Medha Agarwal

1/ I’ve joined @defyvc as a General Partner! Excited to work alongside the rest of the Defy team to support the next generation of incredible founders and category defining companies. I’ll be focusing on investing from inception through Series A.

Very cool opportunity. Can't wait to meet the next generation of Neo founders! @apartovi @neo

@SPeterstar15582 @bclemms How do you know?

@bclemms everyone has to exit now wont be cleared for several hours btw

If you are stuck on I-80 East near Emigrant Gap #california this is why. The cause snd result. #winterstorm #snow #sierra

@bclemms We just had a few troopers and a tow truck pass by

@bclemms Any update on the situation?

@PhelanArt @bclemms We haven’t moved

@bclemms Fresh Hope! (But no movement yet)

Healthcare must be a theme, congrats to Synthpop's Series A! We’re proud to continue supporting this exceptional team as they execute on their important mission of scaling AI that makes healthcare more human. bit.ly/4bDnUwQ @axios @thekcpr @mkhandel #HealthcareAI

@nxh_lxn full post: makecents.substack.com/p/post-sales-g…

Most AI startups over-optimize pre-sales GTM. The real failure point is after the contract is signed. Buying ≠ adopting. @nxh_lxn and I write about what we are seeing @defy_vc in Post-Sales GTM — and why renewals, expansion, and real value aren’t automatic in AI. The takeaway: AI products don’t fail because the tech is bad. They fail because onboarding, expectations, and customer pull aren’t managed with discipline. If you’re building AI: • Onboarding = behavior change, not feature tours • Expectations must be framed as progress, not magic • Customer input ≠ roadmap ownership Post-sales isn’t support. It’s where AI companies compound — or quietly churn. 👇 Full post in comments

We learned this week that Aumni (@getaumni) by J.P. Morgan is being discontinued. Aumni was an early pioneer in the VC software space, and we have deep respect for what their team built. We’re wishing everyone there the best as they navigate this transition. We understand that this change may create stress for portfolio operations and finance teams who rely on Aumni for consistent access to portfolio data, especially with Q4 close and audits approaching. Per Aumni’s customer communication, portfolio data processing will end in mid-January, and the platform will shut down at the end of March. We've been in touch with many Aumni customers and team members over the past couple of days, and it's been wonderful to see the community come together and support each other. If you’ve been affected in any way and are evaluating continuity options, whether with Standard Metrics (@metrics_co) or elsewhere, our team is here to help however we can. Please feel free to reach out to me or anyone at Standard Metrics.

Techcrunch profile: techcrunch.com/2025/11/21/how… defy.vc blog post: makecents.substack.com/p/investing-in…

🚀 Excited to share that @defyvc is leading the $3.5M seed for Interface, an AI platform transforming industrial safety + compliance — one of the most complex, high-stakes problems in heavy industry.Industrial operators rely on millions of pages of SOPs, technical manuals, and regulatory documents. Auditing them manually is slow, expensive, and often impossible to do comprehensively. Mistakes don’t just cost money — they cost lives. Interface’s AI “safety copilot” changes that. It’s already 10× faster and 4× cheaper than traditional review, and is being piloted today with some of the world’s largest oil & gas companies. This is AI enabling workflows that simply weren’t possible before.What made us lean in quickly was the founder–market fit, captured so well in @Cookie's @TechCrunch profile (linked below). CEO, @thomasleeyoung, grew up in Trinidad & Tobago around rigs, saw the impact of safety failures firsthand, and later worked in human factors engineering at Jaguar Land Rover. His co-founder, Aaryan Mehta, brings deep technical expertise — AI + Math from Imperial College London, and ML pipeline + fault-detection work at Amazon. Together, they have a rare combination of domain depth + AI rigor that this category demands and this is the right product at exactly the right moment. Thrilled to partner alongside @PrecursorVC, @RockYardVC, and exceptional angels on this journey — and grateful to @Cookie + @TechCrunch for telling the founders’ stories with such nuance. Thomas + Aaryan — we’re all in. Heavy industry needs what you’re building. This is only the beginning. 🚀

I’ve always believed the best founder–VC relationships start before the pitch. Years before investing in @noviconnect, I worked with its founder @kimberly_shenk at Eventbrite — she led data science, I led growth. That trust built in the trenches made backing her next company, Novi, feel full circle. Novi is the trusted data layer helping brands win in the AI-driven commerce era. We talked about how AI is becoming the new search interface — and what it means for brands to be found by machines, not people. 🎥 Marketing to Machines: How AI Shopping Is Changing SEO, Trust & Brand Growth YouTube: youtube.com/watch?app=desk… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mar… Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3aUqJM… Thanks @VCFMpodcast for hosting! cc @defyvc

🎤 I had the chance to speak at Techcrunch Disrupt Day 1 to share "What VCs Really Want To Hear in Your Pitch” alongside @jyotibansalsf (CEO, Harness), @jkk Jennifer Neundorfer (Managing Partner, @JanuaryVentures) & @DominicMadori (Senior Reporter, @TechCrunch). Apparently, in addition to sharing insights, I also delivered a highly animated session in hand-powered storytelling — lots of gestures, lots of enthusiasm, and (hopefully) some meaningful takeaways too. 😄 👐 We decided as group to not come up with any answers in advance so shared unfiltered, real-time thoughts and dove deep into some important topics: ✅ Why pitching effectively matters more than ever — it’s not just about the deck, it’s about showing why you'll be an effective salesperson in selling initial customers, early employees, and investors. ✅ Whether VCs are still looking at non-AI companies (yes — but the bar is very high). ✅ How to think about valuations in this market — there's no clear benchmarks focus on what you can control - clear metrics, and long-term thinking. ✅ Is VC for everyone? We challenged the “raise or die” narrative and discussed alternate paths to growth. ✅ How to craft a fundraising storyline that actually resonates — one that evolves with your company and market. ✅ And how to decide when to go to market — because timing is strategy, not luck. One point I want to emphasize again (hands and all): founders today need to build for today’s realities, but also be thinking about tomorrow’s opportunities. technology, GTM strategies, and market dynamics are shifting faster than ever — and we @defyvc are investing for outcomes 10 years out. Your vision should stretch beyond today’s hype cycle into tomorrow’s relevance. Huge thanks to the TechCrunch team for hosting such an energized crowd, and to my fellow panelists for keeping it real. The best part? Talking to founders who are not just chasing the next trend, but actually building the next wave. If you caught the session (or the enthusiastic hand choreography 😅), I’d love to hear what resonated most. Here’s to founders who pitch with purpose — and maybe a few power gestures along the way.

What’s the one question that stopped these investors in their tracks? @BSchuler (@dfjgrowth), @aniehenke (@scalevp), and @mkhandel (@defyvc) share the smartest questions they’ve ever been asked—by LPs, founders, and peers in Investor Stories Segment 433. Link in bio.

My iphone is "forgetting" contacts periodically. Started 48 hours ago - I checked that contacts are enabled across all accounts. Has this happened to anyone else?

@theBhulawat @southpkcommons bunny

Introducing Bunny - world's first curiosity device for kids It’s screenfree..it’s portable.. We raised $1M from @southpkcommons to reimagine how kids thrive in the age of AI, safely. Comment 'Bunny'. Our nephew will pick 50 families that get it for free this holiday season…

Congratulations to @BirchesHealth for their Series A and bringing to light the need for advancements in behavioral health, namely, gambling addictions. bit.ly/4mmQeFb @axios @thekcpr @mkhandel

Blog post: makecents.substack.com/p/announcing-d…

I’m thrilled to announce @defyvc's investment in @BirchesHealth as part of their $20M combined Seed and Series A funding round, alongside incredible partners like @alley_corp, @generalcatalyst, @willventures, 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 @ElliottRapaport and the entire Birches team! See more about our POV in the blog post linked in the comments. #GamblingAddiction #BehavioralHealth #HealthTech #VentureCapital #Innovation