The Venture Codex

Led · Series A · Nov 2025

Joy is a San Francisco-based company developing an advanced artificial-intelligence platform tailored to the needs of parents. Through its flagship offering, the Joy Parenting Club, members receive round-the-clock access to certified parenting professionals, including parent coaches and lactation consultants. The platform aims to improve every stage of the parenting journey by combining expert human guidance with AI-driven personalization. Looking ahead, Joy plans to deepen integrations with leading baby and parenting brands to create a more seamless ecosystem for families. The company also intends to expand its network of specialists so it can cover a wider range of childhood topics and developmental milestones. Newly secured capital will further accelerate product development, broaden service coverage, and enhance the underlying AI technology that powers user experiences.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2023

Torch Dental provides a digital procurement platform and dashboards that help dental practices discover products, manage supply preferences, centralize ordering, and control spend. The company uses artificial intelligence to drive supply-chain efficiencies and support customers transitioning the space from analog to digital. Torch is partnered with over 2,000 dental practices. The company raised $28M in the latest funding, bringing total capital raised to approximately $40M. Torch intends to use the funds to accelerate the digitization of procurement for dental practices across the United States, continue to grow its team, and explore additional partnership opportunities. The business is led by co‑founders Khaled Boukadoum, Yassine Boukadoum and Drew Werner and is supported by industry experts and entrepreneurs including Jeffrey Slovin, Joshua Zable, Gerard Moufflet, Steve Fredette, Jonathan Vassil, Brian Sheth, Geoff Donaker and Rob Krolik.

Participated · Equity · May 2022

Recurrent builds and scales niche digital publishing brands and operates a technology platform that builds, analyzes, and packages highly engaged audiences for advertisers. Since its founding in late 2018 the company has acquired 24 digital media brands and now reaches more than 60 million unique visitors each month. Recurrent employs over 300 full-time employees and 475 creative contributors and is virtual-first with headquarters in Miami and offices in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The company says it will use new funding to accelerate strategic acquisitions, grow brand reach, develop creative talent, expand its video presence, hire, and introduce new content offerings. Recurrent emphasizes social responsibility and sustainability in its storytelling and monetization approach. It positions its platform as a home for media entrepreneurs and creative teams seeking scale and operational support.

Participated · Equity · May 2022

Recurrent Ventures is a digital media company that acquires and transforms consumer media brands, with titles including Popular Science, Domino, JancisRobinson.com, Field & Stream, Donut Media, and Task & Purpose. Founded in late 2018 by Andrew Perlman and Matt Sechrest and led by CEO Lance Johnson, the company has acquired 24 digital media brands since inception. It is a virtual-first company headquartered in Miami with offices in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The staff comprises over 300 full-time employees and 475 creative contributors, with editorial and creative teams accounting for the majority of the workforce. Recurrent plans to use new capital to scale operations through hiring and talent development, utilize new engagement channels, expand its video presence, and introduce new content offerings. The company positions itself to grow audience engagement across its target verticals through expanded content and distribution initiatives. Recurrent Ventures operates a portfolio of 20 digital media brands across automotive, home, lifestyle, military, outdoors, and science and tech verticals. Its brands include Popular Science, The Drive, Domino, MEL, Field & Stream, SAVEUR, Futurism, and Task & Purpose, which together reach more than 50 million monthly unique visitors. The company was initially founded in late 2018 with the acquisition of The Drive and subsequently expanded under the ownership and backing of North Equity LLC. Recurrent plans to use new capital to acquire additional digital media properties and to make further investments in its existing portfolio and employees. The company has raised over $100 million in capital to date, including the recent $75 million financing.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2022

Natural Fiber Welding (NFW) is a Peoria, Illinois–based materials-science company that engineers high-performance, plant-based alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics. Its proprietary green-chemistry platform powers two flagship products: MIRUM, an all-natural, plastic-free leather replacement, and PLIANT, the world’s first naturally cured performance rubber outsole. Together these materials form a regenerative, circular platform aimed at footwear, fashion, automotive, and industrial markets. The company positions its solutions as drop-in replacements that match or exceed conventional materials on performance, durability, and aesthetics while radically lowering carbon footprints. NFW is seeing rising demand from global brand partners and has secured strategic backing from investors such as BMW iVentures, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Allbirds, and Asahi Kasei. The latest capital will be used to accelerate commercialization, expand manufacturing capacity, and support ongoing product innovation. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.