Archive: 2016

Chernova’s Take: SJF Ventures Sticks With Clean Tech—and Prospers Fresh off closing its largest fund at $125 million, firm survives economic cycles by keeping up a steady commitment to its principles By Yuliya Chernova Dec. 21, 2016 7:30 a.m. ET Read the full article here.

December 15, 2016, Durham, NC – SJF Ventures has closed SJF Ventures IV, L.P., a $125 million fund investing in high-growth companies creating a healthier, smarter and cleaner future.  The oversubscribed fund will build on proven impact investment strategies from three previous SJF funds that have delivered superior financial returns and […]

SJF Ventures III has invested $3 million in LeadGenius. The Berkeley, CA-based company delivers a marketing and sales platform powered by best-in-class data that is continually refined through a unique combination of machine learning technology and skilled human researchers. Serving over 200 customers, from rapidly-scaling tech startups such as Weebly, to […]

Yieldbot Yieldbot, a digital media technology and marketplace that connects brands with active consumer intent announced it placed second on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Yieldbot, which delivers measured engagement and sales […]

Pressure from animal welfare groups and consumer interest in humane farming methods are fueling a quiet international race to develop technology that would end one of the egg industry’s most gruesome practices: the shredding to death of billions of newborn male chicks each year. Efforts are underway in North America and Europe to find an industrial-scale […]

SJF is proud to release its 2016 Impact Report, which highlights the organization’s impact strategy and portfolio company achievements across six impact objectives: mitigating climate change, conserving natural resources, increasing nutritious food & sustainable agriculture, improving education access & outcomes, enhancing health & wellness, and enabling greater economic access & […]

In 2016, SJF Ventures undertook a project to better understand the climate change impact of its portfolio.  SJF Ventures worked with a team from the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, along with its partners at the Duke Carbon Offset Initiative and […]

San Diego, CA, September 15, 2016 – Portfolium announced on Monday that it has raised $6.55M in Series A Financing, led by SJF Ventures. The funds will fuel expansion of Portfolium’s talent marketplace for students and cement it’s position as this generation’s bridge between higher ed and the job market. “In every […]

In the Spotlight … For the third time in three years, SJF Ventures Managing Director Cody Nystrom backs a company focused on preventive health — one founded and led by Brenda Schmidt, and one that, Cody tells Women’s PE Briefs, is “orchestrating a dialogue,” between insurers, doctors, non-traditional health providers […]

Solera Health Raises $4M To Battle Diabetes By Deborah Gage There are thousands of community organizations, from Weight Watchers International to the YMCA, that help people lose weight and live healthier lives. And there are 86 million people in the U.S. at risk of developing diabetes, according to the American […]

Phoenix, AZ,  June 17, 2016 – Solera Health, a technology-enabled personalized preventive health network, today announced the closing of a $4 million Series A1 round of funding. The company will use the financing to scale its operations to meet the growing demand by health plans for the National Diabetes Prevention […]

This Company Connects Your Fitbit to Your Doctor April 23, 2016, 11:00 AM EDT Validic is becoming a key player in “wearables.” You may never have heard of Validic, but if you’ve ever sent your doctor data from your Fitbit, smart scale, glucose meter or another wearable device or health […]

Vital Farms’ hens live the way birds are meant to: under open skies and grazing on organically maintained green pastures, all day, every day. In addition to enjoying nature’s all-natural salad diet, the girls get plenty of exercise and as a result, these happy hens lay delicious, nutritionally rich eggs […]

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Durham, N.C., March 31, 2016—TransLoc, a leading provider of transit technology, announced today that it has completed an $8 million round of financing. The round was co-led by SJF Ventures and Fontinalis Partners, with additional investments from Marc Benioff’s Efficient Capacity fund, Thomas McMurray and Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC), an […]

Food companies Aseptia and AmeriQual form relationship with asset transaction RALEIGH, N.C. – Food technology leader Aseptia has completed the sale of its manufacturing operations Wright Foods and Carolina Dairy to a newly formed subsidiary of AmeriQual Group Holdings. The sale, which was finalized in late February, transfers the assets […]

“Got an A in Algebra? That’s Worth $120” Read the full story at The New York Times.

Since 2007, Austin-based organic egg producer Vital Farms Inc. has grown from a single operation in Southeast Austin to a network of 90 family-owned farms in six states. Read story.

NEW YORK, January 14, 2016 — Yieldbot today announced its highest annual revenue in company history. In 2015 the company experienced 150% growth from the previous year, and nearly a 1650% increase from 2013, its first full year of revenue. Q4 2015 also marked the first profitable quarter in the […]

Students embrace classroom program, complete millions of complex problems daily during 2014-15 school year Think Through Learning, creators of Think Through Math, a web-based math instructional system for grades 3 and above, announced today that students using the program across the U.S. have surpassed one billion math problems in the […]