Wellness Fund Launch: Ex-Dogpound CEO Backs $5M in Early-Stage Brands
What’s driving the next wave of innovation in wellness? And who’s getting a seat at the funding table? Former Dogpound CEO Jenny Liu is answering both questions with the launch of Crush It Ventures—a new $5 million early-stage fund dedicated exclusively to wellness startups. The fund targets underrepresented founders building in mental health, fitness, beauty, and experiential hospitality, sectors where demand is surging but capital access remains uneven.
Liu’s move comes amid a cultural shift: wellness is no longer just about treadmills and green smoothies. It’s about community, emotional resilience, and purpose-driven products that resonate with digitally native, socially conscious consumers—especially Gen Z.
Why This Wellness Fund Is Different
Crush It Ventures isn’t just another venture firm jumping on the wellness bandwagon. What sets it apart is its origin story—and its mission. Liu spent years leading Dogpound, the high-end New York gym beloved by celebrities and influencers, where she saw firsthand how wellness entrepreneurs tested prototypes, shared ideas, and built grassroots followings. Yet despite their traction, many struggled to secure serious investment.
“Founders were creating incredible products and experiences, but they weren’t connected to traditional VC networks,” Liu explains. “Especially women, people of color, and those outside Silicon Valley—they were being overlooked, even though they understood their communities better than anyone.”
That gap inspired her to build a fund that prioritizes founder diversity, lived experience, and deep category expertise over polished pitch decks. Crush It Ventures doesn’t just write checks; it offers mentorship, go-to-market strategy, and access to a curated network of operators, retailers, and wellness practitioners.
The $500 Billion Opportunity Gen Z Is Fueling
The timing couldn’t be better. According to a 2025 McKinsey report, U.S. consumers spend over $500 billion annually on wellness-related goods and services. But the real story lies in who’s spending it.
Gen Z—now 36% of the adult U.S. population—is responsible for more than 41% of that expenditure. Compare that to adults 58 and older, who make up a similar share of the population (35%) but account for only 28% of wellness spending. This generational pivot signals a fundamental change in how young people view health: not as a reactive fix, but as a proactive, holistic lifestyle.
“They’re investing in sleep tech, mental health apps, recovery tools, and community-based fitness—not because they’re chasing aesthetics, but because they’ve lived through a pandemic, economic uncertainty, and digital overload,” Liu says. “Wellness is their coping mechanism, their self-care ritual, and their social glue.”
This mindset has turned gyms into social hubs, run clubs into support networks, and meditation apps into daily essentials. For investors, it’s a goldmine of behavioral insight—and market potential.
Beyond Fitness: Wellness Now Includes Beauty, Hospitality, and Emotional Health
Crush It Ventures casts a wide net across the wellness ecosystem. While fitness remains a core pillar, the fund also backs innovations in mental health platforms, clean beauty formulations, recovery wearables, and even wellness-integrated hospitality—think boutique hotels with in-room breathwork guides or co-living spaces designed for digital detox.
“The lines between categories are blurring,” Liu notes. “A beauty brand might include adaptogens for stress relief. A running app might integrate mindfulness prompts. Consumers don’t want siloed solutions—they want integrated well-being.”
This integrated approach aligns with the evolving definition of wellness itself. Once narrowly defined as physical health, it now encompasses emotional balance, social connection, environmental sustainability, and even financial peace of mind. Startups that reflect this complexity—while delivering real utility—are the ones Crush It Ventures seeks to elevate.
Raising Capital as a Solo Female GP in a Tough Market
Launching a debut fund is never easy. Doing so as a solo female general partner in 2024–2025—amid tightening venture capital markets and heightened LP scrutiny—was especially daunting. But Liu leaned into her unique vantage point.
“I wasn’t coming from finance or tech,” she admits. “I was coming from the trenches of wellness operations. I knew which brands had cult followings before they hit TikTok. I’d seen what made people stick with a program versus drop off after two weeks.”
That operator-first perspective resonated with limited partners (LPs) who were hungry for funds with authentic domain expertise and a clear niche. Several mission-aligned family offices and impact-focused investors came on board, drawn by both the market opportunity and the fund’s commitment to backing diverse founders.
Still, Liu acknowledges the uphill battle. “There’s still a bias that wellness is ‘soft’ or ‘fluffy,’” she says. “But when you look at retention metrics, lifetime value, and community engagement, these businesses often outperform traditional e-commerce or SaaS models in their early stages.”
What Crush It Ventures Looks for in Founders
So, what makes a startup stand out to Crush It Ventures?
First, deep empathy for the user. “We want founders who’ve lived the problem they’re solving,” Liu says. That could be a therapist building a mental health platform for BIPOC communities, or a former athlete creating adaptive fitness gear for postpartum bodies.
Second, community-building instinct. “Can you turn customers into advocates?” Liu asks. “Do people tag you unprompted? Do they show up to your events? That organic loyalty is harder to fake—and harder to scale without.”
Third, a sustainable, values-driven model. Greenwashing won’t cut it. The fund favors brands that embed ethics into their supply chain, pricing, and product design—not just their marketing.
Early investments remain under wraps, but Liu hints that several portfolio companies blend digital and physical experiences, with strong unit economics and passionate user bases.
The Future of Wellness Is Inclusive, Integrated, and Intentional
As Crush It Ventures begins deploying its $5 million fund, Liu sees a broader transformation unfolding. Wellness is shedding its elitist reputation and becoming more accessible, inclusive, and grounded in real human needs.
“People are tired of quick fixes and empty promises,” she says. “They want brands that meet them where they are—with honesty, science, and heart.”
For aspiring founders, that’s both a challenge and an invitation. The door is open—not just to sell a product, but to build a movement. And with dedicated backers like Liu in their corner, the next generation of wellness innovators may finally get the support they deserve.
In a world increasingly defined by disconnection and burnout, that support might just be the most valuable investment of all.
