Venu Shamapant

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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Shutdowns don’t just pause government - they stall America’s ability to build at scale. Factory buildouts, pilot production lines, heavy-equipment installs, and AI datacenter rollouts all depend on predictable public actions: grant payments to fund R&D, timely permits and inspections to break ground, customs clearances for critical machinery, and utility/interconnection approvals to power facilities. When agencies pause, each link snarls. The effects are real: Long-lead experiments stop and become costly to restart. Permits and inspections slip, leaving capital idle and suppliers scrambling. Equipment piles up at ports while customs backlogs delay production ramps. AI datacenter projects stall without steady approvals and infrastructure support. “Pause and resume” kills scale. Startups and manufacturers can’t certify, build, or ramp when timelines are political theater. Other countries keep building - they win the investment and capacity. If we want industrial strength and AI infrastructure here, fund flows, permitting, inspections, and procurement must be reliable. Pass clean funding and protect the steady public processes that let pilots become production. #BuildNotBreak #Manufacturing #AIInfrastructure #IndustrialScale

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Frontier tech finds its ground zero in the Midcontinent The Midcontinent is now emerging as a pivotal region for frontier tech and investment. SVB’s recent insights spotlight this growth, particularly in industries like energy, infrastructure, and deep tech—momentum that the Midcontinent region is already capitalizing on. At Cortado Ventures, we’re doubling down on early-stage frontier tech that reimagines legacy industries. Our 2025 Midcon VC Summit in Tulsa underscored this momentum in an outstanding presentation by Josh Pherigo, who builds on that theme with this article. https://lnkd.in/gpFVeDVw

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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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How do you build a fund that makes 40 new investments a year—and still stays high-conviction? I sat down with Charles Hudson, Founder and Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, who has quietly built one of the most prolific early-stage portfolios in VC—nearly 500 investments and counting, including The Athletic, Juniper Square, and Carrot Fertility. We discuss what he’s learned from 600+ investments, how to evaluate “founder taste,” why central casting is surging again, and the surprisingly strong performance of his consumer bets. Charles also breaks down their unconventional reserve strategy, why they rarely take board seats, and how they’re preparing for a changing venture landscape. The link to Episode 488 is in the comment section below.

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