Fund/Build/Scale Shaping the future of work and care: Courtney Leimkuhler + Elana Berkowitz of Springbank
Based in New York, Elana Berkowitz and Courtney Leimkuhler are co-founders and partners at Springbank, where they focus on sectors that support working women and their families, largely in three key areas: the future of work, the care economy, and household consumer services.
Their thesis is driven by growing demand from employers, insurers, and the government, recognizing the economic impact of caregiving, which includes fields like teaching, child care, nursing and home health care.
“We look at the infrastructure to serve the needs of working women and their families as something that's underfunded, under-innovated, and kind of a huge opportunity hiding in plain sight,” said Elana.
We talked about backing solutions that combine business acumen with empathy for care workers while considering ethical AI use. They also shared insights on how to pitch effectively, stressing the importance of addressing the 'how' alongside the opportunity size.
Runtime: 39:53 EPISODE BREAKDOWN(1:21) Courtney and Alana share Springbank VC’s origin story.
(4:03) Their investment thesis: the care economy, future of work, household services.
(7:01) Why their investment in Carefull “is really levered to this concept of financial caregiving.”
(11:23) How they recognize founder-market fit.
(15:29) Which types of founders are they most interested in working with?
(18:01) Assessing the ethical implications of AI applications on caregiving.
(20:48) “The hardest decisions these founders might encounter might be many years after our capital has been put in.”
(23:36) Unsolved problems Courtney “would love to see” more founders focus on.
(28:23) Common misperceptions about AI and the care economy.
(30:43) Elana: “One area that we're interested in is memory care: Alheimer’s, dementia.”
(33:31) How to pitch Springbank VC.
(35:52) Tactical and strategic advice for first-time founders working on pitch decks.
(38:02) Elana: “I always really love when it is clear to me that founders have profound empathy.”
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