While everyone is chasing the next AI infrastructure play in San Francisco, some of the most defensible AI companies are being built by founders with deep expertise in legacy industries – and they’re not being funded. January Ventures aims to fill that gap by writing pre-seed checks to underrepresented founders who are transforming health care, manufacturing, and supply chains with AI.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Dominic-Madori Davis sat down with Jennifer Neudorfer, co-founder and general partner of January Ventures, for a live episode of Equity. The pair explore how early-stage investing is changing in the age of AI and why building diverse networks matters.

