Entrepreneur and actress Jessica Alba has signed on as a mentor and advisor for Planet of the Apps, the new unscripted series co-produced by Propagate and Apple. Renowned Silicon Valley venture firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, the first institutional investors in Snapchat, also joins the series as the venture capital partner. The announcement was made by executive producers Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens of Propagate.
Alba, who will also serve as an executive producer, joins Gwyneth Paltrow, will.i.am and Gary Vaynerchuk, who were previously announced as mentors and advisors for the series. Paltrow and will.i.am will also executive produce the project.
Lightspeed Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm with over $4 billion in committed capital, focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Consumer and Enterprise sectors. The firm was the first investor in Snapchat and The Honest Company.
Other notable consumer technology investments include Nest, Giphy, GrubHub, Stitch Fix, Bonobos and TaskRabbit. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed more than 300 companies globally—many of which have become market leaders—and has seen close to 100 successful IPOs and acquisitions within its portfolio.
Jessica Alba is Founder and Chief Creative Officer of The Honest Company (Honest.com) and Honest Beauty (HonestBeauty.com). She is also an actress, advocate, and New York Times bestselling author. Founded in 2012, The Honest Company was launched with a mission to inspire and empower people to live a happy and healthy life.
In 2013 Jessica authored the New York Times bestselling book, The Honest Life, a practical guide to inspire a safe and healthy life. Jessica appeared on the cover of Forbes’ “Self-Made Women” issue and was among the top twenty of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, one of CNBC’s Next List of Rebels, Leaders and Innovators, and one of Fortune’s 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs.
Planet of the Apps delves into the world of apps and the developers who create them. The series is executive produced by Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, will.i.am, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba. Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk and Charles Wachter will serve as showrunners and executive producers.