News and Insights

June 27, 2018

Rustic Crust Closes $8 Million Round

(NOSH) / June 27, 2018 – Better-for-you pizza company Rustic Crust, Inc. today announced the close of an $8 million round of capital, its first raise in roughly eight years. Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners (ACAP) provided the majority of the capital; Whipstitch Capital represented Rustic Crust in the deal. Rustic Crust […]

May 31, 2018

SJF Invests in $6.6 Million Series A for Voltaiq

BERKELEY, Calif. and BROOKLYN, New York, May 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/— Voltaiq, the leader in Battery Intelligence™ software solutions, today announced that it has raised $6.6 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Anzu Partners and includes Bee Partners, SJF Ventures, and UL Ventures. The funding […]

May 7, 2018

SJF Leads $11 Million Series B in mPulse Mobile

SJF Ventures has led mPulse Mobile’s $11 million Series B financing.  mPulse provides mobile solutions that help healthcare consumers and organizations achieve better outcomes.  The company’s technology tailors messaging touchpoints and interactive dialogue to offer personalized engagement for patients.  mPulse’s client base is made up of over 70 health plan, […]

April 10, 2018

TemperPack Announces Successful POPBOX Trial Completion

TemperPack’s POPBOX replaces bubble foil meal kit liners with certified curbside recyclable alternative: RICHMOND, VA – April 10, 2018 – TemperPack, a leading manufacturer of sustainable insulated packaging, has announced today the successful completion of a season-long trial of POPBOX with PaperliteTM, a new, fully curbside recyclable packaging innovation for […]

March 14, 2018

SJF Leads $7.5 Million SeamlessDocs Investment

SJF Ventures IV invested $4.5 million to lead a $7.5 million Series C financing of SeamlessDocs, a New York-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company focused on bringing government paperwork and workflows into the digital and mobile age.  More than 300 state and local governments in the United States rely on SeamlessDocs to […]

January 31, 2018

Living Earth Acquires Nature’s Best Organics of Tennessee

DALLAS, TX (The LETCO Group, LLC DBA Living Earth) – Texas’s largest compost manufacturing and organics processing company has acquired the operating assets of Nature’s Best Organics of Tennessee, an organics processor, manufacturer and distributor of landscape materials. Living Earth is pleased to announce that it has acquired the operating […]

January 25, 2018

TransLoc Acquired by Ford

January 25, 2018 – TransLoc, a leading provider of transit technology, has been acquired by the Ford Smart Mobility Business Group. SJF Ventures, along with Fontinalis Partners, co-led an $8 million financing for TransLoc in March 2016. For more on that financing see: https://sjfventures.com/sjf-ventures-and-fontinalis-partners-co-lead-8-million-financing-for-transloc/. “We are thrilled about the merger of […]

November 9, 2017

EdLinks: Building Scalable Outcomes-Based Education Companies

New York, NY – As part of its EdLinks series, SJF Ventures hosted a panel discussion focused on building scalable outcomes-based education companies. SJF Managing Director Arrun Kapoor served as moderator, asking questions on the relationship among outcomes and return on investment, buyer purchasing decisions, efficacy measurement, customer partnerships and […]

November 1, 2017

Vital Farms Opens Facility in Springfield, Missouri

Springfield News-Leader A national supplier of pasture-raised eggs celebrated the opening of its Springfield processing facility this month. Austin-based Vital Farms‘ new facility, named “Egg Central Station,” processes one million eggs a day. It has created more than 50 new jobs with a starting wage of $13 an hour. Mayor Ken […]

November 1, 2017

SJF Co-Leads Investment in Jopwell

New York, NY – SJF Ventures is pleased to announce it has co-led the $7.5 million Series-A investment in NY-based Jopwell, a company that matches Black, Latino and Native American professionals with career opportunities.  Cue Ball co-led the investment with participation from Kapor Capital, Y-Combinator, Omidyar Network, Teneo Holdings and […]

September 28, 2017

Optoro Named to 2017 Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startup List

Optoro Is Building A Billion-Dollar Business Helping Companies Cope With A Glut Of Rejected Stuff: In Optoro’s 300,000-square-foot warehouse outside Nashville on a stiflingly hot afternoon in late August, Susan Cohan scans the bar code on a cardboard box holding 97 pink crocheted bikinis. The tops were priced at $27.99 […]

August 31, 2017

LA Times Highlights Carrum Health

How one California county is fighting high-priced surgeries: LOS ANGELES – August 31, 2017 – Retiree Leslie Robinson-Stone and her husband enjoyed a weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to a luxury resort — all thanks to the county she worked for. The couple also received more than a thousand dollars in spending […]

August 24, 2017

Energy Storage is Coming Fast!

In our most recent blog post, we discussed how venture capital can help scale solutions that mitigate the impacts of climate change. This post will focus on one of those solutions, energy storage, which we believe is at an inflection point within its life cycle. Energy storage has the capability […]

August 15, 2017

Public Transportation is Key to Honoring the Paris Agreement

August 15, 2017 – (LinkedIn) – President Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement in July prompting cities, states, organizations of all sizes and everyday Americans to step forward and pledge to uphold the core tenets of the Paris climate agreement and fight climate change. 274 mayors […]

July 14, 2017

SJF Ventures Leads $10 Million Series A in TemperPack

RICHMOND – July 14, 2017 – TemperPack (www.temperpack.com), the leader in earth-friendly packaging for insulated, temperature-sensitive goods, announced today that it has raised $10 million to expand its operations and further commercialize innovative, new products. SJF Ventures led the fundraising round, joined by Interplay Ventures, Third Prime Capital and Dolik Ventures. Robert Beckler, formerly the president of […]

July 12, 2017

Solera Health Raises $18.3 Million in Series B Funding

PHOENIX – July 12, 2017 – Solera Health, a provider of integrated chronic disease prevention services, announced today that the company has raised $18.3 million in Series B funding in a round led by Adams Street Partners. Existing strategic investors Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners, Sandbox Industries and social impact […]

July 12, 2017

How Digital Health Innovators are Changing the Status Quo for End-of-Life Planning

Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And yet the inherent optimism of human nature causes us to avoid talking about the inescapable truth of death. Studies have repeatedly shown that while we widely recognize the value in end-of-life consideration and […]

June 20, 2017

Venture Capital’s Role in Carbon Pollution Drawdown & the Paris Accord

SJF Ventures has joined thousands of investors, businesses, and universities along with nine states and hundreds of cities to sign on to the “We’re Still In” pledge to join the global effort to hold warming well below 2C.  Climate wealth investment opportunities abound, as recently illustrated by the 100 solutions profiled […]

June 19, 2017

Carrum Health Picks Up $6.5 Million Seed

SAN FRANCISCO – May 24, 2017 – Carrum Health, the first comprehensive bundled payment platform for employers, received $6.5 million in seed funding led by Wildcat Venture Partners, a venture capital firm committed to enabling early-stage startups to build high-growth business. The funding also includes contributions from venture capital firms […]

June 19, 2017

MediaMath Secures $175 Million Credit Facility

NEW YORK, June 6, 2017  –  MediaMath, the leading independent programmatic company for marketers, today announced a new $175 million senior secured credit facility, led by Goldman Sachs, in partnership with Santander Bank. MediaMath will use this new line of credit to refinance existing debt facilities and fund its ongoing […]