Unicorn Invests in Value Creation Labs®

Scaffald, a workforce platform for skilled trades, emerged from the VCL-Unicorn collaboration ahead of the investment

Unicorn-VCL leadership will be on stage at Startup Boston Week discussing workforce innovation and its utilization of AI to rapidly build, test and scale ventures

BOSTON — September 8, 2025 — Unicorn, the modern product studio built for the next era of entrepreneurship, today announced it has acquired a minority stake in Value Creation Labs (VCL). The partnership brings together two founder-led organizations with complementary strengths to advance the future of workforce development and venture building. As part of the investment, VCL founder Zach Servideo will lead growth across both VCL and Unicorn, while Unicorn founder Clay McIlrath will lead technology across both organizations.

Founded by McIlrath, Unicorn began as a product development agency with a consortium of best-in-class engineers, trusted by enterprises such as Google, Samsung and Indeed. It later evolved into a product studio, combining engineering excellence, venture operations expertise and an investor syndicate to create and scale startups.

Founded by Servideo, Value Creation Labs has emerged as a growth acceleration partner, recognized for its expertise in brand identity, strategic communications, product UX/UI design and revenue growth hacking. Since 2021, VCL has worked with global brands including Vevo, T-Mobile, Fidelity, UPROXX and Silicon Valley Bank, while also launching innovative products such as Tracer in GovTech and ScrumLab for Scrum Inc. Its lean, AI-enabled model allows it to rapidly build, test and scale ventures, alongside incubating its own concepts such as CoFlo, a pop-up coworking series across New England.

In addition to its client work and venture incubation, VCL plays an embedded role in the New England innovation economy. Through its relationship with the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA), VCL has produced a series of analyst reports on critical growth sectors including cybersecurity, robotics, AI and climate tech. This work positioned VCL as a trusted thought partner to the venture community and strengthened its ties with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED), reinforcing its impact at both the industry and policy levels.

Together, Unicorn and VCL form a powerful new venture-building engine—combining engineering depth, operational discipline, and investor support with brand creativity, design expertise, and revenue growth acceleration.

Quietly embedded within the studio’s leadership is a proven product builder whose track record spans global digital platforms and category-defining innovations. Their expertise in digital strategy and product experiences helps ensure Unicorn and VCL are building with both speed and long-term customer impact in mind, and their fingerprints can already be seen in the ventures moving to market.

Scaffald: Solving critical workforce challenges in skilled trades.

The VCL-Unicorn flagship product venture is Scaffald, a workforce platform reimagining how the trades hire, manage and grow talent. Built during the Unicorn-VCL soft merger period, Scaffald raised a $560K pre-seed round in just three weeks and went from concept to market in less than a year. Since its 2025 launch, the platform has been scaling rapidly across Massachusetts with state-level engagement and adoption by leading construction companies, contractors, and vocational schools—already sprinting to a $25M valuation.

Backing Scaffald is lead investor Vince Giacomini, who is also spearheading the studio’s emerging investor syndicate. Giacomini built Premier Wireless Solutions from the ground up and led it to a nine-figure exit before transitioning into an investor and advisor role. His experience scaling companies from early-stage to major outcomes provides both capital and strategic guidance as Scaffald accelerates—and as Unicorn and VCL expand into new product ventures.

“What convinced me to invest was the caliber of the operators and the model they’ve built,” said Vince Giacomini. “They know how to move with speed and discipline, and I believe this studio can repeatedly create category-defining companies. We’re already fast-tracking our next venture in insurance compliance—an adjacent solution revealed through our work with Scaffald. As more young entrepreneurs enter the trades, they need modern tools to navigate operational complexities across construction and real estate—and insurance compliance is another major pain point we’ll soon be solving for.”

“We’re building the operating system for the future of work and rapid venture development,” added Zach Servideo. “Scaffald is our proof point, and with Unicorn’s horsepower, we’re now fast-tracking Scaffald’s go-to-market while also developing ancillary products to serve the same constituents. VCL has shown how lean, flexible teams can create compounding value, and this partnership gives us the engineering muscle, operating discipline and investor network to accelerate that impact at scale.”

“Scaffald validates our model,” said Clay McIlrath. “It’s what happens when you combine brand and growth expertise with engineering execution and capital leverage. With VCL now part of the studio, we’re positioned to build smarter, faster and more purposefully. Scaffald is just the first of what we see as a cluster of innovative products designed to transform construction, real estate, the trades and beyond.”

This September, Servideo and McIlrath will appear together at Startup Boston Week (Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2–5pm ET) on the podcast stage for a live recording of Boston Speaks Up—Servideo’s long-running show that is syndicated to Boston Business Journal’s BostInno—to discuss how Unicorn and VCL are leveraging AI to rapidly build, test and scale new product ventures.

To support its continued growth, Dylan Wilson is leading VCL daily operations and supporting product studio initiatives. Wilson most recently occupied a pivotal role on the leadership team at Boston Digital, where he rebranded the agency and revitalized its digital offerings ahead of its acquisition by Mighty Union earlier this year. He is responsible for expanding the studio’s creative capabilities with an emphasis on product UX/UI design and branding.

About Unicorn

Unicorn is a product studio built to launch, scale and de-risk early-stage startups. Originally founded as a product development agency, Unicorn brings together a consortium of best-in-class engineers with proven venture operations expertise and the backing of an investor syndicate. Unicorn incubates its own ventures and partners with founders, funds and institutions to bring bold ideas to life. Learn more at unicorn.love.

About Value Creation Labs

Value Creation Labs (VCL) is a growth acceleration partner helping early-stage startups and visionary organizations move from product concept to revenue traction. With deep expertise in brand identity, product UX/UI design and revenue growth hacking, VCL leverages a consortium of entrepreneurial talent and AI tools to rapidly build, test, deploy, refine, and scale ventures. Now operating with Unicorn as a strategic investor, VCL remains an independent agency while being activated across Unicorn’s venture portfolio. Learn more at valuecreationlabs.co.