About

Capital & Creativity

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

Projects We’ve Fueled

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

Venture Investing

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.

Incubator

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.

Consulting & Advising

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

Who We Work With

  • 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

Who’s Involved

Abhilash Patel

Founder & CEO

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 Stanwick

Venture Partner

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 Jordan

Venture Partner

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

Get In Touch

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:

    careers@thermal.co