At nvp capital, we were thrilled to have hosted our second Annual General Meeting (AGM) this week — a milestone moment for our team, our founders, and our partners.
The best part of an AGM is the chance to step out of the day-to-day and reflect: on our strategy, our wins, our lessons, and the insights we’ve gained alongside a great group of LPs and founders. It’s also a moment to hear directly from leaders across the nvp galaxy of corporate partners on what’s top of mind in their industries.
The nvp capital journey
Over the past few years, nvp capital has grown from an idea into a firm with conviction, community, and momentum. Our team is strong, growing, and intentionally lean – built to stay close to the founders we serve and the markets we know best.
We also took time to highlight a few of our standout portfolio companies: Pair Team, Upwell, Vulcan Elements, Theo AI, and UpscaleAI, each representing the power of vertical AI to transform under digitized industries. From healthcare and frontline workforce automation, to legal tech, commerce enablement, and rare earths – these founders are proving that the most durable innovation often comes from the least digitized corners of the economy.
Leadership, innovation, and the power of AI
We kicked off with a fireside chat with Bob Carrigan, CEO of Audible, one of America’s most respected executives and a day-one partner to nvp capital. Bob shared how deeply AI and agents are already reshaping Audible’s business — from internal workflows to product innovation. He commented, “We’re not only using AI internally – we’re commercializing it for our audience to improve our product offering and engagement.”
He also talked about all the growth happening at Audible and how AI is making it possible: “AI gives us the ability to make any audiobook available in all languages, globally.”
His perspective on leadership, innovation, and partnership continues to inspire how we think about building enduring, category-defining companies.
Founders building the future
Our founder panel, featuring Simba Jonga (LaborUp), Nikhil Sethi (Workgrounds), and Stas Bojoukha (Compyl), and moderated by Skylar Dorosin, brought incredible energy to the room. Each founder is tackling legacy problems in very different industries — industrial hiring, corporate travel, and risk and compliance — all with AI at their core.
Across these verticals, a few themes stood out:
⚡ The always-on nature of AI is reshaping how we interact with technology.
🎨 There’s an art — not a science — to keeping the human in the loop. The best AI businesses are deeply intentional about the user experience.
💪 Adaptability is everything! Both teams and products must constantly evolve in a world where technology changes by the week.
As Skylar put it best, these founders are balancing the potential of AI with the need to stay tightly integrated into customer workflows, and to keep their customers as the heroes, no matter how advanced the product gets.
Closing with conviction
We closed with Dr. Toyin Ajayi, Founder & CEO of Cityblock, whose humility, intellect, and conviction genuinely lifted the room. She reflected on growing up in Kenya during the height of the AIDS epidemic—and how that experience cemented her commitment to delivering better care for vulnerable, under-resourced communities.
Toyin traced her path from practicing physician to co-founding Cityblock (incubated at Alphabet) and scaling it into a company valued at $6B, serving 150,000 medicaid members across 10 states. Today, Cityblock is helping re-think and re-structure how healthcare works for those who’ve historically been left without access and the doctors that treat them.
On the keys to building enduring companies, she stressed people first— hiring early leaders who share the mission—and choosing investors who are deep believers. We noted our shared lens: nvp capital and Toyin are co-investors in Vitable, founded by Joe Kitonga, a founder who exemplifies the traits we both prize: determination, curiosity, and purpose.
And on AI, one line has stuck with us: “Agents don’t need to sleep.” As AI reshapes the operating model of care, that observation captures both the urgency and the opportunity of this next chapter.
The road ahead
After a full day of sharp discussion, from market outlook and nvp strategy to insights from top founders and business leaders in our nvp galaxy, the room stayed engaged and candid. The message back to us was clear: our focus, playbooks, and sourcing engine fit the moment.
Key takeaway: we’re still in the early innings of a generational shift in AI. The opportunity is real, but outcomes will favor thoughtful investors and experienced founders who execute with discipline. We leaned in early with our first gen-AI investment in Upwell (early 2023) and our continued focus on the under-explored arena of vertical AI, paired with a sourcing engine that treats venture like a contact sport, is building a durable edge to win competitive deals.
As we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, we’re energized by the opportunity, confident in our team, and grateful for our partners. With disciplined pacing, targeted ownership, and strong progress across the portfolio, we’re on a clear trajectory toward top-tier performance—aiming to deliver outsized results for our LPs and meaningful wins for our founders. We capped the night with a community happy hour—founders, co-investors, and friends across the nvp galaxy—to celebrate our second AGM and the momentum ahead.
