# SJF Ventures

> SJF Ventures is a VC fund in Durham backing Software and Health Care. See 119 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Durham, United States
- Total investments: 119
- Last investment: Jul 2026
- Lead investor: 45%
- Fund size: $175M
- Last fund: Feb 2021
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sjf-ventures
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/sjfventures
- Website: http://www.sjfventures.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjfventures/

SJF Ventures is a venture capital partnership with offices in Durham, New York and San Francisco. Through its investment funds, the firm provides equity financings from $1MM to $10MM, solo or in syndicates, to companies seeking growth capital.As a venture fund, SJF Ventures focuses on the resource efficiency, sustainability andtechnology-enhanced services sectors. Representative investment areas include efficiency and infrastructure, asset recovery including reuse and recycling, sustainable agriculture and food safety, health and wellness technology, education technology and digital media and marketing services.When assessing investment opportunities, SJF Ventures is highly selective in identifying teams, markets and business models that can achieve rapid sales, strong profitability, and premium exits. In addition, SJF looks to partner with entrepreneurs who are committed to positively impacting the world through the businesses that they are creating.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for SJF Ventures. Shizune tracks 12 team members at SJF Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/sjf-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $1.9M–$12M |
| Series B | $1.6M–$44M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 29 | 24% |
| Health Care | 14 | 12% |
| SaaS | 10 | 8% |
| Analytics | 10 | 8% |
| Information Technology | 10 | 8% |

136 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 41 | 34% |
| Series B | 23 | 19% |
| Funding Round | 14 | 12% |
| Series C | 12 | 10% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 7 | 6% |

9 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 77 | 65% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 1% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Alan Kelley | Managing Director | 8 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alan-kelley |
| David Griest | Managing Director | 15 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-griest |
| Emma Sissman | Director, Portfolio Acceleration | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/emma-sissman |
| Jackie Lipkin | Principal | 2 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jackie-lipkin-56c4 |
| Rick Defieux | Co-Founder & Investment Committee Chair | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rick-defieux |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DeweyLearn | DeweyLearn provides an AI-driven learning analytics platform that observes and analyzes real learning interactions across classrooms and online environments. The platform combines audio, video, and learning data to interpret engagement, collaboration, and skill development for individual learners and groups. DeweyLearn is trained on eachorganization’s curriculum, domain knowledge, and assessment rubrics to deliver targeted, context-aware feedback. Educators and trainers use the system to monitor participation, assess mastery, and receive confidential guidance on instructional practices. Institutions apply DeweyLearn to support corporate training, higher education, and K–12 programs, including language learning and culinary education. The platform is designed to help organizations understand learner progress at scale and adjust instruction, support, and program design based on evidence from real learning activities. | $5M | Series A | Jul 16, 2026 |  |
| Lium | Lium provides a platform that structures technical datasets and makes them accessible through natural language, enabling teams to analyze, understand. | $5.5M | Seed | Jun 10, 2026 |  |
| Binti | Binti builds modern software to help every child have a safe, loving, and stable family. 300+ child welfare agencies across 33 states use Binti's tools to care for over 30% of children in child welfare in the US. Our software covers the end-to-end of child welfare, from helping agencies efficiently recruit, license, and match foster parents,to supporting families of origin in getting back on their feet and reunifying with their children. Our products are designed specifically to address the complexities of child welfare. Agencies working with us have licensed 80% more families on average in their first year on Binti, with a 16% reduction in time to approve and 20-40% savings in social worker time. Binti is a for-profit, mission-driven company. Investors include Founders Fund, First Round Capital, Kapor Capital, and others. | $6M | Venture - Series Unknown | May 31, 2026 |  |
| Zero Homes | Zero Homes provides a digital platform that helps homeowners plan, design, and coordinate electrification projects for residential properties. It offers services for remotely assessing homes via a mobile app, creating tailored designs, and generating quotes for systems such as heat pumps, water heaters, induction cooktops, electrical upgrades, andEV chargers without in-home visits. The company connects these plans to installation workflows and manages project logistics, including contractor coordination and rebate guidance. Its tools aim to streamline the end-to-end process from initial assessment through installation with virtual consultations and software-driven design. | $16.9M | Series A | Feb 17, 2026 |  |
| Origin | Origin provides physical therapy services. They focus on pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, and sexual health. They also offer physical therapy for the pelvic floor and the whole body. |  | Series B | Jan 28, 2026 |  |
| Lōvu Health | Lōvu Health is a digital maternal health platform that offers services to care for mother and baby from conception to postpartum. | $8M | Series A | Sep 10, 2025 |  |
| Nuclearn | Nuclearn is a software company delivering AI solutions for automating Nuclear Industry tasks.Nuclearn was established in 2020 by two esteemed veterans from the nuclear industry, Jerrold Vincent and Bradley Fox, driven by their passion for innovation. With backgrounds in nuclear engineering, business intelligence, and process improvement, theco-founders came together to create the industry's pioneering in-house data science team at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in 2016.Their remarkable work quickly gained recognition throughout the nuclear sector, resulting in a US-issued patent and the prestigious NEI Best of the Best, Top Innovative Practice Award in 2020. Fueled by this innovative spirit and a mission to benefit the entire nuclear power industry, Nuclearn was born to provide a safe and efficient way to automate critical processes in the field. | $10.5M | Series A | Sep 09, 2025 |  |
| Azra AI | Azra AI provides a better care experience and better outcomes by quickly analyzing, identifying, and classifying oncology patients. | $7.9M | Series A | Jul 03, 2025 |  |
| Tradeverifyd | Tradeverifyd is an innovative AI-driven platform that automatically identifies and mitigates supply chain risks. | $4M | Series A | May 21, 2025 |  |
| Respondology | Respondology develops a customizable comment moderation tool for businesses or anyone with a large online audience. It enables brands of all types to regain control of their presence in social media by immediately and discreetly removing damaging social comments and bots across paid, organic, and influencer social marketing. | $5M | Series A | Apr 23, 2025 |  |

10 of 119 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Supply Chain Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/supply-chain-vent) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [LiveOak Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/liveoak-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Reach Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/reach-capital) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [The Blue Venture Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/the-blue-venture-fund) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Arborview Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arborview-capital) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [The Blue Venture Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bluecross-blueshield-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 4 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does SJF Ventures invest in?

SJF Ventures invests primarily in Software, Health Care and SaaS startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 119 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is SJF Ventures's check size?

SJF Ventures typically joins rounds of $1.9M–$12M at Series A and $1.6M–$44M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds SJF Ventures participates in.

### How do I contact SJF Ventures?

Public channels for SJF Ventures include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at SJF Ventures?

The team at SJF Ventures includes Alan Kelley (Managing Director), David Griest (Managing Director) and Emma Sissman (Director, Portfolio Acceleration), among 12 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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