BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Relevance Ventures, a Native American-owned venture capital firm based near Nashville, has been selected by Inc. Magazine for its fourth annual Founder-Friendly Investors list.
The list recognizes 184 firms that entrepreneurs collaborate with and trust as they receive the financial support they need to help drive growth. All 184 have successful track records of remaining actively involved with the businesses they invest in.
“Fully investing in an entrepreneur and their innovative vision involves far more than the financial investment,” Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine, said in a statement. “By developing relationships with and supporting entrepreneurs for the long-term, these private equity and venture firms are more than investors, they’re partners.”
Relevance Ventures focuses on investing in companies that promote wellness and positively affect the social determinants of health. The firm has shown an aptitude for working closely with the founders of its portfolio companies to help them grow while meeting the goals of its strategic investments, according to a statement.
“As a firm, we endeavor to not only discover companies with great potential for reshaping health and wellness and making positive contributions to the social determinants of health, but also to understand our shared goals and cultivate the connections that will empower them to generate high-quality outcomes and reshape markets,” Managing Partner Cameron Newton (Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia) said in a statement.
In October 2021, Relevance Ventures worked closely with the management team at Sunbasket, a subscription meal kit delivery service focused on organic and sustainable ingredients and was key in its merger with Prüvit, a maker of keto supplements. The combined company is now called PSB Holdings, which is valued at more than $1.3 billion.
In February, Relevance led a $4 million investment in Ombre, a wellness company that provides at-home microbiome tests and probiotic subscriptions.
Most recently, Relevance announced an investment in Rootine, a health and daily performance provider optimizing health and human performance through precision nutrition. The funding will help Rootine hire new talent, forge partnerships and create new distribution channels as it continues to grow.
