Erica (Ramos) Sonneman

The (Healthcare) Ground Beneath Our Feet… This year it is likely that over $10 billion will be invested in the digital health sector – a robust amount, no doubt, but inconsequential when compared to the amount of capital tied up in healthcare real estate assets, which is estimated to be $1.2 trillion by Jones Lang Lasalle. Of that amount, approximately $790 billion is in the hospital sector while the remaining $490 billion is in medical office assets. It is estimated that there are 48.6k facilities with 3.4 billion square feet of healthcare real estate, 42% of which are owned by REITs and another 33% held by other private investment vehicles. Much of the digital health investment is meant to make the physical healthcare infrastructure more productive: greater operating efficiencies, greater patient throughput, more relevant personalized care models with better outcomes. As the healthcare system is being pushed to be more distributed to lower cost sites of care, accelerated now by the rapid proliferation of automation and AI capabilities, the potential impact on healthcare infrastructure assets will be profound. Thoughts on what that might look like... https://lnkd.in/eTfAdUbS #digitalhealth Flare Capital Partners

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One of my proudest moments as an investor occurred today as Alaffia Health announced its series A because it shows how the Aperture® Venture Capital vision of multi-level, multi-generational #impactinvesting is succeeding in the marketplace. Here’s the model in its most basic form : ✅As diverse fund managers with meaningful capital to allocate, we are changing the VC landscape every day just by doing our day jobs. ✅As Black/Brown investors with ~40 years experience collectively, Aperture GPs have access to talent /excellence that others do not, so our portfolio *organically* is more inclusive by race, gender and geography even while optimizing for financial outcomes (all about the alpha). ✅Our most successful portco’s are using financial #innovation to solve market problems that impact underrepresented demographics and underserved communities. Alaffia Health is a shining example of the impact portion of our overall fund thesis, and we couldn’t be prouder of TJ Ademiluyi and Adun Akanni, MPH, PMP - the dynamic brother-sister founder duo whose vision we have steadfastly supported on their journey. Congratulations to TJ and Adun from William Crowder and myself, as well as the whole Aperture team- Marjorie King Philip McKenzie Yves Louis-Jacques Tanvi Lal Michelle Dhansinghani Lisha Bell Katie Kelly Amy Chung Cindy Chong, CFA Brian Fernandes-Halloran Monroe France Jayden Pantel Darren Herman Evan Wladis Neal Triplett Thomas Scriven Peter Ammon Irina Bit-Babik Tim Milanich Rob Rahbari

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💡Benchmarks in the investment industry serve as a standard for measuring the performance of securities, mutual funds, or investment managers. They provide a reference point for analyzing allocation, risk, and return of a portfolio, enabling investors to make informed decisions. Thanks Peter Walker for keeping us all informed!! Can’t wait for this!! Follow and get on the waitlist for this one! #benchmarks #fundraising #Capitalraise #founders #womenshealth #femhealth #medtech #wellness

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Excited to announce Frist Cressey Ventures' investment in Qualified Health and privileged to partner w/ SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures and others!   Healthcare costs are increasing at a faster rate than ever before, with the US spending nearly twice as other wealthy countries and still ranking bottom in outcomes. It's a story you've all heard - - US healthcare is known for astronomical inefficiencies, waste, workforce supply constraints, fragmented access, appalling patient experiences, and driving patients and businesses into debt.   Yes these problems present opportunities. But opportunities are limited to the system's appetite for change, desire and incentive to try something new and the innovation available. At FCV we believe we've hit the trifecta with Generative AI. Generative AI has given us truly transformational tools in the toolkit and the healthcare ecosystem is demanding to absorb its benefits. This perfect collision of supply and demand means healthcare is poised for big change.   Generative AI is everywhere, it's buzzy, it dangles hope and opportunity. But many things need to be true for the Gen AI transformation in healthcare to take hold, such as but not limited to:   💡 Patient lives and data need to remain safe: We believe in a highly regulated and human life-touching sector such as healthcare we must ensure Gen AI can drive to unrivalled savings and improvements in the quality of care WHILE not putting patient lives or data at risk.   💡 Systems need to own their utilization of Gen AI: We believe systems will use some hybrid of external partners and homegrown solutions but importantly will want full control of data provisioning and utilization as well as the ability to solve an unlimited number of nuanced issues and not cookie cutter algorithms.   💡 Costs need to be looked at on an enterprise level: We believe the speed of innovation in Gen AI means costs will continue decreasing dramatically but at an enterprise level this will still not be a small detail. Systems will want the ability to understand costs and delegate as needed for the outcomes desired at the organizational level.   Enter Qualified.   We knew when we met Justin Norden, MD, MBA, MPhil and team we were standing in front of changemakers. These individuals have lived and breathed the true application and implementation of Generative AI far before we were asking ChatGPT to write our emails. In fact, if you’ve ever driven in a Waymo you’ve benefited from past products this team has built.   Qualified Health is on a mission to enforce governance in Gen AI, allow systems to rapidly build for their needs, monitor and make decisions for all GenAI (homegrown and external) and accelerate the value the sector can glean from these new technologies.   Huge shout out to William T., Tommaso Auerbach and Jamie Kuntz for their hard work!

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Every startup is trying to solve a problem. But let’s be honest: some problems are more important than others. One of the most critical problems facing the U.S. healthcare system is our obscenely high maternal mortality rate. We have the highest rate of any high-income country - and the group most impacted is women of color.  We’re fortunate at Lantern to be working with incredible founders trying to address this heartbreaking problem. With Mother’s Day coming up, I wanted to take a minute to shout out Anu Sharma, her co-founders Talia Borgo CNM, WHNP, RN and Sarah Reynolds, and the incredible work they are doing at Millie to make carrying, delivering, and caring for babies safer and better.  The problem was clear: Overworked and understaffed OB departments and practices that just aren’t equipped to provide the individualized, comprehensive care that many pregnant people are seeking. Pregnant patients often experience:  • A 10-12 week wait for an initial appointment • Very short appointment times • An absence of holistic health information • Gaps in care between visits, which add anxiety and risk • A few-sizes-fits-all approach to labor and delivery • And craziest of all: a near-complete lack of postpartum care Millie’s solution? A modern maternal health system that provides holistic pregnancy care - pre, during and post delivery. Made possible with the expertise of Certified Nurse Midwives – medical professionals known for their deep knowledge of pregnancy and the labor process, and their minimal-intervention approach. Midwives can spend more time with patients during and after the pregnancy, and are the ideal provider for the 80% of pregnancies that are considered “low risk”, allowing OBGYNs to focus on high risk cases. When I first met Anu and she told me about Millie, my first thought was, "How does this not already exist?” I was inspired by the vision and the need for this service is obvious - what more could a marketer ask for? Better yet, our SEO strategy seemed to be working as Anu found Lantern by Googling “embedded growth teams in the early-stage health space.” The fit was obvious. She needed help with web analytics, paid search, Meta creative, and conversion rate optimization. And she didn’t have the budget to hire the 2-4 specialists needed. Moreover, she didn’t need 2-4 full-time hires. It was the perfect use case for our new kind of agency. Lantern got involved shortly after launch and was able to help Millie build on their early momentum. They were getting great local press but needed a long term plan for growth. Our team (led by Kristin Proctor, one of our Growth Directors) built a systematic growth machine, using best practice tactics throughout the funnel to significantly scale new customer acquisition, while keeping spend flat. Thank you for trusting us to get the word out about Millie, Anu. Truly honored to help build this revolutionary business. Happy early Mother’s Day, to you and the Millie team! 

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What's been happening in mental health? ⏺ Vitalic Health raised a $4M seed round for its geriatric behavioural health care platform. ⏺ Kooth Digital Health landed a $1.45 million pilot contract to provide their Soluna platform to over 50,000 students across New Jersey. ⏺ Peer support startup Fello , led by former Uber Eats executive Alyssa Pollack, raised $10.4M for virtual, app-based peer support designed to combat the loneliness epidemic. ⏺ Oceans Healthcare acquired Haven Behavioral Healthcare , expanding to 5 new U.S. states and adding 7 new locations. ⏺ Mabel raised a €600K pre-seed round to help improve women's mental health through microdosing programs and mushroom-based supplements ⏺ Wysa published a paper on the impact of their early stage digital mental health interventions for Singaporeans. ⏺ Applications for the KHP Ventures Mental Health immersion programme close tomorrow (Jan 7th) (All links below) __ If you liked this and want insights on the mental health industry in your inbox every week, subscribe to The Hemingway Report newsletter and follow me Steve Duke 📩 #MentalHealth #BehavioralHealth

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According to a recent Yale University article, global life expectancy has notably increased from 48 years in the 1950s to 72.6 years in 2021, reflecting advancements in healthcare and public health. I link it in the comments. But the same article cites that the global population over 60 is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, which is crazy if you think about it from the socio-economic point of view. So, it is clear that progress in life extension has been made already. However, the rapidly aging population is what pushes the need for breakthroughs in aging research and practical advances in preventive and lifestyle longevity interventions en masse. One of my personal dreams and goals of my professional activity is to push the boundaries of the longevity industry, I would say, it is certainly above anything else. And this is reflected in LongeVC strategy, as we back companies that either directly or indirectly help fight aging and live healthier. One conference that I think is currently the global leader in helping shape the longevity industry is Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting which is traditionally held at the University of Copenhagen. I am happy to share that the Longevity Biotechnology Association, where I participate, has just joined as Tier 3 Sponsor of ARDD 2024, to be held on Aug 26-30 in beautiful Copenhagen. Join the fight for aging! #agingresearch #longevity #longevityindustry #ageing Morten Scheibye-Knudsen Alex Zhavoronkov Evelyne Bischof, MD, PhD Daniela Bakula

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VC funding in healthcare has been more resilient than in other industries. Here are some key takeaways from recent Carta data: 👉 At the priced seed, Series A, and Series B stages, dilution for health startups has noticeably decreased, while dilution for SaaS startups has stayed flat or increased slightly. 👉 In priced seed rounds, median dilution for healthcare companies dipped to 14.2%, compared to 20% for SaaS.  👉 The frequency of bridge rounds surged in the health sector in Q1, jumping to 44.3% from 36.9% in Q4 2023. This is the first significant increase in bridge rounds in healthcare over SaaS since early 2022. 👉 More founder-friendly terms for health startups may result from enduring VC interest since COVID. Healthcare has remained strong through economic turmoil, enabling higher valuations with smaller round sizes. What are the implications? The healthcare sector might see a rise in new ventures due to favorable investment conditions and lower dilution rates. The surge in bridge rounds suggests that certain sectors within healthcare face unique challenges that require interim financing solutions. Founders and investors in the healthcare space- what are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you. If you know a founder innovating in healthcare, tag them in the comments! The Artemis Fund is especially interested in groundbreaking care tech companies. You can check out Carta’s full blog linked in the comments. If you haven’t read our latest blog on care tech, you’ll find that there too. #healthcare #caretech #fundraising

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According to the latest report from Rock Health, digital health funding in Q1 2024 totaled $2.7B across 133 deals, with an average deal size of $20.6M. It doesn’t break out device-related investments, but most medtech founders I meet these days are being forced to chase tiny rounds made up of endless little checks, consuming valuable energy and slowing their progress. The benign neglect of this next generation of diagnostic and therapeutic devices is counterproductive and surprising. Given the crowded virtual care market, for example, I’d expect more such companies would be exploring medtech partnerships, investments or acquisitions that'd enable them to back integrate into delivering sharper, and more differentiated, care and treatment. This is exactly what Maverix Medical is doing from the other direction: Reshaping the entire spectrum of lung cancer care by integrating more advanced + effective approaches to screening and diagnosis, treatment and therapeutics, and even palliative care…And putting it all to work through an innovative provider network. One notable investor exception is Y Combinator partner Surbhi Sarna who’s been backing great teams like Selera Medical (YC W24) doing foundational work on ambitious medical devices. Without more support from investors like her, we’re going to increasingly find ourselves stuck with the incremental portfolio improvements from the incumbents, and that’s just not nearly enough.

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I’ve had the chance to go deep with a number of digital health alum, healthcare mentors and #corporate innovation partners over the past few days. A few themes to share:   1. Digital will change healthcare. Period. How is hard. But it will happen and the best are continuing to push ahead. 2. What keeps companies in the S&P 500 for 50 years or more? Partnerships and innovation. This is why large systems must practice the hard art of both partnership and partnership towards innovation. For startups, partnership reps may be more important than brand. 3. There is a difference between needs and behaviors that startups need to understand, especially in Healthcare where incentives, process, practices are complex. Finding who pays early is not only essential but existential. 4. Don’t optimize for valuation, optimize for value. Over the long-run, this is what will matter. In Healthcare, today value will have to tie to ROI. Pharma, providers, payors are under pressure. Your solution needs to be must-have and drive ROI.   MC Healthcare was launched over 5 years ago to accelerate industry/startup intelligence and collaboration and commercial partnerships for digital health startups and industry (payors, providers, pharma). Calling startups to apply. Want to be a partner to find and work with the best? DM me directly.

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👀 HOW DO WE GET DIGITAL HEALTH TO REFOCUS ON PREVENTATIVE CARE?👀 Enter Inbal Tirosh co-founder and CEO of the incredible Livez on this week's episode!! My favorite question to ask founders is what is your founding story? Tune in to hear Inbal explain her founding story, and how they are impacting patients lives and futures! Livez is built to make preventative care easy, convenient, and reduce claims. The Livez screening solution detect 85% of preventable diseases!! Reduces a whopping 75% of healthcare claims. How do they do this? Inbal jumps into it all with me, explaining, "All together if you take every person and they get a plan of what they need to get screened for, based on their individual profile, and their specific data, you can do that with fusion of big data, and you take them on a journey to prevent their predicted risks, based on family history and their own history and so on..." Then you automatically book them with follow up appointments. This is backed by health authorities, and by large insurers! Key Points 🗝 🌐 Livez screening solution covers more than 50 clinical domains and 120 screenings and vaccines, impacting 75% of healthcare claims. Livez is a preventive health platform that focuses on holistic screening and interventions to prevent chronic diseases. 🏥 The platform helps employers and health plans prioritize the health of their population by identifying health risks and guiding individuals towards appropriate interventions. This is an absolutely fascinating conversation about the new frontier of preventative care. Get on board, and tune in to this week's episode of the Digital Health Heavyweights Podcast Also- major teaser that their pricing is FULLY at risk. Why NOT? Learn more about preventative care, and how Digital Health is continuing to evolve!

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With Americans over 65 projected to grow from 58 million to 82 million by 2050, AI solutions like Foundation Capital portco SafelyYou are becoming increasingly crucial. They’re also a powerful answer to the industry’s persistent staffing shortages, acting as a force multiplier for caregivers. The benefits extend beyond individual residents and their families. For senior living homes, SafelyYou’s AI-powered fall prevention and response system translates to longer lengths of stay and higher net operating income (NOI). With AI, we are working towards a future where every individual—regardless of age or health status—receives the highest quality care, tailored to their unique needs and circumstances. Companies like SafelyYou are leading the charge in making this future a reality, and I’m immensely proud to work alongside them as they use AI to build a better world.

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Abby Levy talks about venture's role in US healthcare and what we can expect to see as technology impacts the space on TFR. Check out the rest of the conversation with Abby & Alan Patricof of Primetime Partners on Episode 433.

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The healthcare landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of patient care. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ambar Bhattacharyya, Co-Managing Partner at Maverick Ventures, on the latest episode of The Full Ratchet. Ambar has partnered with numerous billion-dollar companies like hims & hers, Cityblock Health, Devoted Health, and ConcertAI. His unique journey from rural America to becoming a prominent figure in venture capital offers invaluable insights into the future of healthcare and technology. We discuss his investment strategy at Maverick Ventures, the megatrends shaping healthcare, the impact of AI on the industry, and the importance of integrated care. Ambar also shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in healthcare investment, offering a comprehensive view of what lies ahead. Check out TFR Episode 438 to catch our conversation. You'll be glad you listened. Link to the full episode is in the comment section below.

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US healthcare system Providence has split off its investment arm, Providence Ventures, to create an independent VC firm, Allumia Ventures. #venturecapital #veteranventures

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I recently spoke with an executive from one of the largest healthcare companies in the country.   When I asked them what are the highest priority problems they're concentrating on right now, unsurprisingly, 1️⃣ controlling costs around GLP1s came up first. But surprisingly, 2️⃣ the intersection of health and climate change came up second! It is clear that more healthcare leaders are beginning to think about (and respond to!) the deep interdependence of human and environmental health.   🗣 While my climate friends have long emphasized that "climate is a horizontal," and "there's no such thing as a climate company; all companies will have to adapt to climate change", I'm energized to hear more of these conversations beginning in healthcare.   😷 We already know that wildfires and air pollution are driving increases in respiratory and chronic illnesses, that heat waves and natural disasters are putting more lives at risk, and that rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are enabling the spread of infectious diseases.   As we invest in downstream solutions that support patients suffering from respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, depression, and general gaps in gaps in health equity, we're also thinking about holistic, upstream factors, like the effects of climate change.   ⚕ 🤝 🌎 How should we evolve our traditional notions of preventive health to address these emerging challenges? ⚕ 🤝 🌎 How can health-first organizations play their part when it comes to the climate crisis? ⚕ 🤝 🌎 What are the innovative ideas you've seen around climate, sustainability, and human health?  💡 This is both a personal area of interest and something I'm hoping we get to explore more at Inflect! If this is something you've also been reflecting on and learning about, always happy to connect and trade notes!

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