Attendees: Michael Houck (Rye Valley), Nola Solomon (Renoverse AI, nola@renoverse.ai)
Summary
Nola gave Michael a full Renoverse update. The product has grown significantly since the January POC: iOS app submitting to App Store today/tomorrow targeting next-week launch, backend migration complete with the Agentic Framework now live, Gmail OAuth send integration live, and CTO transition complete (Anita to advisor role, replaced by Jess, 20-year DevOps/AI background). Dev shop switched from India to Sri Lanka engineers. Currently 9 firms on paid pilot, 11 seats, 4x ARR since January.
Pre-seed round reopened with target raised from $1M to $1.4M aggregate. $648K already raised. InvestSC approved up to $250K match (pending). Verbal commitment from Longleaf Angels, final stages with a family office. Target close: November 15. Seed round targeted for Q3 2027.
Go-to-market is event-based: sponsoring CRAN Annual Symposium in San Antonio (next week, dinner with 60 RSVPs) and architect firm owners symposium in DC (150 attendees). Home builders push targeted for Q1 2027.
Decisions
No formal Rye Valley decisions. Meeting was an investor/advisor update from Nola to Michael.
Action Items
- Michael: Send Nola a forwardable investor deck (Michael will pass to potential angels and early-stage VCs)
- Michael: Intro Nola to Brazil-based full-stack developer for CTO to evaluate
- Michael: Intro Nola to customer success contact (currently part-time at a YC startup)
- Michael: Send Nola SF event and community recommendations (Nola considering week of Oct 21)
- Michael: Put in a good word for Renoverse at BMOC Catalyst meeting next week
- Michael: Mention Renoverse to Megan Corsello at the rodeo (Megan is at InvestSC, in diligence with Renoverse; rodeo in 2 weeks)
Notable Transcript Excerpts
On the mobile app driver:
“Architects spend between 25 to 50% of their time in the field. When we were inviting the GCs or the other folks into the project, we were starting to have good conversations and that was like, we love this, but this needs to be a mobile app.”
On Gmail read access (CASA certification):
“Google has a different verification process for different features. Send access is the easiest to get. The hardest one…” [CASA certification in progress; email forwarding bridges the gap in the interim]
On fundraising:
“Pre-seed round reopened; target raised from $1M to $1.4M aggregate. $648K already raised. InvestSC approved up to $250K match pending paperwork.”
On CTO transition: Anita moved to advisor; Jess brought in with 20-year background in DevOps, AI/ML, full-stack, and DoD security. Dev shop shifted from India to hand-selected engineers in Sri Lanka - described as a “night-and-day improvement.”
Full transcript: Granola meeting 85074132-26bd-4218-97fe-096c21a64b9d