Relevance Ventures Named to Inc.'s 2025 List of Founder‑Friendly Investors for the Fourth Year in a Row

Celebrating capital partners with a proven record of collaborative, founder-first support

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Relevance Ventures ("Relevance"), the nation's first independently-owned Native American venture capital firm investing across personal health, community health, digital health and financial health, is proud to announce its inclusion in Inc. Magazine's 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors list, marking the fourth consecutive year the firm has been recognized for its partnership with founder‑led companies.

"Raising capital is no small feat for today's entrepreneurs. That's why discovering investors who offer more than just financial backing—those who bring mentorship, resources, and a true spirit of partnership to your growth journey—is both rare and invaluable," says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. "The 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors are collaborators and dedicated to helping their portfolio companies succeed."

The distinguished list recognizes investors who actively support founder-led businesses and play a meaningful role in their success. Honorees have a proven track record of partnering closely with founders and maintaining deep engagement throughout the life of their investments.

"Being recognized by Inc. for a fourth straight year is a humbling affirmation of how we show up for founders," said Dean Newton, Chairman and General Partner at Relevance Ventures. "Grounded in our Native values: sovereignty, stewardship, cultural capital, and community‑first growth, we back builders who restore balance where imbalance harms. We pair capital with operator know‑how, board‑level partnership, and an ecosystem that persists through cycles."

Relevance continues to work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with portfolio leaders, including Talkiatry (insurance‑covered mental‑health care), PetScreening (pet‑inclusive housing and public spaces), CivicEye (public safety/tribal use cases), Vacayou (wellness travel), and others, through capital, customer introductions, strategic hiring, and cross‑portfolio collaboration.

"At Relevance, we measure success by durable outcomes for people, meaning better access, earlier detection and healthier communities, not just by rounds and headlines," added Cameron Newton, CFA, Managing/General Partner. "From insurance‑covered mental‑health access to pet‑inclusive housing, food‑as‑medicine and digital nutrition, our companies are moving the needle today while compounding value over the long term."

Relevance invests at the intersection of health and frontier innovation, with a thesis organized around four pillars that put people and communities first: Personal Health, Financial Health, Community Health, and Digital Health. As individuals take greater ownership of their health journeys and AI goes mainstream, the firm partners with founders building tools and services that help people analyze, distill, and act on more data than ever.

To compile the list, Inc. went straight to the source: entrepreneurs who have sold to private equity and venture capital firms. Founders filled out a questionnaire about their experiences partnering with private equity, venture capital, and debt firms and shared data on how their companies have grown during these partnerships.

For more information or to view the complete list of honorees, visit https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors.

About Inc.
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, digital, print, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

About Relevance Ventures
Relevance Ventures is one of the only Native American privately owned and operated venture capital firms in the United States. With over $80 million under management, the firm backs some of the brightest entrepreneurs addressing the most pressing problems in human sustainability as it pertains to health. The firm's investment thesis centers on physical health, mental health, and access to technologies, goods, and services. Founded by Cameron and Dean Newton, Relevance Ventures is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with a presence in Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Portland, and Santa Fe. For more information, visit www.relevanceventures.com.

SOURCE Relevance Ventures