.406 Ventures

Super excited to share the news of our investment in Nace AI alongside MVP Ventures and General Catalyst, that led the round.   In the article below, Kevin C. Wang and I share our thesis that led us to our investment in NaceAI and the amazing founder Dos Bahá whom we met at NeurIPS years ago (yet another reason it’s my favorite conference). Now Dos is joined by a rockstar founding team -- Sudha Valluru, Zhanibek Datbayev Datbayev, and Amine Mohamed Aboussalah. Together they are enabling the creation of many specialized models -- in minutes and by non-technical users – that can be combined to execute complex business workflows. We believe this is the future of enterprise agentic AI. Read more about why Nace AI is exactly “in the zone” for us here: https://bit.ly/3Ybptuo   Looking forward to the journey ahead with NaceAI and this team to enable an AgenticAI future!   .406 Ventures #AI #AgenticAI #ThesisDrivenInvesting #Portfolio

We’re thrilled to celebrate an incredible honor for our portfolio company, InStride Health! 🎉 InStride received the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA)'s 2025 Institutional Membership Award, recognizing InStride’s deep commitment to collaboration, professional education, and success in building the largest and highest quality insurance-reimbursable provider of evidence-based care for children and teens facing severe anxiety and OCD. The work they’re doing is not only transforming lives, but is setting a new standard for mental health care. Huge congratulations to Kathryn Boger, Ph.D., ABPP, Mona Potter, MD, John Voith, and the entire InStride team! Liam Donohue, Kathryn Taylor Reddy

Care for substance use disorder (SUD) can look different — and .406 portfolio company Wayspring is proving it. Its first Impact Report is full of what we love to see: meaningful connection with participants, measurable results for payers, and real human stories. They're showing that when you meet people where they are, with empathy and practical support, big things happen: better outcomes, lower costs, and most importantly, lives reclaimed. Congratulations to Carter Paine and the incredible Wayspring team as they continue to set a new standard in value-based addiction care. Take a look at the full report here 👉 https://bit.ly/3XUPWfE Liam Donohue, Payal Agrawal Divakaran

Applications are now open for the .406 Ventures Student Fellows program! Launched in 2008, the program attracts the best and brightest undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs. It offers them opportunities to accelerate their start-ups through applied skills and access to experienced mentors as well as day-long workshops with industry leaders. With a network of over 130 alumni, we look forward to expanding this vibrant community and welcoming Class XVII. To learn more: https://bit.ly/4liBJTO To apply: https://bit.ly/4cdtSTc Any questions? Email us at studentfellows@406ventures.com

Welcome (back) to the team, Marin Lang! We’re beyond excited to have Marin join .406 Ventures as a Senior Associate—but, fun fact: this isn’t her first rodeo with us! Marin was part of the .406 family years ago, interning with us and our portfolio companies during college. Now, after building a strong foundation in healthcare investing on Morgan Stanley’s Healthcare Investment Banking team and at Arsenal Capital, she’s coming back home to Boston. Marin’s passion for healthcare runs deep — she even centered her Harvard College studies around access to healthcare. When she’s not diving into the world of healthcare investing, you can find her reading WWII historical fiction, soaking up Nantucket vibes, or revisiting The Hunger Games. Get to know more about Marin, including how she hopes to be a go-to resource for entrepreneurs, on our website: https://bit.ly/3DQuilG

Two weeks ago, we welcomed our second child. As I navigate life with a newborn and his energetic 3.5-year-old brother, pediatric care has never felt more personal. That’s why I’m especially excited to share the news of our latest healthcare investment in Bluebird Kids Health (BBK). In this post, Liam Donohue and I discuss why BBK’s mission—ensuring every child has access to exceptional pediatric care—makes it a perfect addition to the .406 Ventures portfolio. And while welcoming my son has been the highlight of the past couple of weeks, I’m also thrilled to welcome Chris Johnson and the entire BBK team to the .406 Ventures family! https://lnkd.in/dt5rFFHz

It’s a great day for children’s health in the U.S.  Today, Bluebird Kids Health  announced the closing of a $31.5M Series A. We co-led the fundraise with F-Prime, with participation from new investor AIF and previous investor Juxtapose. Bluebird’s innovative approach prioritizes whole-child health, reduces barriers to care, and delivers better long-term outcomes for families. With this financing, Bluebird will have the fuel to expand into new cities and bring their exceptional care to more families. With one in 10 children in the U.S. not having access to a primary care doctor, this is life-changing work. Building on .406’s commitment to finding healthcare solutions that benefit vulnerable populations, we could not be more thrilled to partner with Bluebird to address pediatrics. To learn more, read the Fierce Healthcare article below. Congratulations to Chris Johnson and team! Kathryn Taylor Reddy, Liam Donohue, Trip Hofer #PediatricCare #Healthcare #ValueBasedCare #HealthTech #ChildrensHealth

It’s always a great day in the office when the .406 Student Fellows are in town, bringing their curiosity, smarts, optimism, and updates on their incredible startups. ☀️ Last week, we welcomed classes XV and XVI to the second of our two annual onsites. We are so grateful to our speakers who shared their energy, deep experience, and lessons learned with the group. Big thanks to founder and CEO Manish Sood and CRO Eric Cross from .406 portfolio company Reltio, Kevin C. Wang from .406, Christopher Warren from Gunderson Dettmer, Jimmy McDermott (alum from class X!) founder + CEO of Rubie, and Reed Sturtevant from Engine Ventures. Launched in 2008 for undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs, this two-year program now boasts a network of 120+ alumni. Daniela Andrade, Jack Blair, Angela Busheska, Sean Cai, Payal Chandak, Macdonald Chirara, Neha Desaraju, Manasi Gajjalapurna, Rayan Garg, Anshal Gupta, Sheryl Hsu, Rishab Kumar Jain, Nicole Jiam, MD, Geoffrey Jing, Grace Anne McCooey, Kabir Moghe, Truman Pierson, Ava Poole, Vienna Sparks, Maxx Yung, Edward Zhang, Aaron Z. Graham Brooks, Joanna Skoler Gilman, Rebecca Redfield, Austin Kwoun, Kelci Horan

Last Friday marked my final onsite with .406 Ventures, closing out two transformative years as a Student Fellow. This experience has been nothing short of incredible, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to have learned from and worked alongside such an inspiring community. At the heart of this fellowship were the people—from the .406 investment team and my fellow student fellows to the portfolio founders, investors, and legal experts who generously shared their time and insights. Some of the highlights I’m most grateful for: • Access to Top Digital Health Investors: Given my deep interest in women’s health and digital healthcare, having direct access to Rebecca Redfield, an exceptional digital healthcare investor on the .406 healthcare team, was invaluable. Her insights on the evolving healthcare landscape and her willingness to mentor me and other fellows were instrumental in shaping my understanding of the space. • Conversations with Founders: The healthcare founders in .406’s portfolio were incredibly generous with their time, making space in their busy schedules for 15-minute calls to share their journeys, lessons learned, and perspectives on building a digital health company. • A Network of Exceptional Women: As Co-President of Harvard Undergraduate Women in Entrepreneurship, building a female student founder community beyond Harvard has been a top priority. Being surrounded by brilliant, ambitious female student founders in the fellowship—many of who are already making contributions in their industries—has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my experience. I’m beyond grateful for the .406 Ventures Fellowship, and while this chapter is closing, I know the relationships and lessons learned will stay with me for years to come. Thank you so much, Graham Brooks, Joanna Skoler Gilman, Kelci Horan, and the rest of the .406 team for making this fellowship possible and for all your support in running it! I'm looking forward to giving back in any way I can to support future cohorts of .406 student fellows!

🚀 Big congratulations to .406 portfolio company RAD Security on its Series A! Rad Security has developed an AI-driven defense platform that improves operational efficiency for security teams, and enables the safe and secure use of cloud and AI workloads within an organization. We are excited to support RAD as they scale their impact—looking forward to what’s ahead! 👏 Go, Brooke M., Jimmy Mesta 🤙, and team! You can read more (and see RAD's new website!) here: https://bit.ly/4ktoNdt #CyberSecurity #AI #StartupGrowth #SeriesA #AIsecurity #cloudsec🚀 Greg Dracon