Defy Ventures

Novi is building a B2B marketplace for brands that care about sustainability

It’s that old chestnut: You are a fancy-pants brand wanting to make a product that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside because you only use fair-trade, sustainably grown ingredients and mat

With former Misfit founder Sonny Vu at the helm, Arevo raises $25 million for its 3D printing tech

Sonny Vu, the former founder and chief executive of the wearable technology company Misfit, has had a busy summer since he was named the new chief executive of 3D printing technology company Arevo. Vu

Build products that improve the lives of inmates

Almost one-third of Americans have some criminal history. The U.S. accounts for 25% of the world’s prison population. Let’s stop ignoring this demographic and build tools that really make the worl

Linking combat veterans and Valley engineers, Reveal’s drone technology wins DoD contracts, VC cash

When Garrett Smith graduated from Stanford University to take a job with the drone startup Kespry, he’d not only wrapped up studying at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities, b

Mobile banking app Empower Finance just closed a $20 million Series A round

Another afternoon, another round of funding for a mobile banking app. This time, it’s Empower Finance, a San Francisco-based company that’s headed up by former Sequoia Capital partner Warr

Skubana raises $5.4M for its e-commerce operations software

Skubana, a startup promising to help e-commerce business manage what can be a dizzying array of logistical challenges, is announcing that it has raised $5.4 million in Series A funding. The round was

Meet Projector, collaborative design software for the Instagram age

Projector, the brainchild of two Twitter alums, is emerging from stealth with $13 million to reimagine visual communication.

Early-stage investment firm Defy updates the venture partner model

Defy, the early-stage venture investment firm founded by Neil Sequeira and Trae Vassallo, is putting a new twist on the venture partner model as it brings Brian Lee and Sujal Patel on board to help ou

Pioneer Square Labs is invigorating Seattle’s startup ecosystem

How the startup studio's "validation engine" has made it one of the best company builders in the business.

Grove just raised $8 million to make traditional financial planning affordable to pretty much everyone

Financial advisors aren’t cheap to use. They aren’t always seen as trustworthy, either, with many advisors receiving — or perceived as receiving — incentives for recommending c

Veteran VCs Trae Vassallo and Neil Sequeira attract $151 million to their new firm, Defy Partners

They’re back. After staying heads down for the past year, Trae Vassallo and Neil Sequeira, two longtime venture capitalists whose individual brands are well-known to Bay Area startup founders, a

How VCs can do more good

Venture capital does many great things for the United States. Importantly, it fuels the innovation economy, churning out disruptive products, companies and entire new industries. Indeed, venture is ex

Defy Ventures redefines ‘the hustle’ from prison yard to startup office

More than 100 million Americans have a criminal history, according to a Department of Justice survey. Catherine Hoke of Defy Ventures believes that through training, these individuals can become succe