Edward Chiu

Childcare is a movable barrier and the care economy is workforce infrastructure. Siran Cao dropped so much truth on First Builders this week and shared why even capitalists in a vacuum should care.

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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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I’m thrilled to officially announce our $3M seed investment in Propel People, a company we built inside the 1848 Ventures studio to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the #construction industry today: the skilled #labor shortage. For small and medium-sized contractors, hiring isn't just a challenge. It's the number one threat to their growth, profitability, and safety. With 94% of contractors struggling to find qualified workers, it’s clear that traditional hiring methods aren't built for the trades. That’s why we built Propel People. It’s a mobile-first, AI-powered hiring platform designed for how construction actually works: in the field. By leveraging smart candidate ranking, instant #SMS-based screening, and a fully #bilingual interface, Propel helps contractors build great crews faster and more efficiently. I’m also thrilled to formally announce that industry veteran Dexter Bachelder is at the helm as CEO. Having worked with Dexter and the team over the last few months, we've already seen the impact of his leadership. His 25 years of experience scaling construction tech companies will be instrumental as Propel People enters this initial stage of growth. This investment reinforces our core thesis at 1848 Ventures: building AI-native companies that solve fundamental pain points for the #SMBs that form the backbone of our economy. A huge congratulations to Dexter and the entire Propel People team on this milestone. We are incredibly proud to partner with you to support the people who build our world. Read the full announcement below. #constructiontech #venturecapital #seedfunding #ai #skilledtrades #smb

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The first thing I remember about Daniel Tian was his quiet intensity. He had dropped out of UPenn to join Ramp as an early engineer. He eventually left to start his own company with the same electric energy and talent. But when we met back in late 2023, he was concerned about the opportunity size of the company he was building in healthcare—then called Ava. “There are a bunch of companies in this space that hit a ceiling of $50M in revenue after 10 years,” he said in one of our early calls. “Is that what will happen to us too if we stick with this idea?” In our coaching work we worked through those doubts, navigated bumps in the road with early customers, talked through recruiting efforts for new eng, and explored ways to expand the market to other industries like construction and retail. In the end, Daniel and his cofounder realized the opportunity in home care alone was bigger than they'd initially thought. AI could dramatically reduce back office costs—making home care more affordable for older patients while helping helping the individual caregivers and small operators who do this vital work earn what they deserve. And now their company, Zingage has announced a major round of funding. As a coach, I don't write code, checks, or strategy docs. I help founders see their path more clearly and use their unique strengths to navigate whatever challenges arise—both external and internal. This achievement belongs entirely to Daniel and his team—their vision, their grit, their execution. I'm just so proud to see a former client succeed and make a meaningful impact in the home care industry. Helping founders navigate the uncertainty of a new idea and ultimately create a solution that helps 50,000 caregivers support their patients—that's why I do this work.

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We just shipped this week's RVL Newsletter 📬 Wondering what you missed in the tech space? 👇 Anthropic just raised $30B at a $380B valuation (yes, billion with a B), ElevenLabs hit $11B, and Primary Venture Partners is writing $5-10M seed checks like it's 2021 again. The reality? Seed rounds are getting bigger and more competitive while IPO exits are still mostly theater. If you're raising, you need to know where the capital is actually flowing. Also inside: → Why debt markets might matter more than tech IPOs right now → Musk's SpaceX + xAI merger and what it signals → How TakeUp (hotel pricing AI) built a brand that actually differentiates This is the signal-to-noise ratio founders and growth teams actually need. Read the full breakdown:https://lnkd.in/gWzJGXei Not subscribed yet? You're missing the weekly breakdown of tools, funding, and what actually matters in B2B growth → https://lnkd.in/gHV6HfqP

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📣 Female Tech Founders in NYC — New Accelerator Alert! Scale Ready Studio is a new 12-week, revenue-focused growth program for women building tech startups in NYC, created by Women.NYC in partnership with Get Sh!t Done. This program is designed to help founders scale sustainably through: - Revenue and profit growth - Strong systems and operations - Weekly strategy labs - Hybrid coaching (1:1 + group) - Technical assistance - In-person Founder Days The program culminates in a Deal Day, where participants pitch to a curated group of investors. 🗓 Applications close January 12

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What does it take to create speed in a regulated industry? For Allie Carey, Chief Strategy Officer at SEI, it meant designing a system that could turn hundreds of ideas into real ventures (without adding chaos). Over three years, she: • Built a culture of experimentation across SEI. • Launched a company-wide innovation contest (with real stakes). • Narrowed 30 ideas down to 10 pitches, to 2 experiments, to 1 live business. • Took one idea from concept to paying customers in just 18 months. We tried something new this week on Beyond The Core and built her full playbook live. It’s how SEI increased decision speed, improved throughput, and built a pipeline of repeatable ventures. Catch the full episode, now live wherever you get your podcasts, and download the playbook at https://lnkd.in/gPRvAK_n

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Leading product teams in regulated environments requires a different kind of discipline. In this episode of the HTD Agile Leaders Podcast, I sat down with Melissa Douros, CPO at Green Dot Corporation, to talk about how product leaders can move faster without sacrificing trust, governance, or customer safety. I enjoyed this conversation on product delivery, AI done responsibly, and what it really takes to lead transformation at scale.

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