Lauren Tierney

Excited to partner with Antonio, James, and the XP Health team. The need for vision care and benefits in the United States is substantial. More than 200M U.S. adults (79%) use a form of vision correction. 2 out of every 3 U.S. adults have some type of vision care coverage, even those with 20/20 vision. Vision benefits are considered table stakes for employers, who are generally not likely to sacrifice this coverage even during economic uncertainty. Yet, it dominated by 2-3 outsized legacy vendors and encumbered with horrible customer experience and exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for consumers. XP Health is revolutionizing the experience of eyecare across eye exams and eyewear shipping, through a digitally native product that significantly enhances customer satisfaction through personalized care and reduces out-of-pocket costs. Read the full TechCrunch article: https://lnkd.in/ggVicTHm QED Investors Amias Frank Shruti Adams Laura Ashley Rachel Nigel

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#Longevity Tech is on the rise ✌️ -Endeavor BioMedicines raised $135M at a $795M valuation in April 2024. -Humanaut Health secured an $8.7M Seed round, valued at $52M in May. -Superpower raised $4M, reaching a $24M valuation in May as well. These are just 3 of the 90+ #longevity startups highlighted in Dealroom.co's latest report (Link in the comments). In this newsletter, I dive into the Longevity Technology Market and the emerging trends shaping the future of health! 👉 https://lnkd.in/e3EZrAPH #Longevity #HealthTech #StartupFunding #Innovation

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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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🧬 This week's Austin Bio & Health Roundup features nearly $200M in funding & new capital, M&A, more infrastructure coming, & hopefully an opening of the Texas Bio & Health IPO window🧬 💰 Funding Function Health has closed its Series A, securing $53M in total funding. Function’s platform offers 100+ tests for $499 per year, focusing on prevention and empowerment. The round was led by a16z Bio + Health and includes several celebrity investors. Congrats to Mark Hyman, MD, Pranitha Patil, Jonathan Swerdlin, Mike Nemke, Seth Weisfeld, and Dan Swerdlin. Sensi.AI raised a $31M Series B led by Insight Partners and Zeev Ventures to enhance its 24/7 monitoring technology for seniors and home care. Way to go Romi Gubes and the entire team! Ironspring Ventures raised $100M for their second fund, focusing on “manufacturing, construction, transportation, and energy.” Exciting times for Ty Findley, Adam Bridgman, Peter J. Holt, and the expanding Ironspring team! Now, why include this in a Bio & Health newsletter? I believe there will be a value migration from drugs, devices, and diagnostics to the bio innovation tech stack itself. One key area of that stack is biomanufacturing. As new modalities like cell and gene therapy rise, the challenge of scaling these therapies presents a significant opportunity for innovation. While as far as I know Ironspring hasn't invested in this subsector yet, I look forward to seeing what they do with Fund 2. 🤝 M&A and Partnerships Significo, a software development that builds healthcare apps and solutions, acquired Bunch, an AI leadership coach app. Congrats to Rick McCartney and team! 🚀Launches, Expansions, and Milestones BrainCheck, a cognitive assessment software platform, announced their adoption by the Physicians Hearing Network (PHN), bringing insights to 270 members across 12 states.  Keep up the momentum Kim Rodriguez and team! 🏗️ Infrastructure Texas State University is partnering with Concept Companies to build a life sciences incubator at their round rock campus. The incubator will have labs, offices, admin support, and collaboration spaces. The teams hope to complete construction by the end of 2025. DES Architects + Engineers opened a new office in Austin, aiming to bring their expertise to the city’s burgeoning life science market. Welcome Kevin D. Norman, Tracy Wong, and the rest of the DES team! 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle Fort Worth-based biopharma company Actuate Therapeutics, Inc. is preparing for an IPO, targeting a raise of about $50M. What’s Next? #AustinNext #LifeSciences #Healthcare #Biotechnology

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Someone broke down the estimated costs of a $15 Sweetgreen salad. We need these cost graphics for digital health to help future founders. Especially for tech enabled cos, the greatest cost is labor. Much of the "value created" is in curation and matching, which means the gross margins are reliant on labor arbitrage. Pay someone $X, but get paid $X+Y% per visit. The challenge with healthcare is that you often have to pick one of two business models: 1. specialized, low volume, high cost, low gross margin % 2. generalized, high volume, low cost, high gross margin % I'd argue founders should focus on gross dollars over the lifetime of the customer (like Jeff Bezos said) instead of gross margin %'s, but we'll leave that for another time. The challenge is that many tech enabled digital health cos have high cost of goods sold (labor) and moderately high product, design, and engineering budgets. We must build differentiated solutions for patients, clinicians, and clients to be out incumbents, however, we're realizing that companies are ultimately valued on the discounted value of future cash flows. And the high SG&A costs at most organizations might be inbalanced to the unit economics of the business. I'm not sure the math pencils out for everyone unfortunately. But I'm just a guy on the internet, would love to hear the thoughts from those smarter than I (you!). Comment below. --- p.s. I have no idea the accuracy of the graphic and not an investor in Sweetgreen. Cheers. Credit: David Crowther

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_What makes a good investment in healthcare? _ When is a good time to start thinking about the path to exit? _Where do we see the next #unicorn in #systemichealth? Experienced healthcare investor Dai Feng from CareCapital Group joins me and Jonathan Levine for our very first *video* episode of the #ThinkOralHealth #podcast. Take a listen.

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We're lucky at Rock Health Capital to have closed our most recent fund in Q3 2023. And while we think nothing is more important for a startup than entering a massive market with a product that customers absolutely must have, we aspire to be the partner who helps entrepreneurs anticipate and overcome the challenges in building a VC backed health care business. Believe it or not, right now inflation is one of them - quietly affecting VC deal-making. As a starting point… Hopefully you took a look at our funding report last week: https://lnkd.in/gAYP8PWJ As always, we left some good the stuff on the cutting room floor. My least/most favorite. Here are three takeaways we couldn't fit into our Q2 report on how persistent, high inflation is impacting VC: 1. In real dollars, digital health VC funding is roughly FLAT with 2018 In nominal dollars, 2024 will likely close at around $11B in funding - around 25% up from 2018. In REAL dollars, however, VC funding is largely unchanged from the ~$8B+ raised in both 2018 and 2019 (prior to the pandemic mania). https://lnkd.in/gBvpkuYp 2. Most of the "fresh" VC dollars being deployed today were committed to VC funds between 2020 and early 2022 - which have only about 80% - 85% of their original "purchasing power." Inflation has reduced the purchasing power of these dollars to a remarkable extent. For comparison, funds raised in 2012 (just 10 years prior) faced only ~3% in loss of purchasing power over a similar period of time. GPs who raised 2-4 years ago face pressure that VC as an industry isn’t designed or accustomed to dealing with. 3. The #1 cost in a startup is people. So, wage inflation is what matters most... Growth in average wages since 2020 is around 25% - higher than either CPI or PCE (depending on which “headline” measure you prefer). For my fellow nerds who want to dig into the BLS data, the story for software and technical workers and for the MSAs where startups tend to be built is the same but much more. https://lnkd.in/gYJ_TPiD If that’s not nerdy enough, you'll enjoy Michael A. Greeley’s most recent post. As always, it's a thoughtful review of the dynamics affecting both healthcare VC investment and capital allocation within VC as an asset class, writ large: https://lnkd.in/gDqFfuz9

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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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Create Health Ventures Launches Inaugural $21M Fund for Early-Stage Digital Health Startups  Create Health Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage digital health companies, has closed its debut fund, raising $21 million, surpassing its initial target. Launched in 2024, Create Health Ventures is based in Austin, TX, and Chicago, IL. The firm focuses on technologies that enhance healthcare access, improve patient experiences, and deliver value across payers, providers, and pharmaceutical companies. *Its primary focus includes:   1. Payer-Facing Technologies: Solutions that improve member experiences, enable seamless data and workflow integration, and scale technology across geographies.   2. Clinical Trial Enablement: Tools to help pharmaceutical companies recruit and retain participants for late-stage clinical trials as demand increases. *Founders and Approach:   Create Health Ventures was co-founded by Emma Cartmell and Amit Aysola, healthcare veterans with over 45 years of combined experience. They bring operational expertise, regulatory insight, and an extensive network to portfolio companies. The firm exclusively invests in startups led by healthcare industry founders, leveraging its unique value-added platform for scaling businesses.  *The platform includes: - Business development support   - Access to executive coaches   - Connections to healthcare leaders   - Cross-selling opportunities among portfolio companies  *Key Quotes by GPs:  - Emma Cartmell: “Founders from the healthcare industry understand the challenges and opportunities to improve patient outcomes. Supporting them is the most impactful way we can positively transform healthcare.”   - Amit Aysola: “Payers and pharmaceutical companies are driving demand for connected, scalable solutions, and we are investing in companies to meet these needs.”  *Investments and Impact:  The firm has made five investments so far and partners with foundations, impact investors, and strategic healthcare veterans to mentor portfolio companies.  *Portfolio CEO Feedback:   - Dr. Chip Grant (Watershed Health): “Create Health Ventures has been invaluable in scaling operations and fundraising.”   - Shara Cohen (Carallel): “They are the most collaborative and active investor team I’ve worked with.”   - Neil Batlivala (Pair Team): “They’ve helped us manage growth and reach underserved communities.” If you are experiencing difficulties in raising fresh capital and would require warm introductions to new LPs, contact G+QUANT     ▶ Please use G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks, or send your inquiry directly to [email protected] #VentureCapital #DigitalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #Startups #ClinicalTrials #PatientCare #HealthTech #HealthEquity #CreateHealthVentures

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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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Today was a big win for consumer health, with Flo Health Inc.'s valuation at $1 billion. We're hearing talk about the market becoming frothy again, but I’d argue—without seeing the detailed financials—that this valuation could be entirely warranted. Flo has built an impressive business, with 5 million paid subscribers and 70 million monthly active users. At $60 per year for users to access the product, this business has hundreds of millions in revenue and plenty of room to grow. It's increasingly clear to me that innovators focused on healthcare have been wildly underestimating consumer business models for years, believing that patients would only opt for solutions covered by their health plans and prescribed or recommended by their doctors. That thesis needs updating, particularly given high deductible plans and soaring co-pays. Innovators building solutions that users genuinely love will win - even in healthcare. These businesses also have the potential to move into B2B channels, which is far easier to do when you have an engaged, loyal user base. I expect we’ll see many more consumer health businesses “pop” in the years to come, further proving that consumers are ready and willing to pay for such solutions. We're watching closely at Cherish Kudos to the team at Flo for this impressive milestone. Lainie Muller Charlotte Yeh Aashima Gupta Avanlee Christine Esther Dyson Alexandra Drane Jessica Kamada Vin Gupta, MD MPA Asheesh Saksena Paul Crnkovich Josh Kampel Steve Chazin Lee Wagner #agingwithattitude #independentliving #consumerdrivencare

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Coming soon on Aug 1: "Transformation to a Fresh Tomorrow." This is theme of our 3rd Annual Web3 Investor Day, as we welcome the innovators and investors convening in Chicago for these discussions around the next generation Internet. Our theme reflects the optimism, determination and commitment investors and innovators have solidified off the depths of the bear markets to drive success in the bull markets. Broader investor optimism suggests that fresh institutional funds into Web3 across both tokens and equity may endure.  Across adoption metrics, customer interest and developer activity, Web3 seems to have normalized. It’s refreshing to see the transformation and next evolution of Web3 and it’s refreshing to meet many of you on August 1.  And yet, even with the improved optimism from last year, there still remain open questions in the development and adoption of our next generation Internet:  1. the balance of speculative versus productive investor capital in this current cycle 2. the productive role of liquid trading capital in fostering Web3 innovation 3. the attractiveness of venture investments in follow on financings 4. the role of policy and regulation that may enhance innovation 5. the continued developer activity to improve the underlying infrastructure 6. other Web3 recovery characteristics in target customer use cases. We remain committed to navigating regulatory shifts, fostering investor optimism, and building the customer use cases for Web3.  Physical spaces enhance our innovation conversations.  In person relationships foster our collaboration.  Relationships drive breakthrough innovations.  Reach out to Rizza Torres at Decasonic if you would like to join us! #web3investorday #web3 #venturecapital

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🚀 Healthcare investing: Not for the faint of heart, but for the visionaries who dare to change the world! 💡 Why it's unique: 🔄 Pivoting isn't just costly—it's potentially catastrophic 📊 Metrics as complex and sub-sector specific 🌐 A delicate ecosystem of stakeholders tugging in different directions 😃 But get it right, and you might just revolutionize healthcare while reaping substantial returns. 💰🏥

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Frist Cressey Ventures is absolutely thrilled to share that we've teamed up with SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures, Intermountain Ventures, and Flare Capital Partners to participate in Qualified Health's seed funding round, securing $30 million to develop the infrastructure for generative AI in healthcare. "What sets Qualified Health apart is their unique approach to healthcare AI governance," said Navid Farzad, managing partner at Frist Cressey Ventures. "Their platform enables health systems to maintain control while accelerating innovation – a crucial balance that the industry has been seeking." We're proud to support Qualified Health as they bridge the gap between AI's potential and healthcare reliability, transparency, and safety. Learn more about our new partnership at the link below: https://lnkd.in/ehVuFyJi

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A new era of deep tech has emerged. First time funds will raise “unheard of” amounts of capital to fuel next gen deep tech startups - producing outsized, superior returns for LP’s compared to the rest. Prudent investors will act on this data and shift investment strategy as LP’s or risk being left behind savvy wealth managers and CIO’s / FO’s who saw this trend begin 4 years ago.

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This week Mikal Ventures brings you a 4-week breakdown of the US capital market with an emphasis on the Mikal verticals. Over the 4-week period ending December 9, just under 590 new companies were added, resulting in 101,195 companies included in the US Health Tech, Med Tech, Fin Tech, AI Tech, and Ed Tech verticals. We continue to see a slowdown in overall activity in all verticals. US AI Tech again saw the greatest percentage growth in new companies at 12%, vs. the vertical average of 6% for the period. AI Tech also led the group in transactions and news articles. US Med Tech led in SEC Filings. Mikal Ventures publishes these stats on a rolling 4-week basis to provide a perspective on how the verticals and new startups move through time. We hope you find them informative and thought-provoking. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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Exciting news! We just sent out the inaugural newsletter for Future Frontier Capital, our pre-seed venture fund backing frontier tech startups. As I hit "send," I realized how launching FFC parallels the path of the founders we support. Starting FFC has required the same passion, perseverance, and self-belief that drive entrepreneurs. Just like a startup, getting a VC fund off the ground demands relentless hustle—building the brand, perfecting the pitch, and networking tirelessly. There are constant challenges that test your resolve and endless hours of unglamorous work behind the scenes. And perhaps most daunting - the self-doubt, wondering if you're crazy for attempting something so bold. Pushing through that negative self-talk requires unshakable faith in your mission. Raising this VC fund reminds me of starting our IP strategy and patent analytics firm two decades ago. It’s a powerful reminder of the perseverance, creativity, and resilience needed to turn an ambitious idea into reality. This experience makes us more empathetic partners, ready to support the founders we back. Our work is just beginning, and this inaugural newsletter underscores our commitment to supporting frontier tech startups every step of the way. #startups #VentureCapital #EmergingManagers #Entrepreneurship #InnovationMindSet

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio & Health Roundup highlights exciting exits, partnerships, insightful conversations, & updates from across Texas Bio Triangle 🧬 💸 Venture Exits SuperTruth has acquired imaware, the at-home testing and infrastructure platform, marking a significant step forward in catalyzing better health outcomes with data and AI. Huge congrats to Jani Tuomi, Brodie Flanders, and the entire imaware team! 🤝 Partnership and M&A KdT Ventures has licensed NGM313, a Phase 2-ready asset, from NGM Biopharmaceuticals. KdT formed a NewCo around the asset, with Managing Director Cain McClary, MD stating, “We believe this drug has the potential to alleviate suffering in a large patient population who currently have no disease-modifying treatments.” Babson Diagnostics expanded its partnership with BD, integrating BD’s MiniDraw System with Babson’s Betterway technology. This expansion now includes health systems and larger provider networks. Keep up the momentum, David Stein, Eric Olson, and the rest of the Babson team! 💡 Insights from Local Builders and Innovators It’s always inspiring when two smart friends share ideas. Micha Y. Breakstone 🇮🇱🎗️ joined Taylor Capito on The GenBio Podcast to discuss cell engineering and the future of biotech. I sat down with Ian Wendt and Na-Ri Oh on The RealPharma Podcast to discuss TechBio, business model disruption, and Austin's role in this shift. 🤠 Texas Bio Triangle Dallas-based SpinSci Technologies LLC secured $53M to expand its AI-enhanced patient engagement platform. Congrats Rajit Kumar! Rice University and Houston Methodist announced the launch of a Digital Health Institute “showcasing the transformative potential of combining medicine and engineering to shape the future of health care” What’s Next?

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Great article on the founder-investor relationship—one that’s so critical to the success of any venture. Tough times are inevitable, and the true strength of a founder-investor partnership isn’t measured during the good times, but in how both sides show up when things go wrong. These moments test trust, alignment, and shared resilience. As founders, we’re expected to lead our teams through crises, rally, adapt, and navigate the storm. The best investors also show the same level of leadership and step up during challenging moments, offering guidance, empathy, and actionable solutions. It’s a collaborative effort, and I’ve been fortunate to witness how impactful it can be when investors show true leadership. One way to ensure this is to work with investors who’ve been in your shoes before—there’s nothing quite like operator investors to bring valuable perspective and support when it matters most.

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