Welcome to the Reach Wire. Each month, we deliver fresh insights into the world of learning, health, and work — combining news and data we’re tracking, perspectives from the team at Reach Capital, and updates from our portfolio. Subscribe for the latest.

What is craft in the age of AI? Whether it’s writing, coding, making Ghibli-style animations, or designing user experiences, it’s the question du jour. 

The topic took center stage earlier this month at Config, Figma’s annual conference. Creatives across cinema, typography, brand and other disciplines urged the audience not to sacrifice craft simply for the sake of speed. Metrics should not replace purpose, and testing should not replace taste and judgment, said Linear CEO Kaari Saarinen. In fact, some are slowing down: printing newspapers, hand-tuning fonts, and filming in actual forests for marketing campaigns.

Avoid AI? Hardly. In fact, 9 out of 10 designers say AI tools improve their workflows, especially during ideation, exploration, and experimentation. But knowing when to hand off the mundane and repetitive, and focus on work that is distinct and personally meaningful, is where craft reenters the room. Most AI-generated content is adequate but leaves us wanting; the ceiling is still human. Even in a world of infinite generation, we can tell when something is made with care.

From the portfolio

Latest Deals

FoodHealth Company: More than half of U.S. adults suffer from diet-related chronic illness, and navigating healthy options can feel overwhelming. The FoodHealth Company makes this easier at the grocery store, online, and at the dinner table. We’re proud to co-lead their $7.5M Series A alongside Ulu Ventures, with participation from Rethink Food, LEAD VC, and Refinery. (Reach blog)

Kollegio: An AI-powered college counseling ecosystem for students, schools and colleges • $2.8M seed round led by Reach with participation from JFFVentures, ECMC Group, and Tuesday Capital. (Silicon Angle)

Wins & News

With leadership now a top skill employers want, Tenor is reimagining training aligned to one’s company values. No snoozer videos followed by tests; instead users build skills by roleplaying with realistic voice AI characters.

How is Reach finding the next generation of top technical talent? By partnering with Major League Hacking on a cross-country hackathon tour to 10 universities!

“Interns aren’t just future hires, they’re your mirror.” So says Stellic founder and CEO Sabih Bin Wasi. His advice: don’t assign random tasks, but give real projects, real ownership, and watch them accelerate company culture.

Coral Care is now live in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, bringing in-home speech, occupational, and physical therapy to families with faster matches, no waitlists, and coverage by insurers.

Mecha Health’s work on foundational models for radiology was recently featured by Anthropic as an example of how LLMs can be made more interpretable and reliable in scientific and clinical settings. For more details, check out Mecha’s blog post.

Healthcare workforce training provider Stepful is the top U.S. company in TIME Magazine’s 2025 Top EdTech Companies list!

GPTZero just had their best quarter to date, surpassing $16 million and 600 million documents scanned with their AI detection tooling that preserves human work and originality.

Partner Perspectives

The Future of Consumer-Centric Health Care: What if your doctor knew as much about your health as your smartwatch does? Caoimhe MacRunnels explores the future of consumer-centric health care and the trillion-dollar opportunity to be unlocked by combining clinical and everyday data from our devices. Moving from infrequent doctor visits to continuous, preventive health journeys will make health care truly proactive, personalized, in the hands of patients — and drive transformative outcomes at scale.

Slacking off

Stories we’re buzzing about in the office.

Where Higher Ed Truly Delivers ROI

There’s plenty of room for improvement in American higher education: the costs, the experience, student support, and how well it prepares graduates for life and work.

What’s undeniable is its role as an engine of innovation and economic growth.

Writing in Nature, Lean Startup guru and Stanford professor Steve Blank underscores the critical role American universities play in producing the research that powers breakthrough ideas and entrepreneurs. Each year more than 1,100 science-based startups spin out, creating goods and services that are indispensable today: vaccines and cancer drugs, WiFi and the internet, Gatorade and countless consumer goods.

This point was also illustrated by Arizona State University President Michael Crow. With an iPhone 16 in hand, he reminded an audience at Rice University of how the battery, Gorilla Glass, apps, and everything that make these devices hum are backed by thousands of patents and academic research originating at universities.

Yes, indirect costs associated with research have ballooned over the years. And the four-year undergraduate college track may be waning in popularity. But U.S. higher education has long been a magnet for the world’s brightest minds, for the ideas and ingenuity behind world-changing innovations.

The data room

If you’re building solutions to move the needle on these figures, or in other areas across learning, health, and work, we’d love to hear from you!

ANTI SOCIAL SOCIAL MEDIA: One in 3 teens now turn to social media for mental health info, but nearly half also say it is harmful to their wellbeing, according to a new Pew survey. Forty-four percent are cutting back on social media and smartphone use.

THERABOT: In a Dartmouth trial with patients diagnosed with clinical disorders, an AI “Therabot” eased depression by 51%, anxiety by 31%, and eating-disorder symptoms by 19% — on par with in-person therapy. Participants even formed relationship-like bonds.

CS BUMP: High school students who take a computer science class earn 8% more than peers by age 24, regardless of career, according to a study from University of Maryland researchers. For low-income, Black, and female students, the salary bump is as high as 14%. 

BACK TO SCHOOL: First-year FAFSA applications from independent students (parents, veterans, over 23 or don’t live with parents or guardians) surged by 223% between 2016-17 and 2023-24. Yet they have lower high school GPAs, apply to fewer schools, and have lower degree completion rates than their peers.

DOES NOT COMPUTE: Analyzing over 1,000 teacher prep programs nationwide, The National Council on Teacher Quality found that just 20% fully meet its expectations for elementary mathematics content.

SMART BUT STUCK: Gen Z may be the most educated generation, but a majority of college seniors are pessimistic about entering the workforce. No wonder: internship posts are down 11 points from last year, and 41% of recent grads are working in jobs that don’t require their degrees.

GIG’S UP: If you want to start a company, start with a gig. A study of U.S. tax records found that 2.5% of gig workers created a new company, compared with only 0.7% of the working-age population. People who are underrepresented in entrepreneurship are also more likely to turn gig work into a small business.

Oh, the places we’ve gone

Next Moves

Big moves start with bold clicks. Where will you go next?

There are 558 job openings across the Reach portfolio. Check them out here.