The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Jun 2026

Forage builds modern payment infrastructure to enable retailers and platforms to accept government benefits such as SNAP, WIC, HSA, and FSA, and operates a consumer app that lets low-income families check EBT balances, discover savings, and earn rewards. Its payments technology is live at over 100,000 stores across all 50 states and is used by national retailers like Dollar General, Gopuff, and Save A Lot, as well as online platforms including DoorDash and Uber Eats. The company says it has facilitated tens of millions of grocery orders for millions of American families and grew payments volume 13x over the last year. Forage launched its consumer app in late 2025, which has been downloaded over 100,000 times, and the company aims to reach one million low-income families via the app by the end of 2026. The firm positions itself as the only USDA-approved third-party payment processor that combines modern software with dedicated service to help retailers through authorization and launch. Forage is based in San Francisco.

Led · Equity · Mar 2026

Binti provides software solutions that integrate information across departments and uses AI to reduce time spent on documentation in child welfare workflows. The company’s products are used by 550 agencies across 37 U.S. states. Founder and CEO Felicia Curcuru began pursuing the vision behind Binti roughly nine years ago. Binti last raised a $45 million financing round in 2021. The company aims to not only complement but eventually replace existing state systems for child welfare case management. Recent strategic capital from Pivotal Ventures is intended to advance that vision and aligns with efforts to reshape care infrastructure.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2025

Millie operates a hybrid maternity clinic model that combines in-person care at its clinics with virtual visits, remote monitoring, and a proprietary app. The company offers maternity and gynecology care as well as postpartum coaching, mental health support, and nutrition counseling. Millie works with all major insurance companies and provides both in-person and virtual support through a tech platform with patient monitoring tools. Founder Anu Sharma launched Millie in 2022 after experiencing pregnancy complications and identifying gaps in care. The company describes its model as capital efficient and increasingly powered by AI-enabled workflows in collaboration with payors and health system partners. Millie competes with other maternal-care providers such as Quilted Health and Oula and plans to expand its physical footprint and technology services across California. Millie is a Berkeley, CA-based maternity clinic and app-enabled care provider that guides patients from 48 hours after a positive pregnancy test through one year postpartum. The service pairs each patient with a care team including an OB-GYN, a midwife, and a doula, delivering coordinated clinical and nonclinical support. Millie's offerings combine proactive medical insight, virtual and in-clinic monitoring, and at-home monitoring tools such as blood pressure cuffs. Its digital app provides around-the-clock messaging with providers, a social network, mental health support, nutrition counseling, lactation support, and digital health checks. The company conducts three visits with patients, the first occurring at the patient's home within one week postpartum, and emphasizes accessible, patient-centered care. Millie recently closed a $4M seed round and plans to open a physical clinic next to the Alta Bates Campus in Berkeley on September 26.

Led · Equity · Feb 2025

Little Otter provides AI-powered virtual mental health care that treats children (0–18) and their families with a holistic, evidence-backed suite of services. Its platform uses advanced AI to triage patients, personalize services, and scale assessments alongside human clinicians. The company is available in 15 states and plans to expand state coverage to reach millions of families covered by Medicaid and commercial insurance. In 2024 Little Otter achieved 2.5x revenue growth and delivered over 56,000 care visits, with 85% of families reporting progress within six sessions and 71% of children achieving remission after 12 sessions. The company is unveiling a brand refresh and intends to continue leveraging data-backed outcomes to improve access and effectiveness. Founded in 2020 by Dr. Helen Egger and Rebecca Egger, Little Otter emphasizes clinical excellence across mild to severe conditions. Little Otter offers a precision digital mental health platform that assesses family needs via a questionnaire, delivers a personalized report, and matches families with a personal care lead who builds a tailored care plan. The platform provides virtual, on-demand integrated care with parenting specialists, early childhood-trained therapists, couples therapists and pediatric psychiatrists. Co-founded in May 2020 by Rebecca Egger and Dr. Helen Egger, the company emphasizes treating the whole family and uses proprietary assessment methods and data visualization. Little Otter reports 45% month-over-month growth and says 85% of families using its care plans reach clinical improvements within six sessions. It is currently available in California, Colorado, North Carolina and Florida and plans to be available nationally by 2023. The company aims to become an in-network benefit covered by insurance plans and employers while investing in a state-of-the-art tech and data platform and hiring a chief technology officer to scale.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2024

Summer Health is a NYC-based digital health company led by CEO Ellen DaSilva and Dr. Ali Alhassani, head of clinical. Its flagship product is a text-based companion to a family’s primary pediatrician, offering care in under 15 minutes and reducing unnecessary visits. The service launched in July 2022 and has been used by thousands of parents for urgent guidance and prescriptions. In November 2023 the company expanded its longitudinal primary care model to include lactation support, sleep training, developmental milestone tracking, and long-term pediatric care. Summer plans to use new funds to double down on distribution via consumer and employer channels and to expand service offerings for parents. The company positions itself as an always-available complement to in-person pediatric care.