Milk 2.0? Kevin Rose raises $5M for his app lab North Technologies, steps away from Google Ventures

Kevin Rose is stepping away from being a Google Ventures partner to focus on his app studio North Technologies, and for good reason: He’s raised new funding.

Rose, a seasoned entrepreneur-turned-investor, announced North back in August. North is essentially a mobile app development lab that will focus on building two to three new products at a time. And today, Rose is announcing that North has picked up $5 million in funding.

Since formally launching in the fall, North has spawned two apps: Tiiny, a photo-sharing app, and Watchville, an app for luxury watch enthusiasts.

North isn’t Rose’s first app lab rodeo. Milk, which he cofounded in 2011, built payments-and-shopping app Oink. It shut down promptly after Google acquired Milk in 2012.

Although he led several investments while a partner at Google Ventures (he joined in 2012), he’s been yearning to “scratch that itch as an entrepreneur,” he told Re/code in August.

This app lab model has been gaining popularity. For example, Complex Polygon, a small shop chasing a viral app hit, recently raised funds from SV Angel, CrunchFund, and other investors, while 10-year-old social network Tagged pivoted to if(we), a mobile app studio currently working on a stealthy messaging app.

True Ventures led the round, with Google Ventures, Greylock Partners, Redpoint Ventures, SV Angel, Sherpa Ventures, Lowercase Capital, Floodgate Capital, Slow Ventures, Susa Ventures, A-Grade, Melo7, Vayner, Launch Fund, Bobby Goodlatte, Tim Ferriss, Anthony Casalena, Naval Ravikant, Vinny Lingham, Philip Kaplan, Ev Williams, Mike Shinoda, and Tony Hawk also participating.

Rose cofounded North with Marc Hemeon in 2014.