Glenn O. Brown

Plural exists to invest in startups solving the hardest problems out there, and one of those is how to look after our sick and elderly as populations age, rates of chronic disease rise and the cost of global healthcare grows each year. That’s why we’re doubling down and leading a $20m Series A for Teton, which is building world-class technology for a sector that has seen barely any disruption, even in the face of a growing labour shortage. Teton’s technology automates routine checks on wards, combining specialised cameras with computer vision AI models that continuously monitor patients around the clock and alert nurses when someone needs attention. This system reduces menial work, allowing healthcare workers to spend more time on what they are best at: the human job of attending to patients in need of help, leading to happier staff who are less likely to experience burnout. The technology also shifts care from reactive to preventative, meaning better health outcomes for patients and residents. As an example, implementing Teton reduces falls - the leading cause of injury-related death in adults aged 65 or over - by 82%. The end result is a product that replaces one-off patient spot checks with more detailed ongoing assessment, improves patient outcomes and reduces resource for healthcare providers. This means that in a sector with a serious labour shortage, providers can safely look after people with a smaller number of nurses. For patients, that has the benefit of lowering the overall cost to access the very best care. Co-founders Mikkel Wad Thorsen and Esben Thorius spent more than 100 nights in hospitals to see how healthcare professionals can be helped best by technology, and the value they’re creating speaks for itself: Teton is now live in five countries across 35 care providers. Read more about why we invested in Teton here: https://lnkd.in/gwdcCczx With coverage in Reuters here: https://lnkd.in/g_eqiyex

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I’m thrilled to announce defy.vc’s investment in Birches Health as part of their $20M combined Seed and Series A funding round, alongside incredible partners like AlleyCorp, General Catalyst, Will Ventures, and others. As someone deeply passionate about backing companies that tackle important problems for our society, I couldn’t be more excited about what Birches is building—a national virtual clinic dedicated to treating gambling addiction and related behavioral disorders like gaming, sex, porn, and internet addictions. What excites me most is Birches’ innovative health assurance model: proactive, accessible, and affordable care that’s evidence-based and delivered right at home. With the explosion of legal sports betting—think nearly $1.5 billion wagered on this year’s Super Bowl alone—we’re staring down a looming public health emergency. Traditional options like hotlines or generic therapy fall short for this high-acuity issue, but Birches changes that by offering specialized therapy from trained clinicians, multimodal treatment, and peer support, all covered by major insurers like United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. It’s available in all 50 states, breaking down geographical and financial barriers that have left so many without help. The impact is already profound: 96% of patients report an improved quality of life, and 94% give Birches a 5/5 rating. By partnering with state governments, payors, and policymakers, Birches is pushing gambling addiction into the spotlight of behavioral health conversations, where it’s been neglected for too long—often leading to shame, worsened outcomes, and higher suicidality risks. This funding will supercharge their growth: expanding the provider network, boosting clinical excellence, scaling infrastructure, and deepening insurance and state partnerships to meet surging demand. Very excited to partner with Elliott Rapaport and the entire Birches team! See more about our POV in the blog post linked in the comments. #GamblingAddiction #BehavioralHealth #HealthTech #VentureCapital #Innovation

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I'm happy to announce that Founder Institute is bringing on Paul O'Brien as our first Head of Public Affairs. Paul joins FI with decades of experience tackling the systemic reasons startups and local ecosystems fail due to misaligned policy, underperforming startup programs, or institutional neglect of the realities of launching endurable businesses in today's economy. From Austin to Silicon Valley and beyond, Paul has championed the idea that education is infrastructure, and that cities should treat entrepreneurial development as essential as roads, broadband, and water. At FI we couldn't agree more, and as AI transforms our economy I believe the future of our society will be found at the convergence of how we teach, how we govern, and how we serve entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, I speak to government and economic development officials every week that are completely neglecting the education and development of new entrepreneurs in their regions. In his new role, Paul will help us push FI's mission to empower communities of entrepreneurs forward through Policy Engagement, University and Civic Integration, and Ecosystem Accountability. If your city, university, or organization is ready to integrate structured entrepreneurial incubation and acceleration with policy and capital strategy, now’s the time to connect! 🔗 Read the full announcement - https://lnkd.in/eenwHujW (and welcome on board, Paul! 👏 )

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I was honored to host a fireside chat with Clay Bavor, co-founder of Sierra (the AI-native startup recently valued at $10B), at last week's Fellows Forum 2025 organized by Fellows Fund. Before co-founding Sierra with Bret Taylor, Clay spent over 18 years at Google, where he played a pivotal role in shaping many of the company's most iconic products. His work spans from products at massive scale like Search, Ads, and Google Workspace (including Gmail and Docs) to pioneering projects in AR/VR and Google Lens. Most recently, he led Google Labs, which incubated next-generation AI applications like AI Studio and NotebookLM. It was incredibly inspiring to hear his vision for Sierra and the future of AI agents. His insights into the journey of building an AI-native company were particularly valuable, covering everything from the lessons he carried over from Google to the complexities of enterprise agents and Sierra's pioneering outcome-based pricing model. A few key takeaways: Lessons from his Google Experience 📍What he unlearned: Google's technology-first approach. In the enterprise world, you must start with the customer's problem. 📍What he brought forward: The ambition to build at the boundary of what’s possible and the importance of controlling your technological destiny through deep, in-house research. The Complexity of Enterprise AI Agents 📍The "Agent Iceberg": Clay described how the visible part of an agent is just the tip of the iceberg, with over 158 complex, unseen challenges below the surface - from latency optimization to release management. 📍Bespoke Voice Design: The platform supports over 34 languages and utilizes a dedicated "voice sommelier" to create custom voice experiences. Sierra's Outcome-Based Pricing Model 📍A True Partnership: Sierra only charges when its agents successfully complete a task, directly aligning its success with its customers' success. 📍Confidence in Performance: This model demonstrates deep confidence in the reliability and effectiveness of their AI agents. Full fireside chat video: https://lnkd.in/gjwNzHGu           #AI #Agents #FellowsFund #FellowsForum2025 #Sierra

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Baumol cost disease is real, AI is the solution Take law -- imagine a world where consumers have plentiful access to high-quality legal services thanks to AI. Crosby is building an AI-native law firm towards that vision. Ryan Daniels John Sarihan share more on Training Data with me and Josephine Chen, including why they decided to build a services firm instead of a software company, and the surprising things you learn pairing software engineers and lawyers side-by-side. Apple: https://seq.vc/891 Spotify: https://seq.vc/77q  YouTube: https://seq.vc/afv

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