After Felicia Curcuru watched her sister go through the arduous process of adopting kids, she set out to make it simpler for other would-be parents. She thought that mission would take the form of a consumer-facing startup to guide users through labyrinthine bureaucracies. She raised pre-seed and seed rounds in 2015 on that premise and spent two and a half years helping “a few hundred families adopt.” But it eventually became clear there was only so much she could do from the outside. “I realized that the government really controlled the whole process,” Curcuru said. “I was holding people’s hands through a process they didn’t really control.” Curcuru decided then that a solution would have to start inside the government—but the rigid world of public sector red tape can be a challenging place for a young startup. The realization set Curcuru on a path to what Binti is today—a software solution for child welfare workers currently deployed at more than 550 agencies across the country, according to the company. Binti has raised more than $60 million, including a recent cash infusion of $3 million from Melinda French Gates’s Pivotal Ventures. Read More.—PK | 
