Andres Blank

I’m thrilled to announce defy.vc’s investment in Birches Health as part of their $20M combined Seed and Series A funding round, alongside incredible partners like AlleyCorp, General Catalyst, Will Ventures, and others. As someone deeply passionate about backing companies that tackle important problems for our society, I couldn’t be more excited about what Birches is building—a national virtual clinic dedicated to treating gambling addiction and related behavioral disorders like gaming, sex, porn, and internet addictions. What excites me most is Birches’ innovative health assurance model: proactive, accessible, and affordable care that’s evidence-based and delivered right at home. With the explosion of legal sports betting—think nearly $1.5 billion wagered on this year’s Super Bowl alone—we’re staring down a looming public health emergency. Traditional options like hotlines or generic therapy fall short for this high-acuity issue, but Birches changes that by offering specialized therapy from trained clinicians, multimodal treatment, and peer support, all covered by major insurers like United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. It’s available in all 50 states, breaking down geographical and financial barriers that have left so many without help. The impact is already profound: 96% of patients report an improved quality of life, and 94% give Birches a 5/5 rating. By partnering with state governments, payors, and policymakers, Birches is pushing gambling addiction into the spotlight of behavioral health conversations, where it’s been neglected for too long—often leading to shame, worsened outcomes, and higher suicidality risks. This funding will supercharge their growth: expanding the provider network, boosting clinical excellence, scaling infrastructure, and deepening insurance and state partnerships to meet surging demand. Very excited to partner with Elliott Rapaport and the entire Birches team! See more about our POV in the blog post linked in the comments. #GamblingAddiction #BehavioralHealth #HealthTech #VentureCapital #Innovation

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Some exciting steps forward from our portfolio companies At Orbia Ventures, we back founders who are tackling big challenges with deep tech and bold thinking. And while we know progress in these spaces takes time, it's always encouraging to see signs that things are moving in the right direction. This month, several of our portfolio companies shared meaningful updates: Deepomatic: IQGeo entered exclusive negotiations to acquire the company https://lnkd.in/dC6cZ-8i Tortuga AgTech: Oishii Acquired Tortuga AgTech to strengthen its indoor farming capabilities https://lnkd.in/dKU3FARi Type One Energy: Passed a design review for its 350 MW stellarator-based fusion pilot plant https://lnkd.in/d-KPJC64 Chloris Geospatial: Big congratulations to the team on their $8.5M Series A! https://lnkd.in/dNwUPeba Greeneye Technology: Started field trials in Australia with Croplands for its AI precision-spraying system https://lnkd.in/dyCmc8dQ Verdagy: Announced a partnership to supply green hydrogen to Mainspring Energy https://lnkd.in/d6-CgTAE Each of these updates represents thoughtful, steady progress. Not just for the companies, but for the broader ecosystems they operate in. We're proud to support these teams and continue learning from their journeys. You can see our full portfolio here: https://lnkd.in/dBpqfEHt

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The 100 Hour Migration - Asylum Ventures Partners with AI-Native Hanover Park One of the worst parts about considering a fund administration switch is migration. Everyone dreads it. But when Mackenzie Regent signed with Hanover Park, I told her one thing: “My goal is for you to sit back, receive updates from our team and do nothing except check the work when it’s done. I want this to be 0 additional work for you.” My promise was put to the test when the Hanover Park team received data access on a Saturday. By Wednesday, all historical financial data across capital accounts, waterfall models, historical performance, GL detail, investment detail and Limited Partner data was live. In just 100 hours, Hanover Park completed what many firms consider a multi-month migration, setting a new standard for speed in fund administration. “The pace was next level,” said Mackenzie Regent, COO at Asylum Ventures. “We expected (and braced for) the usual lag: weeks of back-and-forth, data gaps, onboarding headaches. Instead, we had full access to our data before the next workweek even ended. It didn’t feel like a migration; it felt like flipping a switch.” We treat onboarding as a product... not a project. For fund managers, that means faster insights, faster LP communication, and fewer sleepless nights chasing down missing data. Asylum Ventures went from cold handoff to client-ready in under 5 days. Our 100 Hour Migration isn’t just a milestone. It’s a step on the path to a 1-Click Migration future.

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