Marc Gorlin

Today we launched Seraphim’s 2025 Ecosystem Map. The headline: space is maturing with discipline. Capital is spreading to a broader set of high-quality companies; business models are stronger; dual-use demand is anchoring revenues; and public markets are starting to reopen. What’s new this year: • A dedicated Software category • In-space services shifting from demos to repeatable operations • A healthier balance of Build & Launch through to Analyse & Product At Seraphim our focus is simple: back category leaders, connect defence and commercial demand, and keep standards high so this sector compounds for the long term. Credit to the founders and operators setting the pace featured in the map. If you want to learn more about this year's Map, Seraphim's Lucas Bishop discussed it with Via Satellite: https://lnkd.in/eyni5DRH #SpaceTech #VentureCapital #SpaceEconomy #Innovation #SeraphimSpace #DualUse

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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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Proud to share that Greenfield Partners has led GoodShip’s $25M Series B, combining forces with our friends at Bessemer Venture Partners, Ironspring Ventures, Chicago Ventures, and FUSE! For anyone who has managed freight, the pain is familiar: scattered data, reactive decisions, and too many spreadsheets. GoodShip is building a modern operating system that brings planning, procurement, and performance into one place so transportation teams can act faster with measurable results. By unifying data across systems, teams get real-time visibility and clearer levers. GoodShip is already trusted by the leading enterprise shippers like Tropicana, WK Kellogg, McCain Foods, and KBX Logistics. “The freight industry is moving toward a new operating standard, with GoodShip at the forefront of this shift” says Itay Inbar. “GoodShip is redefining a trillion-dollar industry with a novel approach and rapid AI innovation - unifying procurement and visibility in a platform that’s already proving its value at enterprise scale across the world’s largest shippers.” The team, led by Ryan Soskin and David Tsai, brings deep freight experience and a builder’s mindset, and it shows in every customer conversation. Already, we are hard at work with the GoodShip team in scaling their go-to-market. Our shared goal is straightforward: help more shippers move from reactive decision-making to confident execution. This is the start of an exciting journey ahead. Congratulations to Ryan, David, and the entire GoodShip team—I’m grateful for the partnership and energized for what comes next! Itay Inbar Olivia Levine

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In venture, it's really easy to overthink the current iteration of the product/idea and to underthink the founder and their vision. Like Ed Catmull explains in Creativity Inc, great people will find their way to great ideas and build great things, and bad builders will botch great ideas. Yes, the product and how the founder is thinking about it can give you a lot of insight into the thoughtfulness and ability of the founder. But make no mistake that the founder is everything, especially at the earliest stages. Invest in great people building in a direction you believe in. Don't overthink the current iteration.

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What’s Investable in Healthcare Right Now Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the Nashville Health Care Council Sessions event, surrounded by healthcare investors from across the spectrum: venture capital, lower middle market private equity, sovereign wealth funds (QIA), and Wall Street, discussing what’s truly investable in healthcare right now. A few clear themes emerged: 1. Profitability and strategy matter more than ever. Investors want companies that know their lane and stick to it. That means shedding unprofitable service lines, focusing on sustainable margins, and aligning business strategy with the policy environment. (Policy and strategy are inextricably linked!) 2. The Medicare pivot is here. With the last baby boomers aging into Medicare in 2029, the focus is shifting. The growth story is no longer about MA enrollment, it’s about controlling costs throughout the Medicare lifespan. Chronic kidney disease, orthopedics, home health, and specialty pharmacy are hot spots of excess spend. 3. Technology is the bridge to sustainability. AI tools that cut administrative burden, alleviate provider burnout, and help employers manage costs are investable today. LLMs are now table stakes, and it’s nonnegotiable to adopt these technologies, while recognizing the products will look very different in 3–5 years. 4. Consolidation and restructuring will happen.  Home health is ripe for roll-ups, payors are the most likely buyers for healthcare IT, and large “pay-viders” (I hate that term) may need to divest of provider assets as Medicare Advantage economics change. Partnerships with strategics are more attractive than traditional PE playbooks. The bottom line: margins are compressing and labor will have to be cut, but technology will carry the industry across the chasm. Ultimately, investors are backing companies with the experience, network, and conviction to lead through this environment, "not just tourists who heard that healthcare was a fun place to visit” (quote of the day by Marcus Whitney).

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What many Founders don't appreciate is that fundraising isn't just a "necessary pursuit of capital." It's an unforgiving crucible that strips away illusions and sharpens your grasp on the business you're building. Fundraising crystalizes what you fundamentally believe to be true about your business, but it also exposes what assumptions you've been coasting on and what you need to test to have any knowledge about whatsoever. Good VCs probe relentlessly, revealing if your idea is built on firm ground or just wishful thinking in disguise. It's a wake-up call that forces you to confront the gaps and the shaky premises that could unravel everything if left untested. The process no doubt forges you in fire. Rejections can bruise the ego and feedback can sting. But if you lean into it, you emerge with a refined strategy, a tighter product, and a team that's aligned on what matters. The pain? It's just the price of building something that the world has never seen before.

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Shutdowns don’t just pause government - they stall America’s ability to build at scale. Factory buildouts, pilot production lines, heavy-equipment installs, and AI datacenter rollouts all depend on predictable public actions: grant payments to fund R&D, timely permits and inspections to break ground, customs clearances for critical machinery, and utility/interconnection approvals to power facilities. When agencies pause, each link snarls. The effects are real: Long-lead experiments stop and become costly to restart. Permits and inspections slip, leaving capital idle and suppliers scrambling. Equipment piles up at ports while customs backlogs delay production ramps. AI datacenter projects stall without steady approvals and infrastructure support. “Pause and resume” kills scale. Startups and manufacturers can’t certify, build, or ramp when timelines are political theater. Other countries keep building - they win the investment and capacity. If we want industrial strength and AI infrastructure here, fund flows, permitting, inspections, and procurement must be reliable. Pass clean funding and protect the steady public processes that let pilots become production. #BuildNotBreak #Manufacturing #AIInfrastructure #IndustrialScale

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Founders - if you’re not getting the value you want out of your board, push them to do this. Here are 3 Underrated Actions I’ve Found To Help Me Level Up My POV 1. Attend industry conferences where portcos have a booth Provides us with better idea of competitive landscape, direct access to market feedback and good way to build pipeline for portfolio companies 2. Attend customer advisory board meetings Get to hear the nitty gritty around the product experience and potential expansion opportunities direct from the source. 3. Watch sales, onboarding and CS calls and/or review AI generated analysis of them Great way to understand if the company has a jaw dropping customer experience. Easy way to internalize time to value, common customer objections, onboarding challenges and more.

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