Brit Morin

There’s a lot of conversation about how AI is concentrating capital. That’s real. But I’m also seeing how it’s expanding what small teams can build. At ThriveLink, AI has allowed us to move faster, reach more patients, and build technology that helps families navigate systems that were never designed to be easy. We’ve been able to do with a small amount of capital what used to require entire teams and millions in funding. The tools are changing. The mission isn’t. Thankful to the Los Angeles Business Journal and Plug In Ventures for highlighting the changing venture landscape and what founders like myself are navigating right now.

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"Breaking those taboos, and peeling it back and saying ultimately we want HEALTHY individuals." 🚺 This week on the Digital Health Heavyweights Podcast, we chat with Akifa Khattak, JD, MHA, MS Biotech the co-founder of Her Health AI, a fem-tech startup focused on non-invasive diagnostics for endometriosis. "AI is the new ELECTRICITY." ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ Learn all about how endometriosis effects 1 in 10 woman. So someone you love likely deals with this. Akifa shares her personal journey with endometriosis, her legal advocacy in healthcare, and the importance of integrating technology into women's health. The conversation covers the challenges faced by women with endometriosis, the need for better diagnostics, and the financial implications of current treatment approaches. Akifa emphasizes the importance of awareness, education, and breaking taboos surrounding women's health issues, while also discussing the future of Her Health AI and the fem-tech industry. Her Health Ai is doing great work in the femtech endometriosis space by lowering diagnostic timelines, improving surgical outcomes, assisting in infertility based issues, reduces cancer risks, among other things. Takeaways ⚖️ The legal profession plays a crucial role in navigating healthcare innovation. 🌎 Endometriosis affects 200 million women worldwide, often going undiagnosed for years. 🧬 Her Health AI aims to revolutionize diagnostics for endometriosis. ⏳ The current diagnostic timeline for endometriosis is around 10 years. 📚 Awareness and education are key to improving women's health outcomes. 💸 Financial implications of endometriosis treatment is significant for healthcare payers. 🗣️ Breaking taboos around women's health is essential for better support. 🩺 Her Health AI is focused on non-invasive diagnostic methods. 🚺 The future of fem-tech looks promising with increased integration in healthcare. Thank you Akifa for coming on today!! Be sure to like and comment below and follow along for great conversations in the Digital Health world 👇 https://lnkd.in/djHt5PMu

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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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We invest at Pre-VC and Pre-Seed, and then help our founders find a Seed round when they're ready. Here are 27 Seed investors that we *know* are active right now. Blue Moon Bonfire Ventures Chingona Ventures Flying Fish Partners Foothill Ventures Great North Ventures ground game HealthX Ventures InsurTech Venture Partners KCRise Fund Las Olas Venture Capital Leva Capital Maven Ventures Monte Carlo Capital Moonshots Capital OneSixOne Ventures Oval Park Capital Pixel Perfect Ventures Range Ventures Revolution SNAK Venture Partners Startup Capital Ventures Supernode Global Susa Ventures Trilogy Equity Partners True Ventures True Wealth Ventures

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Exciting to see the incredible progress from Peptone, a company we’ve backed since the early days at Walden Catalyst Ventures. Peptone just announced Peptron-O, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA — a groundbreaking AI engine that brings ensemble-first structure prediction to the disordered proteome. This is a major scientific and technological milestone, targeting one of the most complex and previously inaccessible areas of biology: intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). By shifting the paradigm from static models to dynamic ensembles, Peptron-O opens new doors for drug discovery — especially in areas like oncology and neurodegeneration, where IDPs play critical roles. We’re proud to have supported Peptone on their mission to build the infrastructure for next-gen molecular physics. Their work is a great example of how deep tech can transform life sciences. Read more about the announcement: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eygnKQ67 #AI #Biotech #DrugDiscovery #DeepTech #LifeSciences #WaldenCatalyst #Peptone #NVIDIA #PeptronO with: Kamil Tamiola, Ph.D. Francis Ho Shankar Chandran Nicolas Autret Andy Kau Roni Hefetz Victoria Slivkoff

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Pangram CEO and co-founder, Max Spero sat down with School For Startups Radio to talk about the successful fundraising round of Pangram Labs and their disruptive technology to detect AI writing. Learn a bit of the Pangram back story including how Max and co-founder Bradley Emi (both Stanford grads) hatched Pangram. Now it is regarded as the most accurate AI detector on the market. Roughly paraphrased, Max says that Pangram is so accurate because it has learned the "specific nuances" that make it possible to recognize different AI models. #AI #AIdetection #education https://lnkd.in/g95pmjEg

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Every #VentureStudio GP knows some portfolio bets won’t hit. That's expected - and it's one of the reasons studios are such a powerful vehicle for innovation. And while a venture's failure might be what's visible to the outsider, what keeps them up at night isn’t failure at the venture level — it’s failure at the systemic level within the studio. One bad entity design. One IP misstep. One governance gap. That’s how studio operations fall apart. We break down how to spot (and fix) these cracks before they turn into fault lines in our latest paper, "The GP Dilemma" - DM me and I'll send you a copy!

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An often overlooked truth in venture: founder health is company health. In our latest Warrior Guide, we partnered with Noah Shanok, founder and first CEO of Stitcher (acquired by SiriusXM), early StubHub exec (acquired by eBay), and Benchmark & NEA-backed entrepreneur, to share the parts of founder life we should talk about more. This guide isn’t a checklist. It’s lived experience, and it's brutal, honest, and practical. From near-burnout during a Series A raise to the daily work of recovering clarity, Noah shared strategies that go deeper than platitudes: 🫂 Building a trusted peer support circle ⏰ Creating routines that actually work in startup life 🧠 Recognizing when to ask for help (and why it’s a strength, not a weakness) If you’re leading a company and finding it harder to lead yourself some days, you’re not alone. This one’s for you! Read the full warrior guide at the link in the comments. Founders- what are the mental resilience habits you’ve built into your journey? We'd love to hear from you.

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