New Orleans, LA / April 28, 2021 / PRNewswire / – PosiGen, the nation’s leading provider of renewable energy and efficiency solutions for low-to-moderate income (LMI) households, is pleased to announce the second close of its Series D growth equity financing with an additional $27 million investment from a syndicate of leading private equity investors, including Activate…

March 9, 2021 / EdSurge / – Going after an industry giant in K-12 college and career planning wasn’t what Katie Fang originally had in mind when she started SchooLinks in 2015. Back then, it was a website where high school students and parents could research college options. Such services were a dime a dozen, she…

NEW YORK, August 5, 2020 / CREtech /- ROOM, the startup reshaping the modern workspace, today announced it has closed a $12.5 million Series A round to fuel the upcoming expansion of its product portfolio with a suite of modular architectural solutions designed to meet crucial demand for adaptability and flexibility in the office. Backed…

AUSTIN, Texas, July 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vital Farms, Inc. (“Vital Farms”), a Certified B Corporation that offers a range of ethically produced pasture-raised foods nationwide, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 9,303,977 shares of its common stock at a price of $22.00 per share. The shares are expected to begin…

Stephanie Nieman recently authored an article, Technology innovations tackling the youth, young adult mental health crisis, that was first published in MobiHealthNews.  The piece gives a breakdown of the growing list of digital mental health tools available to these populations, and the various ways to deploy them. July 10, 2020 / MobiHealthNews / – The current COVID-19 pandemic and…

There is no playbook for what to do when your warehouse is hit by a tornado, or when the world is impacted by a pandemic. SJF portfolio company Optoro faced both at once. Resilience, persistence and drive allowed the company to persevere during the toughest challenges, and Optoro’s technology enabled the warehouse to be back…

We, like you, have been dealing with shock, sadness, frustration, and anger in the wake of the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  As with the cases of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others, we know the unfortunate truth that for every George Floyd, there are an unknown number of similar events that go…

SJF Ventures is offering Cleantech Open Office Hours from 10 am – 6 pm ET on Thursday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 13 to support growth-stage companies with the potential to rapidly scale in an economic recovery. During the office hours, cleantech entrepreneurs will present their investment opportunity or discuss top-of-mind issues via video with…

Dave Kirkpatrick recently authored an article, Coronavirus Proves Government Is Important, that was first published in The Hill.  The column covers how attacks on government have weakened our response to the pandemic and climate crisis and highlights the urgent need for proficient and accountable governments to protect all citizens from these crises, especially the poor.  The piece…

SJF Ventures portfolio companies Vital Farms and Cooks Venture were mentioned in the news talking about the effects of the Coronavirus.  The Washington Post discussed changing consumer habits with Vital Farms’ CEO, and The New York Times talked about food supply chain issues with Cooks Venture’s CEO. Stress-baking and hoarding has led to a retail…

Boston, Massachusetts, January 22, 2020 / PR Newswire / – Catalant Technologies today announced the close of $35 million of additional funding from its Series E equity round and expansion of its existing debt facility to scale its product offering and expand into new global markets. Catalant is a leading provider of software that helps companies effectively manage strategy…

Each year, Optoro publishes an impact report outlining the company’s environmental and social impact achievements. Through its mission to make retail more sustainable by eliminating all waste from returns, on average in 2019, Optoro clients were able to keep 96% of returned and excess goods out of landfill. Additionally, the company mitigated 8.5 million pounds…

January 14, 2020 / Triple Pundit / – Picture this: A chicken factory farm with overcrowded hens packed onto the cement floor with a higher risk for disease and without good-quality feed or even fresh air. Now, picture this: Family farms that provide their pasture-raised hens with plenty of feed, nutrients and abundant space to forage for…

Los Angeles, California, October 3, 2019  / PRWeb / – Today Waycare, an AI-based connected mobility platform for transportation agencies, announced that it has raised $7.25 million in Series A funding led by SJF Ventures, with participation from UpWest, Next Gear Ventures, Innogy, Spider Capital, Goldbell, Zymestic Solutions, and janom. The new funding will drive Waycare’s expansion efforts in North America and Europe,…

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, September 12, 2019  / Starter Story / Hello! Who are you and what business did you start? Hi! My name is Jan Bednar and I’m the CEO and founder of ShipMonk, a technology-driven fulfillment center based in South Florida. Our services are primarily geared towards B2C/eCommerce, subscription box, and crowdfunding fulfillment. We also…

August 5, 2019 – (LinkedIn) – SJF Ventures has been investing in cleantech companies for 20 years. We have seen many funds come and go, most notably Silicon Valley funds that rushed in some years ago only to get burned. The incorrect media conclusion after that saga was ‘cleantech VC failed’. However, funds like SJF have continued…

Please feel free to download our 20th celebration graphic via PDF.

May 22, 2019 / realwire / – HYLA Mobile, the world’s leading provider of software technology and services for mobile device trade-in and reuse solutions, announces that its President and CEO, Biju Nair, has been named as a finalist for 2019 EY Entrepreneur of The Year Southwest Division awards. This award recognizes the important role Biju has…

Austin, Texas, May 21, 2019  / INTERPLAY LEARNING / – Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online training for skilled trades utilizing virtual reality (VR) and 3D simulations, today announced it has completed a $5.5 million Series A round of financing. S3 Ventures led the investment round with participation from SJF Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Wild Basin Investments,…

December 12, 2018 / TIDELINE / – New research from Tideline and Impact Capital Managers (ICM), a network of private fund managers committed to impact investing, shows that a social and environmental focus on investment management can, in fact, boost financial returns. The new white paper, titled The Alpha in Impact, is based on Tideline’s analysis…