Springbank

Based in New York, Courtney Leimkuhler and Elana Berkowitz are co-founders and managing partners at Springbank, an early-stage VC firm based in NYC. They focus largely on three key areas: the future of work, the care economy, and household consumer services. “We look at the infrastructure to serve the needs of working women and their families as something that's underfunded, under-innovated, and kind of a huge opportunity hiding in plain sight,” said Elana. I talked to Courtney and Elana about backing solutions that combine business acumen with empathy for care workers while considering ethical AI use. They also shared insights on how to pitch effectively, stressing the importance of addressing the 'how' alongside the opportunity size. Read: https://lnkd.in/gcGS3xrv Listen: ?? Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/geTmrTxf ?? Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gC5dHzek #CareEconomy #SandwichGeneration #HealthTech #GenAI #startups #NYC #FinTech #VC #Fundraising #EarlyStage #FutureOfWork #Aging #ChildCare

Big news! ?? We’re thrilled to announce that Alchemy has raised a $31M Seed round, led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Magic Johnson Enterprises, Sheryl Sandberg, Banc of California and existing investors Twine Ventures, Springbank and AlleyCorp. Alchemy builds and operates in-house pharmacies for safety net clinics, with a focus on patients living with HIV and Hepatitis C. We provide the entire physical, clinical, and digital infrastructure needed to operate and grow best-in-class pharmacy programs. Last week, Alchemy Founder and Co-CEO Sid Viswanathan sat down with Earvin “Magic” Johnson to discuss his personal journey with HIV, his vision for advancing HIV access and equity in the U.S., and the role he believes Alchemy will play in the coming decades. Full press release: https://lnkd.in/gnk3Jpkt #Fundraise #Alchemy #Pharmacy

This week, we highlight speakers from the #SOCAP24 content track "Transforming Health Systems." Sessions in this track will emphasize collaborative models that address the challenges in the health sector. We will examine the role of data analytics and technology in driving systemic change, exploring how these insights inform strategic investments. ??? Meet the speakers below and take advantage of our flash sale (the last sale before tickets are full price)! Register for SOCAP24 today to save $450 off the full-price ticket! The sale runs through Monday, September 16: https://hubs.la/Q02PvzG70 ??Katie Drasser | Rock Health ??Vanessa Roanhorse | Roanhorse Consulting ??Lyn Morris | Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services ??Dr. Charmain Jackman, Ph.D. | InnoPsych ??Andrew Barr | greymatter capital ??Michelle Teo | MedAccess ? Scarlett Chen 陳思佳 | Verge HealthTech Fund ? Nafisa Jiwani | U.S. International Development Finance Corporation ? Jordanna L. Saunders | Trauma Recovery Services of Arizona ??Steve Davis | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Stanford University Graduate School of Business ??Erin Sietstra | Hopelab ? Leeat Gellis | Grand Challenges Canada ??Elana Berkowitz | Springbank ? Cierra Gromoff | Kismet Health Inc ??Michael O'Bryan | humanature ??Chantel Chapman | Trauma of Money ? Ruth Shaber, MD | Tara Health Foundation

I couldn't be more excited to share that Brisk Teaching has raised $5M in our seed round, bringing our total funding to $6.9M! The round was led by Owl Ventures, with participation from existing investors South Park Commons, Springbank, Coalition Operators, and Coherence Fund. Brisk is now used by 1 in 10 teachers in the US to save time across tasks like grading, lesson planning, and more. Today, we're launching Brisk Boost, our student-facing tool that empowers differentiated learning experiences and drives deeper student engagement with safe, personalized AI. Tory Patterson Emily Bennett Aditya Agarwal Ruchi Sanghvi Danh Trang Elana Berkowitz Courtney Leimkuhler Jaclyn Rice Nelson Ashley Mayer Laurence Holt Doug Jaffe Jim Mylen Couldn't do it without an awesome team! Alex Muscat Tom Whitnah Suvi Gluskin Sandra Short Paige Poole Hedger Wang Humza Agha Jill MacAuley Bryan Profis, M.A. Pamela Martinez Shay Ghassemian Maryel Ley Jeni Weber Anjali Rajpara Huey Kwik Jessica Bershad Michelle Cummings

Educators are constantly required to do a lot with very little. Teachers experience the highest burnout of any profession, with 55% saying they are considering leaving the profession. 1 in 10 teaching positions go unfilled. Teachers work 53 hours per week, seven more than the average working adult – with only 50% of that time spent in the classroom with students. Teachers and students deserve more. That's why we're proud to announce our investment in Brisk Teaching. Their $5M seed round was led by Owl Ventures, the world’s largest Edtech venture fund, with participation from our friends at South Park Commons and Coalition Operators. We led the pre-seed round last year and witnessed Arman Jaffer's insane velocity in bridging the gap between AI and the classroom.? Brisk integrates directly with educators' existing workflows, empowering them to customize texts, create content, provide draft feedback, and easily authenticate student writing. And with the recent launch of Boost, it allows teachers to embed AI-powered tutors, assessments, and activities into the content they share with students.? In just one year since its launch, Brisk is now used by over 500,000 teachers (1 in 10 teachers) across 30,000 school districts and has saved educators over 10 million hours to date.? The time for Brisk is now. Technology spending on AI productivity tools is increasing as an overwhelming majority of education administrators and leaders (97%) see the benefits, but only ? of districts report having a generative AI initiative. And this is the team to do it. The exceptional Brisk leadership team has deep relevant experience shipping and selling education products at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Seesaw Learning, Teachers Pay Teachers, and more. We are so excited to see Brisk used by even more educators, schools, and districts across the U.S. Onwards!

Huge congratulations to our friends Fika Ventures! We love working with you and can't wait to see what comes next for you and your amazing founders!

Employers, brokers and employees — check out some of the great content tomorrow at the Parento Parental Leave Summit. It’s all virtual and all actionable. Hope you’ll join for some or all!

Listen to Libby Leffler, the Founder & CEO of First, on The Wall Street Skinny pod where shes discuss prenuptial agreements and their evolving role in modern relationships. So, who needs a prenup, and why??Why are more women than ever initiating the conversation around prenups??What risks are you exposed to if you don't have a prenup??We discuss the rapidly shifting trends, evolving perceptions, and changing use cases around prenups today.?

TOMORROW: In collaboration with Springbank and Moms First, join us for a candid discussion about the challenges and opportunities of investing in #caregiving benefits. How are companies currently leading on caregiving benefits??What do you need to know about your workforce to create quality offerings? Learn first-hand from: ? Donnebra McClendon, Global Head of Culture and Inclusion, Dayforce ? Joseph Fuller, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School ? Nicole De Santis, Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) ? Ashley Marchand Orme, Director of Equity & Stakeholder Leadership, JUST Capital Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gBEtyz2K