Overwater Ventures

Today, Forbes featured Olio Labs, one of our portfolio companies on their groundbreaking work on why women and men experience different reactions with obesity drugs. Their research reveals that the efficacy-to-tolerability ratio of GLP-1 is lower for women, GLP-1R expression differs between females and males, and GLP1RA-induced aversion varies across the reproductive cycle in both female mice and humans. https://lnkd.in/gv487bWQ

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time, yet traditional treatments aren’t enough. ???3 in 4 U.S. adults?are overweight or obese ???1 in 12?have tried GLP-1 drugs ???65% discontinue?within a year due to side effects Women, who make up?nearly 70% of GLP-1 users, experience?twice the nausea and vomiting rates?of men, along with?higher rates of GI distress, fatigue, and hormonal disruptions. Yet research on sex-specific tolerability remains scarce. Our portfolio company?Olio Labs?is pioneering a smarter approach. Their AI-driven platform deciphers the biological mechanisms behind these differences, designing?combination therapeutics?that account for thousands of cellular and protein interactions. Their latest?whitepaper?reveals why GLP-1 treatments impact men and women differently, including?variations in receptor expression?and fluctuations across reproductive cycles. The opportunity is massive:?women-specific therapies alone represent an $800B market, and Olio Labs' innovations could serve?70% of the broader obesity market. At Overwater Ventures , we're excited about drug development's future: personalized medicine with fewer side effects and better outcomes. We invest in ambitious founders leveraging breakthrough technologies to solve pressing global problems, and Olio exemplifies this vision perfectly. ???Read Olio Labs’ Whitepaper:?https://lnkd.in/gR_jPzny ???Overwater’s take on the future of obesity treatment:?https://lnkd.in/gSyd3R5c

This is a mentality that we fully believe in Overwater Ventures . It's much harder to build a unicorn without taking care of your own health first. Founders who focus on showing up as the best version of his or herself can create much stronger cultures and businesses.

Excited to see Michelle Ruiz, CEO of Hyfé, one of Overwater Ventures portfolio companies, featured in Inc. Magazine!

Thanks for featuring us, SynBioBeta!

Podcast People, This month, I’m honored to share my conversation with Fiona Spruill, CEO of Overstory, a pioneering software company that partners with utilities to predict and prevent wildfires caused by vegetation encroachment, ensuring a more reliable power grid. I spoke to Fiona about her journey; from growing up in three very different cultures, to her seminal experiences working at the The New York Times and Meetup, to her transition into climate tech, to the evolution of her career at Overstory, from Chief Product Officer, to Chief People Officer, to her decision to step in as CEO. Overstory employs more than 60 people representing 16 nationalities, has raised $32 million, and has partnerships with over 50 utilities across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. In our conversation Fiona shared, “I knew it might not work out. And I knew that Overstory might not succeed, as many startups don't. But I was really excited about the team. I was excited about the technology, and I was excited about learning and being able to have that experience of zero to one. Building a product is just such a gift and it's so much fun.” Tune in to my conversation with Fiona via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Happy listening, Emily Kirsch #Wildfires #AI #utilities #ClimateResilience #WildfireRisk #ForestManagement #WildfirePrevention #FirePreventionTechnology #DataDrivenSolutions

The world’s biggest problems aren’t obstacles—they’re opportunities. Healthcare inefficiencies. Food system failures. Aging infrastructure. Eliminating cancer. These aren’t just headlines. They’re signals: entire industries are on the edge of reinvention. At Overwater Ventures we don’t follow trends. We look for the deep, systemic shifts happening beneath the surface. Here are some of the areas we are excited about in 2025: ?? Healthcare Infrastructure & Access Today’s healthcare system is slow, expensive, and fragmented. We’re backing founders like Trial Library and Penguin Ai who are building the infrastructure to make care faster, cheaper, and more accessible. ?? Next-Gen Medicine & Prevention Medicine is shifting from reactive to predictive. Companies like Olio Labs, RTHM, Tiny Health, and Adaptyx Biosciences are leading the charge—bringing precision medicine to the masses. ???? "Niche" Healthcare That’s Not So Niche Fertility, neuroscience, women’s health—these markets are exploding, but remain underserved. Gameto, Conceive, Fellow, and Overture Life are proving these categories are anything but niche. ?? Food, Agriculture & Sustainability Our food system is broken, but fixable. Prose Foods, Zero Acre Farms, Feanix, and Quorum Bio are applying breakthrough science to transform how we grow, harvest, and consume. ?? Manufacturing & Materials Legacy manufacturing is slow, inefficient, and unsustainable. Material innovation needs a shake-up to be more sustainable, deliver better performance, and be better for our health. Cove & Hyfé are showing what’s possible—rethinking materials to reduce waste and create scalable alternatives. ? Grid Resilience & Infrastructure Innovation The grid isn’t fragile—it’s outdated. Overstory is using AI to strengthen critical infrastructure and protect communities from environmental and disaster-related risks. ?? Human Optimization & Performance AI shouldn’t just replace work—it should unlock better lives. Companies like tendercare are making caregiving more efficient, giving people time back for what truly matters. These aren’t speculative bets. They’re strategic investments in the technologies shaping the next decade. Because the future won’t be built on incremental improvements. It will be built by founders bold enough to redesign entire systems! At Overwater Ventures, we’re investing in a healthier world—one where innovation drives systemic change. We’re proud to support founders who are reshaping entire industries, and this is just the beginning. ?? Explore where we’re investing in 2025: https://lnkd.in/dyYeV-Fi

On National Caregivers Day, Shauna Sweeney shares more on what she's building at tendercare. Watch her talk below!

?? The next billion-dollar companies won’t be born from hype. They’ll come from deep, systemic shifts in industries on the verge of reinvention. Shifts that most people miss—until it’s too late. At Overwater Ventures we don’t start with the technology. We start with the problem. We ask questions others overlook: What will people want before they even know it? How is the world changing beneath the surface? Where can technology create the biggest leap forward? Because breakthrough companies don’t succeed on great ideas alone. They win when visionary founders solve problems that matter—using technology as a tool, not as a crutch. We invest early—pre-seed and seed—when the potential is obvious to few but the opportunity is massive. We don’t just write checks. We help founders go from concept to commercialization, fast. How do we find and fuel transformational companies? Learn more via the link in the comments.

Venture needs a reset. The old playbook prioritized hype over substance. Growth over culture. Capital over commercialization. The irony? This short-term thinking led to fewer billion-dollar wins—not more. But the next generation of billion-dollar companies won’t come from the usual suspects. They’ll come from founders who: ?? See what others overlook ?? Solve real problems with breakthrough tech ?? Build cultures that scale The early days at lululemon taught us this: enduring brands aren’t just built with great products—they’re built by empowering people to think differently, act boldly, and turn ideas into action. Later, at a16z and Khosla Ventures, we saw how macro shifts, influential networks, and big bets on technical founders could unlock transformative change. At Overwater Ventures we bring the best of these philosophies into the new way we do venture and with a different approach. We don’t just write checks. We roll up our sleeves. We help founders tackle the toughest part of building: commercialization. It’s not not about what we do, but how we do it. Because innovation isn’t the bottleneck. Execution is. Learn more about why we started Overwater—and how we’re rethinking venture. Link in the comments.