Thanks to a relentless founder: Adam Lewis and the Apploi journey

Congrats to Adam Lewis and the Apploi team on their acquisition by Viventium + LLR Partners. We won’t soon forget this amazing journey:

In October of 2019, our defy.vc Sage, Benjamin Wolin called excitedly,

“this guy named Adam cornered me in the bathroom and wouldn’t let me leave alone until I introduced him to you.”

That is a perfect example of why this story isn’t about a good VC bet, a wonderful network of friends who connected us or a great company that grew rapidly, or us, but about a special entrepreneur, Adam Lewis.

After Ben connected us, we heard Adam’s story: he started an ‘Indeed-like’ job board backed by friends that grew but was outpaced by incumbents. He listened to his customers, which were medical clinics and organizations that were too small for Workday but needed help, and Apploi was there. Adam and his team pivoted the product, he mortgaged his house, and white knuckled his way to meeting with us at defy.vc.

We were fortunate to invest solely based on Adam’s energy, vision, and our belief in the product. They tripled revenue and then tripled again, and brought on great partners. Some we introduced them to, like our friend John (rest in peace) from Underscore VC, and some who loved Adam because they were great entrepreneurs in their own righ,t like Mark G. at MXV Capital.

Like 100% of entrepreneurial stories, Apploi wasn’t always up and to the right. The person who always kept it on track and pushed the business forward was the amazing founder who risked it all because he believed. With a fund our size, a successful 9-figure exit is incredibly impactful, and we thank all of our friends, partners and the team at Apploi for their hard work and dedicationin getting this transaction closed.

We would be remiss if we didn’t spend a moment to thank our friend, great dad, incredible founder, and true entrepreneur, Adam Lewis. Your drive, grit, dedication, passion, integrity, and willingness to do whatever it takes to win got us to this point. We are thankful and humbled by you and our entire team at def,y and our LP base of incredible endowments, universities, and health care organizations, thank you for the impact you have made to give back to worthy causes with this victory. Onwards and upwards as part of the Viventium team, and thank you.

Much Love — Neil and Team defy