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 McClure told the News-Leader the…

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 Valar Ventures. Minorities are underrepresented…

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 and the bottoms at $19.99…

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 money and a personal concierge,…

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 to make the electrical grid…

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 have signed on as part…

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 packaging at WestRock, an international…

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 fund SJF Ventures also participated…

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 planning, we do not take…

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 in Drawdown-The Most Comprehensive Plan…

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 SJF Ventures and SpringRock Ventures….

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 growth objectives. Joe Zawadzki, Chairman…

Raise.me grabs $12 million to fix how colleges provide financial aid by Jonathan Shieber March 29, 2017 Preston Silverman got the idea for Raise.me, a startup that has created a clever new way for students to receive financial aid, while working as a volunteer at a school for untouchables in India called Shanti Bhavan. Taking a break…

SJF Ventures has led the $10 million Series B financing at Voxy, a company revolutionizing English language learning.  Through a mobile and web-based educational program, Voxy is teaching English language learners with content and multimedia relevant to their personal lives and professional goals.  The company applies a rigorous learning pedagogy that has been proven to…

January 17, 2017, Davos, Switzerland – SJF Ventures is proud to accept the 2017 Circular Economy Investor Award, one of seven award categories for the Circulars, which recognize individuals and organizations that have made notable contributions to the circular economy.  The World Economic Forum’s Community of Young Global Leaders, in collaboration with Accenture Strategy, awarded the Circulars…

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 driven sizable positive impacts in…

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 Fortune 500 businesses such as…

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 lift for brands across their…

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 method to determine the gender…