Medha Agarwal

General Partner @Defyvc. inception, seed + Series A. Proud @HarvardHBS @Harvard @Redpoint @Radlwtcrew @Bainalerts alumna. Recovering New Yorker, loving SF

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

1/ I’ve joined @defyvc as a General Partner! Excited to work alongside the rest of the Defy team to support the next generation of incredible founders and category defining companies.

I’ll be focusing on investing from inception through Series A.

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@champ_hq @defyvc @jputrevu @HeyTedC @ptrln More from @BusinessInsider here: https://t.co/qKvUtO2Mto

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

Thrilled to share that @champ_hq AI is officially out of stealth with $8.5M in funding! 🎉

We @defyvc have had the privilege of working with @jputrevu, @HeyTedC, and @ptrln since they were hardening their thesis on day -1 and I couldn't be more excited about what's ahead.

These three spent nearly a decade together scaling @Instacart from Series B to IPO — building AI systems that powered over a million daily orders across 4,000+ retailers. They know what it takes to operationalize AI at enterprise scale, and they're bringing that same playbook to fix one of the most painful, overlooked problems in business: operations work that's still stuck in the past.

The opportunity they're going after is massive. LLMs have fundamentally changed what can be automated — but most enterprises are still stuck between wanting to adopt AI and actually knowing how to execute it. Champ bridges that gap with a single platform that handles browser workflows, document processing, and phone calls end-to-end, while helping teams discover where automation will have the most impact in the first place.

That last piece matters more than people realize. The highest-ROI automation opportunities are rarely obvious — and Champ surfaces them automatically.

So proud of this team and so excited for what's ahead. This is just the beginning. 🚀

[Jagannath Putrevu @jputrevu]

🚀 After a year of quiet building, I’m excited to officially announce @champ_hq out of stealth. We're also announcing our $8.5M Seed round led by @Redpoint with participation from @defyvc , @Max , @svangel, and a great group of angels. Watch the quick launch video below

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

Very cool opportunity. Can't wait to meet the next generation of Neo founders! @apartovi @neo

[Neo @neo]

Today we unveiled Neo Residency, a new program for startups and high-agency student teams. 🎉

We’re replacing our best-known program, Neo Accelerator, with something even better and more selective. 🧵

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@SPeterstar15582 @bclemms How do you know?

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@bclemms We just had a few troopers and a tow truck pass by

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@bclemms Any update on the situation?

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@PhelanArt @bclemms We haven’t moved

[defy.vc @defyvc]

Healthcare must be a theme, congrats to Synthpop's Series A! We’re proud to continue supporting this exceptional team as they execute on their important mission of scaling AI that makes healthcare more human.
https://t.co/FWhkXPeTGL @axios @thekcpr @mkhandel #HealthcareAI

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@nxh_lxn full post: https://t.co/ESWRMH1m5e

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

Most AI startups over-optimize pre-sales GTM.

The real failure point is after the contract is signed.

Buying ≠ adopting.

@nxh_lxn and I write about what we are seeing @defy_vc in Post-Sales GTM — and why renewals, expansion, and real value aren’t automatic in AI.

The takeaway:
AI products don’t fail because the tech is bad.
They fail because onboarding, expectations, and customer pull aren’t managed with discipline.

If you’re building AI:
• Onboarding = behavior change, not feature tours
• Expectations must be framed as progress, not magic
• Customer input ≠ roadmap ownership

Post-sales isn’t support.
It’s where AI companies compound — or quietly churn.

👇 Full post in comments

[John Melas-Kyriazi @jmelaskyriazi]

We learned this week that Aumni (@getaumni) by J.P. Morgan is being discontinued. Aumni was an early pioneer in the VC software space, and we have deep respect for what their team built. We’re wishing everyone there the best as they navigate this transition.

We understand that this change may create stress for portfolio operations and finance teams who rely on Aumni for consistent access to portfolio data, especially with Q4 close and audits approaching. Per Aumni’s customer communication, portfolio data processing will end in mid-January, and the platform will shut down at the end of March.

We've been in touch with many Aumni customers and team members over the past couple of days, and it's been wonderful to see the community come together and support each other. If you’ve been affected in any way and are evaluating continuity options, whether with Standard Metrics (@metrics_co) or elsewhere, our team is here to help however we can. Please feel free to reach out to me or anyone at Standard Metrics.

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

Techcrunch profile: https://t.co/4HkTbsAMKJ

https://t.co/pO9D0QsI1f blog post: https://t.co/CAEZJF3zX1

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

🚀 Excited to share that @defyvc is leading the $3.5M seed for Interface, an AI platform transforming industrial safety + compliance — one of the most complex, high-stakes problems in heavy industry.Industrial operators rely on millions of pages of SOPs, technical manuals, and regulatory documents.

Auditing them manually is slow, expensive, and often impossible to do comprehensively. Mistakes don’t just cost money — they cost lives.

Interface’s AI “safety copilot” changes that. It’s already 10× faster and 4× cheaper than traditional review, and is being piloted today with some of the world’s largest oil & gas companies.

This is AI enabling workflows that simply weren’t possible before.What made us lean in quickly was the founder–market fit, captured so well in @Cookie's @TechCrunch profile (linked below).

CEO, @thomasleeyoung, grew up in Trinidad & Tobago around rigs, saw the impact of safety failures firsthand, and later worked in human factors engineering at Jaguar Land Rover.

His co-founder, Aaryan Mehta, brings deep technical expertise — AI + Math from Imperial College London, and ML pipeline + fault-detection work at Amazon.

Together, they have a rare combination of domain depth + AI rigor that this category demands and this is the right product at exactly the right moment.

Thrilled to partner alongside @PrecursorVC, @RockYardVC, and exceptional angels on this journey — and grateful to @Cookie + @TechCrunch for telling the founders’ stories with such nuance. Thomas + Aaryan — we’re all in. Heavy industry needs what you’re building. This is only the beginning. 🚀

[Brian Rothenberg @bmrothenberg]

I’ve always believed the best founder–VC relationships start before the pitch.

Years before investing in @noviconnect, I worked with its founder @kimberly_shenk at Eventbrite — she led data science, I led growth. That trust built in the trenches made backing her next company, Novi, feel full circle.

Novi is the trusted data layer helping brands win in the AI-driven commerce era.

We talked about how AI is becoming the new search interface — and what it means for brands to be found by machines, not people.

🎥 Marketing to Machines: How AI Shopping Is Changing SEO, Trust & Brand Growth
YouTube: https://t.co/lvjOzKzlg6
Apple: https://t.co/z7AOt9I3j8
Spotify: https://t.co/PT0nintTmx
Thanks @VCFMpodcast for hosting!
cc @defyvc

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

🎤 I had the chance to speak at Techcrunch Disrupt Day 1 to share "What VCs Really Want To Hear in Your Pitch” alongside @jyotibansalsf (CEO, Harness), @jkk Jennifer Neundorfer (Managing Partner, @JanuaryVentures) & @DominicMadori (Senior Reporter, @TechCrunch).

Apparently, in addition to sharing insights, I also delivered a highly animated session in hand-powered storytelling — lots of gestures, lots of enthusiasm, and (hopefully) some meaningful takeaways too. 😄 👐

We decided as group to not come up with any answers in advance so shared unfiltered, real-time thoughts and dove deep into some important topics:

✅ Why pitching effectively matters more than ever — it’s not just about the deck, it’s about showing why you'll be an effective salesperson in selling initial customers, early employees, and investors.

✅ Whether VCs are still looking at non-AI companies (yes — but the bar is very high).

✅ How to think about valuations in this market — there's no clear benchmarks focus on what you can control - clear metrics, and long-term thinking.

✅ Is VC for everyone? We challenged the “raise or die” narrative and discussed alternate paths to growth.

✅ How to craft a fundraising storyline that actually resonates — one that evolves with your company and market.

✅ And how to decide when to go to market — because timing is strategy, not luck.

One point I want to emphasize again (hands and all): founders today need to build for today’s realities, but also be thinking about tomorrow’s opportunities. technology, GTM strategies, and market dynamics are shifting faster than ever — and we @defyvc are investing for outcomes 10 years out. Your vision should stretch beyond today’s hype cycle into tomorrow’s relevance.

Huge thanks to the TechCrunch team for hosting such an energized crowd, and to my fellow panelists for keeping it real. The best part? Talking to founders who are not just chasing the next trend, but actually building the next wave.

If you caught the session (or the enthusiastic hand choreography 😅), I’d love to hear what resonated most.

Here’s to founders who pitch with purpose — and maybe a few power gestures along the way.

[The Full Ratchet @TFR_Pod]

What’s the one question that stopped these investors in their tracks?

@BSchuler (@dfjgrowth), @aniehenke (@scalevp), and @mkhandel (@defyvc) share the smartest questions they’ve ever been asked—by LPs, founders, and peers in Investor Stories Segment 433. Link in bio.

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

My iphone is "forgetting" contacts periodically. Started 48 hours ago - I checked that contacts are enabled across all accounts. Has this happened to anyone else?

[Medha Agarwal @mkhandel]

@theBhulawat @southpkcommons bunny

[defy.vc @defyvc]

Congratulations to @BirchesHealth for their Series A and bringing to light the need for advancements in behavioral health, namely, gambling addictions. https://t.co/YusDGPYvY5 @axios @thekcpr @mkhandel