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    NewsJanuary 15, 2026

    Fireroad Ventures 2025 Year in Review

    Three December Investments

    (+1 still TBA)

    EmpathEQ

    (Inception Stage, sourced from Cincinnati ecosystem)

    EmpathEQ offers emotion-aware AI simulations for soft-skills training in healthcare. It targets communication, empathy, and de-escalation gaps in nursing education and workforce. The platform delivers browser-based, emotion-aware avatar simulations with feedback on tone, empathy, and de-escalation aligned to nursing standards. Today, EmpathEQ is partnering with undergraduate nursing programs and hospital education teams to set a measurable standard for skill development. Fireroad invested believing the soft-skills simulation technology is broadly applicable across service sectors. EmpathEQ is based in Cincinnati/NKY and led by Alex VonRosenberg, Jon Monahan, and Lucas Consoli.

    Therapprove

    (Pre-Seed, sourced from regional events)

    Therapprove is a HIPAA‑aligned referral management and lead activation platform for healthcare providers, starting with pediatric therapy. It turns abandoned inquiries and waitlists into qualified, trackable referrals that fill provider caseloads. Providers screen, invite, and route families via an "OpenTable‑style" global queue and an org‑level CRM, reducing leakage and admin burden. Therapprove is led by CEO & Founder Tiffney Vivo from Indianapolis.

    ResolvRebates

    (Seed stage, sourced from investor network)

    Resolv automates the discovery, qualification, and filing of energy rebates for residential HVAC and plumbing projects. The platform helps contractors surface all eligible incentives at quote time and completes the paperwork on behalf of homeowners. For utilities and public agencies, Resolv streamlines application intake and verification. Rebates become simple, reliable, and fast—improving win rates for contractors and program efficiency for providers. Led by Sam Ruderman and Shane Smith, the team is based in Truckee, CA.

    Portfolio Overview

    As a pre-seed fund, FVF1 is building an appropriately diversified portfolio of investments. After 32 months of our initial investing period, we have made 27 investments and allocated to a 28th that is scheduled to close in January. We are targeting a portfolio of 32-35 companies and putting more than 85% of our investible capital to work with initial investments. Our pace has been to write about one new check each month, and so we expect to make the final initial investment from Fund I in Q3 of 2026.

    Of our 27 current holdings, two have officially wound-down and been written to $0 value. Two more companies are in the process of closing and we plan to write those investments down to $0 in Q1 once we have final documentation from founders.

    *new investment in 2025

    • * Ando (formerly Methodic) - Labor-optimization platform for shift-based workforces providing demand forecasting, automated shift-filling, and W-2 compliance.
    • Anonymous Agent - [Wound down Q2 2025]
    • Anadro - [Wound down Q2 2025]
    • DifferentKind - Evidence-based dental patient experience measurement and reputation management platform.
    • * EmpathEQ - Simulation and real-time feedback platform for soft-skill development in service professionals, focused on health care.
    • ESGentle (now Nova) - In wind down process.
    • * Fenceline - End-to-end job management software for fencing contractors with integrated material ecommerce.
    • Flamel - Unified digital marketing automation for multi-location franchises.
    • * Glasshouse - Neighborhood-level intelligence and digital outreach platform for home service professionals.
    • GoodAgriculture - AI-powered financial administration and bookkeeping for regenerative farms.
    • Immersed - Spatial computing platform for workplace productivity.
    • Integrate School - K-12 lesson planning tools with one-click state standards matching.
    • Level 6 Cybersecurity - Holistic threat and risk modeling platform for CISOs and security directors.
    • * Longview - AI-native operational infrastructure for home restoration companies combining claims negotiation with operator quality assurance.
    • Magic Kids - In wind down process.
    • * Murray Mentor - AI-driven manufacturing knowledge transfer platform capturing and delivering institutional expertise through conversational interface.
    • Narratize - AI-powered product innovation platform with RAG-based knowledge management for R&D teams.
    • founderspool (formerly oneKIN) - Ecommerce tools for main street businesses.
    • Palli - Distribution intelligence platform for East African FMCG supply chains connecting local and regional distributors.
    • * Proxylink - Identity authentication infrastructure for proxy interactions in agentic commerce.
    • * ResolvRebates - Managing rebate programs for contractors and program administrators.
    • SMB.co - Connecting buyers and sellers of small businesses (1M+ listings).
    • Tembo - Developer platform for data services with agentic database performance engineering.
    • * Therapprove - Referral network for pediatric therapy practices.
    • Tinychain - Cloud services and hosting unified with blockchain data structure.
    • Toolsey - Lead orchestration platform for home services companies with focus on roofing industry.
    • Wiggl - Workplace safety and compliance data platform for hybrid workforces.

    Demographic/Geographic Snapshot

    • 74% outside major tech hubs (20 of 27 companies)
    • 22% in greater Cincinnati (6 companies)
    • 63% are led by underrepresented founders (17 of 27 companies)

    Performance

    At the end of 2025, Fund I is steadily in the middle of our vintage on IRR & TVPI. We have four markups, two writeoffs, and two pending writeoffs. As I wrote mid-2025, a healthy portion of the portfolio have or will cross the $500k ARR mark in the last three months, which has become a benchmark to take a Seed round to market. I expect we will see 3-5 more markups in H1 of 2026, primarily as our Pre-Seed investments raise their Seed rounds.

    Notes from the Road

    A VC manager could spend 52/52 weeks on the road each year at different events for GPs/LPs, industry conferences, startup weeks, and tech weeks. In a highly relational industry, being known and trusted has a lot to do with being present: saying hello to co-investors multiple times over the year, chatting about interesting investments, and hearing what they're excited about helps us make the right connections for founders in the portfolio; sharing a dinner conversation with a future LP humanizes each other and builds rapport; hearing operators and founders ask questions at conferences and share their ideas expands our perspective.

    Where we were:

    • Brightwater Angels Kick Off Event & Quarter Gatherings — Indianapolis
    • Women in Venture Capital hosted by With Intelligence — San Francisco
    • Business for the Common Good — Denver
    • Greenville Startup Day — Greenville
    • Lightening Conference - Nashville
    • Praxis Summit — Napa
    • Ohio Tech Summit — Columbus
    • Coolwater Investor Summits — May in San Francisco, November in New York
    • Invest Detroit — Detroit
    • New York Tech Week — New York
    • GLVC Summit — French Lick, IN
    • Cincy AI Week — Cincinnati
    • Black Tech Week — Cincinnati
    • ACA Women Investor Forum — Boston
    • Howdy Partners Annual Summit — Salida, CO
    • Rally — Indianapolis
    • Ohio VC Days — Cleveland
    • Women's Venture Summit — San Diego
    • Startup Cincy Week — Cincinnati
    • FDI Fund Manager Conference — Chicago
    • RAISE GP Day — San Francisco
    • Kentucky Venture Summit — Lexington
    • Capital Camp & Main Street Summit — Columbia, MO
    • MidxMidwest — Kansas City
    • Midwest House Summit — Grand Rapids

    2025 felt a little bit like a walk past the buffet line to see what's worth going back for. Because 2026 will be a heavy fundraising year, we'll be prioritizing travel that supports capital formation & investor relations over startup events. Late spring and early fall are the busy seasons in the venture ecosystem, which is tough for parents of school-age kids since the school years are starting and wrapping up in the same seasons. It's a gift to be part of a team that shares commitment to family and supports — even challenges each other — to make intentional prioritization in that reality. Many thanks to our spouses, children, carpool friends, and extended family for their support and partnership especially in those busy seasons.

    Why time in San Francisco matters

    As a midwest-based firm, it's still important to know what's going on in Silicon Valley and build a network there. While we tend to focus on sectors that are out of focus for a lot of Bay Area founders, we need to have a pulse on the conversation in the epicenter of our industry. My goal is to be there 3-4 times a year.

    We need to make sure we are investing in the best founders for their sector. These founders might be in SF, they might be in Nashville. We need to know what 'exceptional' looks like and be able to find these teams and companies wherever they are. We don't want to get caught in adverse selection by ignoring the geographic area with the most startup activity on the planet.

    We need to build a network of co-investors (especially Seed & Growth firms) so we can help our portfolio with future fundraises.

    We need to know what's going on in the industry in terms of investment structures, themes, leaders, and innovation. Even while we're investing in 'disruptive technology,' our own industry is being disrupted in a number of ways. Spending time with other GPs and at industry events gives us insight into the latest shifts and gives us a chance to decide how we want to engage.

    Working with Founders

    Our relationship with founders typically falls into three buckets:

    Active: We are their first institutional investors, and so one of our partners spends a couple hours with them each month. We don't take board seats, but we are highly engaged advisors and thought partners. About 25% of our portfolio falls into this bucket, and are usually investments we make at the inception stage (see above). For example here, I speak with the founders of Murray Mentor bi-weekly, where we've talk through planning for product growth, faced team transitions, and look at customer onboarding together.

    Steady: These are our standard pre-seed portfolio companies who have a handful of other investors around the table. We have monthly or quarterly check-ins with these founders, which flexes based on what other investors are around the table, how active they are, and the season of building the startup is in. As an example here, we spent a day in Indianapolis working with Dan Johnson from Toolsey on product vision and key partnership strategy

    Available: These are our Seed stage investments where our ownership is small and another institutional investor leads the round. These companies usually have board members and/or advisors to help them with strategic decisions, and so our involvement is more ad hoc. We typically have quarterly check-ins with the CEOs, and jump in to help with connections, strategy, or hiring at the request of the founders. As an example here, Tim spent an evening watching recordings of Marketing leader interviews and offering his observations for Longview, which was a key Q4 hire for the team.

    We continued to deploy our Founder Pulse in 2025, and also continue to experiment with helpful engagement post-checkin. For 2023-2024, we partnered with an organization that offered reduced cost mental health services for founders, which saw 0% participation from the portfolio. DreamFuel offered their services to the portfolio at a reduced fee through Fireroad; a few founders took advantage of that for a season. We offered portfolio co-working days, and about 50% of our local companies participated in those days, which were launched to reduce founder isolation. We hosted a half-day experience at The Brickery Cafe in Q1 of '25 and had about 30% of our local portfolio participate. We see between 30-40% participation with each pulse. I continue to be grateful for founder trust through their engagement in this part of our work.

    Operating Reflections

    The first quarter focused on operational infrastructure. Beyond the deal activity, we invested in process documentation and measurement systems. We created a comprehensive guide for founders explaining our evaluation criteria at each investment stage. We added to our CRM (Airtable) to measure cycle time, establishing a 45-day target from initial meeting to investment decision.

    2025 Pipeline Stats

    • <1500 opportunities reviewed
    • <175 first calls taken with founders
    • ran initial diligence on 67 companies
    • ran full due diligence on 15 companies
    • made 9 new investments

    For the calendar year, our average 'time to pass' from an initial meeting was 33 days, while our average 'time to yes' was 51 days and combining the two outcomes, our average 'time to decision' was 35 days.

    To be honest, our pipeline management is okay. We have multiple intake channels (inboxes, forms, platforms) and getting them into one place with reliable, up-to-date information to make timely decisions is a messy workflow. We also ask founders to have conversations with multiple partners early in the process in order to drive investment committee alignment early in the process. Coordinating across multiple calendars with multiple co-founders takes time.

    Our process does stand out, though, when it comes to transparency and clarity with founders. When we take a company into initial diligence, we share our Guide and can give clear next steps in the process after each conversation. We also share our operating principles, firm values, and impact framework at that stage. It's important that founders are enabled to do their own diligence on us. We want our work with founders to have a partnership dynamic from day zero.

    After being in operation for a 2nd full year, we're also able to articulate how our allocation practices are tailored to different funding stages:

    Inception-Stage Investments: We invest independently of other capital sources. At this stage, founders are primarily experimenting with early product iterations and design partners to establish problem-solution fit. Our capital and involvement support this discovery process.

    Pre-Seed Party Rounds: We build conviction independently but coordinate closing to ensure adequate runway. We wait to finalize our investment until sufficient co-investor capital has committed to provide 12+ months of runway—the timeframe needed for founders to build a market-ready product and develop refined go-to-market strategies and buyer personas.

    Structured Seed Rounds: We develop conviction independently while investing alongside a lead investor who sets terms and closing timeline. These rounds typically ensure 18+ months of runway and fund acceleration of both product development and market expansion.

    This stage-specific approach ensures our capital deployment aligns with company maturity and funding structure, rather than applying uniform closing criteria across all investment types. As you can imagine, each stage has its own pace.

    Little things making a difference

    Indiana VCI Tax Credit Program — the State of Indiana has a tax credit program meant to catalyze investment in new companies in the state. For out-of-state investors (like Fireroad), those tax credits can be sold on a managed marketplace to entities or individuals who have a tax liability in Indiana. From the proceeds of the tax credit sales related to our first two Indiana investments (Toolsey & Murray Mentor) the fund realized proceeds of over $75,000. Our investment in Therapprove also qualifies for the tax credit, which we will sell in the coming months. This income to the fund equals about a year of management fee expenses, or the expense of one initial investment. 🙌

    (Don't) Hate Your Deck Mastermind — I spent H1 of 2025 in a mastermind group for GPs working to refine our fundraising messaging. The frameworks, discussions, and ultimately feedback from the whole group and the facilitator Michael Lightman were invaluable to clarifying how we communicate the thesis and vision for Fireroad Ventures.

    Reverse Pitch Events — on the startup event circuit, there's a popular session structure where investors pitch founders. Throughout the life of the fund, we've been able to represent Fireroad at a number of these sessions in KY, OH, MI, and IN. Many thanks to groups like Founders & Funders, Cintrifuse, Awesome Inc, Rally, Midwest House and others for hosting and including Fireroad Ventures. We met Tiffney (CEO of Therapprove) at the reverse pitch in Indianapolis at Rally.

    Tax providers — we switched tax providers and had a much smoother and expedient process. Many thanks to Lexie Ling and team at Sensiba for their work on our behalf!

    A move to Sparkhaus — when Sparkhaus opened in September, we moved from a large office shared with Tembo into a smaller Fireroad office right next door to so many of our friends in the NKY/Cincinnati startup ecosystem. Four Fund I LPs, four portfolio companies, and two co-investors are in the building. To the Blue North team - led by Dave Knox: mission accomplished! Hallway hellos, shared lunches, and 'what do you think about this?' drop in conversations adds so much value to those of us in the building.

    An Invitation

    We're looking forward to hosting our first Investor Summit/Annual Meeting at the end of February (Thursday February 26 from 2-6pm) here in Cincinnati. The gathering will be alongside our founder summit, so our LPs will have the opportunity to not only interact with each other but also with founders in the portfolio. I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. Please be sure to get your ticket soon, as space will be limited.

    Moving forward into 2026 with gratitude, humility, and determination for the road ahead. Thank you for being part of our journey.

    Christy Johnson
    Partner | Fireroad Ventures