Venture capital firm Create Health Ventures has closed its first fund of $21 million focused on early-stage digital health startups.
The firm, with offices in Austin, Texas, and Chicago, says it invests in business-to-business (B2B) solutions that both payers and pharmaceutical companies can leverage to meet business goals ranging from enhanced patient engagement and a more effective care journey to recruitment and retention in clinical trials as the need for participants accelerates.
“We’ve heard firsthand from payers, providers and pharmaceutical companies that their business goals are to elevate the patient experience, facilitate better health outcomes and improve access to care for all, especially those with health disparities,” said Emma Cartmell, co-founder and managing partner of the firm, in a statement. She has 25 years of experience in healthcare as a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, board member and VC investor, as well as an advisor to Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealthcare, the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and the British Government.
The other co-founder is Amit Aysola, who has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare as a management consultant, operator, investment banker and VC investor, and is an advisor to the Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University.
A key focus of Create Health Ventures is investing in payer-facing technologies, as payers are subsidizing or paying for provider-facing technologies to successfully execute on value-based models and improve member experiences.
“Health plan members have an insurance card in their wallet without an accompanying digital experience like they do in most other facets of their lives. Payers want to fix that by digitizing the member experience so that they can identify members in need and better help them navigate their healthcare,” said Aysola in a statement. “Yet the biggest challenge in healthcare is still lack of data and workflow connectivity among stakeholders. By backing technologies that sell to a health plan, our firm is enabling more seamless data and workflow aggregation that will change the game for payers, providers and patients. Additionally, payers are able to more effectively scale these technology solutions across geographies, reaching a larger pool of stakeholders.”
The firm has made five investments in startups to date: Carallel, Watershed Health, Advocatia Solutions, Pair Team, and nmible.
