Our Portfolio Continues Raising, Scaling, and Creating Impact 

We're proud to share the latest portfolio updates across Council Capital, including news from Flex, Nox Metals, Molli Health, and Joyful Health.

A reminder about who we are: Council Capital is an operator-led venture firm investing in First Builders transforming our most essential industries like manufacturing, legal, and healthcare as part of Software's Third Act. We also run an exclusive angel group and podcast for top operators, designed to inspire and attract the founders of tomorrow's unicorns.

Flex reached unicorn status. Last week, Flex announced a $70M raise led by Halo Fund, bringing their valuation to $1.2B. Flex is the AI-native private banking platform for high-net-worth business owners. This marks our second unicorn in Fund I. We received shares in Flex when they acquired one of our portfolio companies a few years ago, and the growth since has been tremendous.

Nox Metals closed an oversubscribed Seed. Nox Metals is a software-enabled metal supplier redefining how industrial metal processing is executed. They recently announced their $11.5M Seed round led by Hyperion, with participation from Council Capital, Palmer Luckey, Y Combinator, Operator Collective, and others.

We were the first VC fund to commit to Nox Metals outside of Y Combinator at pre-seed, and we've worked closely with them since launch — including visiting their first factory floor and introducing them to an early enterprise customer who signed within weeks. We also ran an SPV for our LPs as a follow-on opportunity during this Seed round, deepening the strategic network behind our portfolio company.

Catch a recap of Amber Illig's (General Partner) visit to Nox's Detroit factory floor during Reindustrialize. 

Introducing Molli Health. Read Rachel Tsui's (Partner) write-up on our investment in Molli Health. They're rethinking health insurance for the 1099 workforce with affordable costs, better preventative care, and a superior customer experience. Molli Health is live and enrolling now - learn more and sign up here: https://www.mollihealth.com/

Joyful Health raised a $22M Series A led by CRV. A Fund I portfolio company, Joyful Health helps healthcare practices recover revenue lost through the complicated insurance billing cycle. We were their only institutional check at pre-seed, and we're incredibly proud of how quickly they hit critical milestones - allowing them to raise their Series A ahead of schedule.

Our Exclusive Operator Network Continues to Deepen

We're putting out the call early for our Fall Angel Cohort — a curated, application-based program for operators who want to learn angel investing alongside a community of senior operators and industry leaders.

In just the first half of 2026, our community of 200+ senior operators has:

Whether you're curious about your first check or thinking about how to go deeper in your investing strategy, we'd love to continue the conversation. Book a quick tour with us: https://www.thecouncil.co/learn-more

What Everyday Americans Think About AI

Our biggest takeaway from Pew Research Center's latest study on Americans' views of artificial intelligence: companies that need individual human buy-in (think B2B2C healthcare, product-led growth AI products, vertical AI for services businesses) have a lot to gain if they can paint a genuine picture of the future that gets people excited.

A few key data points worth knowing:

The Connective Tissue Between Operators, Founders, & LPs

We've been bringing The Council to more networks through highly curated dinners, luncheons, and memorable experiences - IRL and virtually. A few standout moments from the past few months:

First Builders Dinners. Building on the momentum of our First Builders Podcast, we launched an intimate dinner series connecting exceptional operators and founders with select LPs, portfolio founders, and featured podcast guests. The format is designed for real conversation and depth. Themes have ranged from robotics to healthcare pre-seed founders to technical co-founders.

Most recently: a highly curated dinner with the operators who built Figma into what it is today. We're talking to some of the first engineering, product, and design hires. We can't wait to learn from some of the brightest minds in tech in this unique setting.

Upcoming Events

Our Recent Webinars - Inside the LP Room: Build Your AI Chief of Staff via Claude

Our goal is giving our community an inside look at the founders we believe in, the themes we're tracking across our portfolio, and important LP educational topics.

Last month, we hosted a live workshop with Lisa Popovici from Siena, one of our portfolio companies. This interactive session focused on building your own AI chief of staff with Claude Code. Sign up here for special access to the recording and future Inside the LP Room sessions - it's too good to miss.

Partnerships Spanning Executives from Manufacturing to Tech Membership Communities

We've been bringing LP and angel education to highly aligned leadership groups across the US through virtual and in-person rooms. Recent partnerships include Enrich, Manufacturers Alliance, Women In Innovation (WIN), Women on Boards Project  and BONDE, with a few more exciting sessions through the remainder of July and into August.

If you’re interested in bringing Angel & LP workshops to your highly aligned private network, please email us at [email protected]. 

Catch Up On All of Our Latest Podcasts

Discover open roles at our fast-growing performing portfolio companies!

Let us know why you might be the perfect fit and we may be able to get your resume to the top of the pile.

As a reminder, if you are a First Builder building vertical AI for an essential (think: complex, foundational) industry like healthcare, law, or manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.

Thank you from The Council Team!