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The founders and managing partners are experienced healthcare industry experts who have invested in or advised over 80 companies.
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Closed its first $21 million fund to fulfill its purpose: investing in technologies that payers can use to improve access to healthcare for all, optimize the patient experience, and enable better health outcomes
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In parallel, investments are focused on technologies that pharmaceutical companies can use to recruit and retain patients in clinical trials as the need for later-stage trials increases in the industry.
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Create Health Ventures is looking for portfolio company founders with a healthcare background; the company offers a value-added platform to help scale their companies
AUSTIN, Texas, August 12, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Create Health Ventures, a venture capital firm focused exclusively on early-stage digital health startups with founders from the healthcare industry, today announced the closing of its first $21 million fund and its mission to invest in innovations that improve access to healthcare for all, enhance the patient experience, and enable better health outcomes for patients. The firm invests in business-to-business (B2B) solutions that both payers and pharmaceutical companies can leverage to achieve business goals ranging from increased patient engagement and more effective treatment pathways to recruiting and retaining patients in clinical trials as the need for participants increases.
“We’ve heard firsthand from payers, providers and pharma companies that their business goals are to improve the patient experience, enable better health outcomes and increase access to care for all, especially those with health disparities,” said Emma Cartmell, co-founder and managing partner of Create Health Ventures. “We know that healthcare founders know exactly how to use technology to solve these challenges, and supporting them is the most powerful way we can invest to positively impact the healthcare industry.”
The firm is comprised of two founders and managing partners with over 45 years of combined healthcare operations and investment experience, Cartmell and Amit Aysola, who together have invested in or advised more than 80 high-growth companies. Austin-based Cartmell has 25 years of healthcare experience as a chief operating officer, chief revenue officer, board member and VC investor, and as an advisor to Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealthcare, the Dell Medical School of the University of Texas at Austin, and the UK government. Chicago-based Aysola has over 20 years of healthcare experience 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. Together, they bring their expertise, regulatory know-how and operational knowledge to their portfolio companies and have deep industry relationships, including limited partners (LPs) with successful exits who mentor the founders and CEOs of their companies.
Focus on technologies for payers and clinical trial support
The seven largest public payers are reporting record post-Covid profitability totaling $49.1 billion by the end of 2023, and McKinsey & Company expects further growth to as much as $75 billion by 2027. A key focus of Create Health Ventures is investing in technologies for payers as they subsidize or fund technologies for providers to successfully implement value-based models and improve member experiences.
“Health insurance members have an insurance card in their wallet without having to use it in a digital experience like most other areas of their lives. Payers want to change that by digitizing the member experience so they can identify members in need and better help them navigate their healthcare,” Aysola said. “However, the biggest challenge in healthcare remains the lack of data and workflow connectivity between stakeholders. By supporting technologies that can be sold to health insurance companies, our company is enabling more seamless data and workflow aggregation that will change the game for payers, providers and patients. Additionally, payers can more effectively scale these technology solutions across geographic boundaries, reaching a wider range of stakeholders.”
In parallel, Create Health Ventures is investing in technologies that strengthen pharma companies’ ability to recruit and retain patients in clinical trials as the industry ramps up the number of clinical trials and later-stage manufacturing. Notably, the number of drugs currently in phase three clinical trials (18 percent) has surpassed pre-Covid levels (15 percent). Currently, the pharma industry has a variety of point solutions, but as in the payer landscape, there is a lack of data and workflow connectivity.
“There is a tremendous need for clinical trial innovation in the pharmaceutical space as the number of late-stage trials is increasing rapidly,” Aysola added. “Keeping up with this increasing demand requires more robust and holistic technology solutions that enable the recruitment and retention of trial participants.”
Bringing experience to a platform that drives growth
Create Health Ventures has made five investments to date and leverages an LP base of foundations, impact investors and strategic industry partners. Many LPs are healthcare industry veterans who have founded and exited companies, creating a network that actively mentors and supports the firms’ portfolio companies.
The Company offers a unique platform of value-added services to support its portfolio companies and executives, provided free of charge, that address the challenges of building and scaling. These include, but are not limited to, strategic partnerships that support recruiting, access to executive performance coaches, business development support, and connections to experienced healthcare industry experts. Because the Company’s portfolio companies have a highly targeted buyer universe, Create Health Ventures also creates opportunities for cross-selling and support among its portfolio companies.
More quotes about Create Health Ventures
“As a practicing physician passionate about using technology to solve the massive problem of uncoordinated healthcare, I recognized early on the challenges associated with launching a startup, such as navigating the investor landscape and the importance of selecting partners with the expertise needed to support these efforts,” said Dr. Chip Grant, interventional cardiologist and founder and CEO of Watershed Health. “Partnering with an expert firm has been invaluable in helping me operationally build my team, rapidly scale my company, grow our health plan customer base, and fund our most recent round of funding.”
“Many investors present themselves as value-added partners. No one lives that commitment like the team at Create Health Ventures. They are compassionate, collaborative and active in helping us grow and improve our business. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner,” said Shara Cohen, President and CEO of Carallel.
“Create Health Ventures has provided us with expertise every step of the way since raising the fund, including go-to-market strategy and operations,” said Neil Batlivala, co-founder and CEO of Pair Team. “As we continue to grow our customer base and reach more underserved communities with high-quality care, our team of investors is helping us navigate our growth and make valuable connections along the way.”
“As a purpose-driven marketing agency, it’s important that we partner with organizations that share our values. Create Health Ventures works on solutions that promise a healthier world and meaningful value for our stakeholders. Together, our efforts go beyond business outcomes to design incentives that positively impact people’s lives by connecting them with the care they need. This is the kind of collective success we strive for as an agency,” said Scott Ensign, Chief Strategy Officer of Butler/Till.
About Create Health Ventures
Create Health Ventures is a venture capital firm focused exclusively on early-stage digital health startups with founders from the healthcare industry. The company’s founders’ expertise in the healthcare ecosystem reinforces their focus on investing in innovations that increase access to healthcare for all, improve the patient experience, and enable better health outcomes for patients. The company was founded in 2024 and is based in Austin, Texas and Chicago, Illinois. Visit www.createhealth.vc and follow us on LinkedIn.
View original version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240807735718/en/
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