Magnify Ventures closed $46.6 mn for its second fund, as investor interest in the care economy moves from niche thesis to larger venture category. The early-stage firm will use Fund II to back technology companies working across health, wealth, family care and the infrastructure around those markets.
The fund includes returning investor Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates organization, along with new investors Jordan Park and Unum.
Magnify also secured financing from California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, known as IBank, plus commitments from foundations, funds of funds, family offices and business leaders.
According to Beinsure, the close gives Magnify more capital at a time when care, aging, household management and family finance are drawing stronger interest from venture investors.
The firm built its first fund around the view that caregiving had been treated as a social cost for too long, even though it sits inside a large commercial market.
Erin Harkless Moore, managing director of investments at Pivotal Ventures, said Magnify’s focus on the care economy addresses one of society’s most urgent issues, family health and well-being. She said co-founders Joanna Drake and Julie Wroblewski saw the opportunity early and committed to a sector that had been underfunded despite a $648 bn market opportunity.
Magnify launched Fund I on the belief that the care economy had been underbuilt and underinvested, but was ready for new technology models.
Over the past four years, the firm has backed companies across parenting, aging, household operations and financial resilience, while building a network of founders, operators and investors around the category.
Investor appetite has moved in the same direction. Venture investment in the care economy rose 45% over the past four years, with more than $26 bn invested in over 700 companies since 2015, according to The Holding Co. and Pivotal Ventures.
Magnify invests across traditional care needs, from pregnancy to end-of-life support, and into the healthcare, financial and consumer systems that shape family life. As those markets expanded, the firm increased its focus on families and caregiving as a sourcing advantage beyond the older definition of care.
IBank executive director Andy Nakahata said the bank’s venture capital program was created to expand access to capital for entrepreneurs and emerging funds tied to California’s future economy. He said Magnify is identifying founders working on serious problems for families, caregivers and communities, at a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping large service markets.
IBank’s Venture Capital Program was created to expand access to capital for innovative entrepreneurs and emerging funds driving California’s future economy. Magnify Ventures is identifying founders who are tackling some of the most significant challenges facing families, caregivers, and communities as essential participants in the care economy
Andy Nakahata, IBank executive director
“As artificial intelligence reshapes industries, the care economy represents a compelling opportunity for innovation and growth. We are excited to support Fund II and the founders developing technologies that will modernize critical infrastructure, create jobs, and provide meaningful benefits to families,” Andy Nakahata said.
Fund II will back founders building applied AI for care, rather than broad software platforms with loose category claims. That includes tools that reduce household administration, agentic systems that lower cost and improve quality across health and home services, and fintech infrastructure for how families build and protect wealth.
The firm also plans to invest in companies building healthcare, home and workplace infrastructure for the modern family.
According to Beinsure, this gives Magnify a wider mandate than child care or eldercare alone, with exposure to women’s health, longevity, financial planning, family benefits and consumer health delivery.
Julie Wroblewski, co-founder and managing partner of Magnify Ventures, said care, wealth, aging and family health are among the largest markets still poorly served by technology. She said AI creates new room for companies to rebuild services that have been stagnant for decades, especially in women’s health, aging and longevity.
AI is the key to unlocking new opportunities in markets that have been stagnant for decades, inspiring innovative companies to create generational change. With Fund II, we will back the founders defining the next era of the care economy, aging and longevity, and women’s health.
Julie Wroblewski, co-founder and managing partner of Magnify Ventures
Magnify is also trying to shape the investor network around the category. The firm founded and produces the Care Summit, which gathers founders, investors and limited partners focused on the care economy.
