VCs Who Fund Diverse Innovators In Healthcare
Innovation in Healthcare Pop-Up: Women And Diverse Entrepreneurs
Businesses founded by women and minorities face difficulty raising capital.
A 2018 report by Morgan Stanley, cited in a recent Philly Mag article, found women and minority-owned businesses receive 80% less investment than the median investment in companies overall. The same report found that nearly 40% of men believe investing in women-owned businesses is not a priority at all.
Additionally, two-thirds of immigrant-owned businesses are forced to rely on personal or family savings for startup capital, just like their non-foreign born counterparts.
These statistics, among other factors, are reasons why we have convened an illustrious panel of health investors today at the latest installment in Open Innovation in Healthcare Pop-Up series. In partnership with SAP.iO Foundry and HITLAB, this event focused primarily on women and underserved entrepreneurs who are working hard to bring innovation to healthcare today.
The Pop-Ups are organized by Humble Ventures and Ogilvy Consulting. The Open Innovation in Healthcare Pop-Up series features a curated list of attendees ranging from diverse founders to enterprises and investors from across the globe. We also brought together leaders from across the healthcare ecosystem such as VCs, CVCs and angel investors for the “VCs Who Fund Diverse Innovators In Healthcare” panel I moderated as shown below:
Jessica Federer — Venture Partner, Boston Millennia Partners — Providing growth equity financing to healthcare and business services companies for over 30 years.
Christine Guo — VP, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital — Balance sheet direct investments in venture capital/growth equity companies across healthcare sectors, including healthcare services, digital health, medical technology, and biotech/pharma.
Avantika Daing — Managing Director, Plum Alley Investments — Plum Alley is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform for female entrepreneurs. Deborah Jackson founded it in 2012. Plum Alley began as an e-commerce site.
Christina Jenkins — Lead Investor, Portfolia — The entrepreneurial investing platform designed for women.
I really enjoyed the panelist discussion, hearing fresh perspectives, learning innovative insights and engaging with the audience. Below are some of the questions I asked the panel:
Introduction
Kick it off with introductions, backgrounds, and your current roles.
Can you please elaborate on your funding model and history?
What is your particular investment thesis criteria, and how do you source deal flow? What kind of deals are you funding?
What advantages do you offer that other firms don’t?
Diversity
The percent of women CEOs of funded digital health startups, as well as the percent of women VC partners, stands around 10–12%. Why are women underrepresented in the VC space? Does this lack of women in leadership hinder innovation?
What does deal flow look like with regards to women and the underserved?
Can you describe the business case or examples from your portfolio for how diversity, inclusion, and equity are catalytic for decreasing costs, increasing revenues, and ultimately driving higher returns?
Is diversity, inclusion, and engagement of critical importance for modern organizations?
Why and how is diversity good for patients and their families?
Industry Trends
In 2018, digital health startups raised a record of $14.8B in funding across nearly 1,500 deals, with deals and funding increasing almost every year since 2014.
Are there any specific trends you see that interest you — Mental health, Fem Tech, etc.?
Is the size of deals getting larger?
Digital health startups are also seeing high levels of exit activity in recent years: while exits have been slower in 2019, last year saw a record number of exits in the space. What is your funding outlook for 2020?
Closing
Big tech and D2C startups are making moves in women’s healthcare space. NIH just partnered with Apple and Harvard University on Women’s Health Study. What does this mean for the market?
According to a Rock Health survey, women continue to be pessimistic about how long it will take to reach parity in the workforce. How can organizations be better partners and advocates for women and underserved founders?
From your perspective, what are you most excited about in the space today or for the future of health?
What advice would you give to those in the audience that want to raise outside funding?
