Allison Dulin Salisbury

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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This woman built tech that can spot bipolar episodes, detect postpartum depression, and keep her diabetic son alive. Vivienne Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist, a serial entrepreneur, and a self-proclaimed “mad scientist.” Her obsession? Maximizing human potential. Vivienne was born Evan Campbell Smith. By her early twenties, she had dropped out of college, fallen into depression, and was contemplating suicide. Then she made a decision: if she was going to keep living, she was going to do something substantial. She flipped a coin between economics and cognitive science. It landed on cognitive science. She went back to UC San Diego, earned a degree in cognitive neuroscience, then completed a PhD in psychology and theoretical neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon. While in grad school, she met Norma, a fellow PhD student. They fell in love. And one night, Vivienne told her the truth. “My secret is that I wish I were a woman.” Norma didn’t run. She listened. Vivienne underwent hormone therapy after conceiving their first child, Baxter, and completed gender confirmation surgery in 2008. They later had a second child, Thalia. Over the next two decades, Vivienne launched six startups, and served as chief scientist at two others. She invented AI systems that could: - Predict manic episodes in bipolar patients - Reunite refugee orphans with surviving relatives - Help autistic children learn to read facial expressions - Manage her son’s diabetes in real-time - Identify and mitigate bias in hiring - Improve cognitive recovery in TBI and dementia patients - Assess student creativity and emotional intelligence In 2011, she co-founded Socos Labs, her fifth company, a “mad science incubator” focused on the intersection of neuroscience, AI, education, and human development. Then she built The Human Trust, a nonprofit data trust that works on complex social challenges: disability, economic exclusion, algorithmic justice… She also co-founded Dionysus Health, where she helped create the world’s first biological test for postpartum depression, using AI and epigenetics to identify risk before symptoms appear. Throughout it all, her central thesis never changed. AI is not the end of the world. It’s not salvation either. It’s a tool, it’s only as useful as the humans who wield it. The real danger, she says, is that we’ll use AI to do just enough. That we’ll automate away our creativity. Flatten our curiosity. Become passive operators of tools we don’t fully understand. When writing her latest book, Robot-Proof, she fed every chapter into Gemini. But not to edit. “I tell it: You’re my nemesis. Tear this apart. Tell me where I’m wrong. Then I run it again: Now you’re a bored reader. Show me where you got lost.” Her work has earned her a spot on the BBC 100 Women list, Inc. Magazine’s 10 Women to Watch in Tech, and more than a dozen research and innovation awards. 💡 Follow Justine Juillard for daily #femalefounder spotlights

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I'm happy to announce that Founder Institute is bringing on Paul O'Brien as our first Head of Public Affairs. Paul joins FI with decades of experience tackling the systemic reasons startups and local ecosystems fail due to misaligned policy, underperforming startup programs, or institutional neglect of the realities of launching endurable businesses in today's economy. From Austin to Silicon Valley and beyond, Paul has championed the idea that education is infrastructure, and that cities should treat entrepreneurial development as essential as roads, broadband, and water. At FI we couldn't agree more, and as AI transforms our economy I believe the future of our society will be found at the convergence of how we teach, how we govern, and how we serve entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, I speak to government and economic development officials every week that are completely neglecting the education and development of new entrepreneurs in their regions. In his new role, Paul will help us push FI's mission to empower communities of entrepreneurs forward through Policy Engagement, University and Civic Integration, and Ecosystem Accountability. If your city, university, or organization is ready to integrate structured entrepreneurial incubation and acceleration with policy and capital strategy, now’s the time to connect! 🔗 Read the full announcement - https://lnkd.in/eenwHujW (and welcome on board, Paul! 👏 )

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Exciting news, just announced by Google's CEO at the White House. Flourish Fund has been awarded a $2 million grant from Google.org to accelerate our work to reimagine the foster care system. These funds will fuel innovative solutions - leveraging technology, collaboration, and bold ideas to better serve vulnerable children and families. This fall, we’ll also launch an Innovation Challenge to invite fresh approaches into this work.  We're so grateful to Hector Mujica and team for their support. Partnering with one of the world’s most innovative organizations will be a force multiplier for our ability to transform this system! https://lnkd.in/eenJwDZg

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Despite policy headwinds, U.S. climate tech startups aren’t fleeing abroad. They’re doubling down locally. At SecondMuse, we’re seeing founders recalibrate within the U.S., chasing states with strong demand, clearer incentives, and investor trust. 🔑 Three quick takeaways: 1️⃣ It’s not brain drain. The real risk is startup attrition without better domestic support. 2️⃣ Winners are solving real problems. Capital is flowing to industrial solutions that work without subsidies, like green shipping, carbon capture, and grid optimization. 3️⃣ Policy clarity shapes startup decisions. States like NY are stepping up, but federal uncertainty risks losing top talent, especially international researchers. We need inclusive, well-capitalized ecosystems that move with urgency and equity, because climate tech doesn’t wait. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/gsDbkeqD

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HARPETH VENTURES ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT IN VENTEUR Harpeth Ventures Opportunity Fund (“Harpeth Ventures”) is pleased to announce its participation in Venteur’s recent $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Informed Ventures and American Family Ventures, with participation from Morgan Health, Ingeborg Investments, Catalyst by Wellstar, Plug and Play, Revelry Venture Partners, Houghton Street Ventures, and Techstars. San Francisco-based Venteur is the leading healthcare benefits technology company transforming how employers offer and manage health insurance through Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs). Venteur’s platform empowers employers to offer flexible, personalized health benefits by enabling employees to select individual plans that fit their unique needs. Through a combination of technology and concierge support, Venteur helps individuals navigate their healthcare options while driving improved outcomes and greater cost efficiency for employers. More information is available at Venteur.com. “We greatly appreciate Harpeth Ventures’ involvement from both a capital and relationship perspective,” said Stacy Edgar, Co-Founder and CEO of Venteur. “The Harpeth team has already been instrumental in several business development opportunities.” Added Chuck Byrge of Harpeth Ventures, “With our relationship-driven approach, we were fortunate to meet Stacy in early 2024 and have followed their growth closely. We couldn’t be more excited about their future and the tailwinds driving ICHRA adoption.”

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There’s a lot to love about working in venture capital, but there’s also a lot of hard, often overlooked work that comes with it. In this episode of High Stakes, I sit down with James Barlia, formerly Revolution Ventures, now Executive Director at STATION DC, to talk about the unseen side of venture investing: the fund operations, the constant juggling, and the reality that fundraising is never really “done.” While sourcing gets all the glory, fundraising is the engine that keeps the firm running. It’s not a one-and-done. It doesn’t get easier after the first close. It’s ongoing, it’s active—and it’s foundational if you want to play the long game.

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