At just 17-years-old, Eric Zhu has already raised $2.3 million in seed funding for his startup Aviato after launching the company from an unlikely location – the bathroom of his high school. Aviato provides analytical insights on private market data to help venture capital and private equity firms make more informed investment decisions.
While most entrepreneurs spend their high school years focused on classes and extracurricular activities, Zhu was busy conducting startup meetings from the confines of a bathroom stall. By setting up a green screen and ring light in one of the stalls, Zhu was able to continue developing his idea for Aviato and land early customers. Although his unconventional work space eventually led to him getting kicked out of school, it also helped Zhu gain the early traction needed to raise a substantial seed round.
Aviato analyzes funding rounds, headcounts, credit card spending trends and other metrics to provide a deeper level of insights not found on competitors like Crunchbase and Pitchbook. The platform aims to build out the type of robust internal database normally only available to large funds. Working closely with SignalFire founder Walter Kortschak, Aviato is developing products to serve the needs of professional investors.
Leading venture capital firms like 8VC, NEA and Republic Capital are already customers, demonstrating early market fit. The $2.3 million seed round was led by 8VC and Soma Capital, with SoftBank also participating. Personal investments from Eric Bahn of Hustle Fund also contributed to Aviato’s funding at an early stage.
Now based in San Francisco, Zhu aims to replace Pitchbook as the leading platform for private market data analytics. With a talented founding team including David Razavi from LowerMyBills and Harrison Kessel from Zeet, Aviato is well positioned for future growth. Zhu’s perseverance in building his startup from a high school bathroom shows the potential of determined young entrepreneurs, even in unlikely environments.