Startup Spotlight: Fractal

By Jett Wang

Early this spring, HUCP sourced Harvard-founded tech startup Fractal, which works to bring ample computing power to creative freelancers and professionals in the U.S. Our introduction directly led to an investment from our partners at Basis Set Ventures to close out Fractal's $750k pre-seed round, a first for HUCP's sourcing team.

Fractal aims to alleviate moderate to severe performance issues caused by underpowered hardware, currently experienced by 75% of creative professionals (artists, animators, etc.). It's not hard to imagine how this occurs: think freelancers who can't afford high-end machines to match their creative ambitions, or who frequently travel/work away from their primary machine on a less powerful laptop.

Rather than wait for the semiconductor industry to pack more power into a thin, portable machine, Fractal's solution is to take the task of computing elsewhere- specifically, to a dedicated GPU-powered workstation. Users have full remote control over the Windows 10 PC hosted by Fractal, which can run all the apps they need and perform intensive jobs like rendering for them. Fractal then streams the display of the cloud PC to the user's laptop with low latency and high color accuracy. This means the user's personal machine needs only to run the streaming software, lowering its load drastically.

With the continued compaction of computation in an uncertain state, Fractal’s proposition offers a potential workaround for the generation-old struggle between portability and raw processing power. Cloud computing/streaming is by no means a new idea, but the space currently serves businesses with massive amounts of data or gamers who only use one application at a time; Fractal is first to stream a full OS for the 10+ million creative pros and freelancers in the US who often use many apps simultaneously. Harvard-graduated founders Philippe Noel and Ming Ying scraped Reddit to obtain 2000+ survey responses and hundreds of sign-ups for their private beta in a matter of days. The user-focused and efficient approach of the founders solidified Fractal as a top pick in March for our sourcing team to present to partners.

Basis Set’s investment is a major milestone for HUCP sourcing as well: it’s undeniable evidence that our model works- that a team of driven undergrads provide value for VC firms and angel investors as well as startup founders in university ecosystems. This fall, we look forward to seeking out value-driven founders ready to innovate in the face of pandemic.