Digital health fund makes debut with $21m for start-ups
Create Health Ventures managing partners Amit Aysola and Emma Cartmell
A group of healthcare industry veterans have launched a new investment fund – called Create Health Ventures – with $21 million in the pot to support early-stage companies with tech that can support payers and pharma companies.
On the pharma side, the focus will be on digital health approaches to recruiting and retaining patients for clinical trials – a perennial challenge for the industry – while for payers the emphasis is on platforms that can "improve access to care for everyone, enhance the patient experience, and facilitate better health outcomes."
Leading the efforts are founder managing partners Emma Cartmell and Amit Aysola, both of whom have long CVs covering healthcare operations and investing. Cartmell's career includes time at Abraxis Bio, NantHealth, and Morgan Stanley – plus a stint advising the UK government on digital health – while Aysola has more than two decades of experience as a management consultant, operator, investment banker, and venture capital investor.
"There is a massive need for innovation in the pharmaceutical field around clinical trials, as the number of late-stage trials is increasing at a fast clip," said Aysola in a statement. "More robust and holistic technology solutions that enable the recruitment and retention of trial participants are what's needed to keep up with this rising demand."
According to the new fund, the number of drugs currently in phase 3 clinical trials represents 18% of all studies, higher than the 15% seen prior to the pandemic, where there was a massive increase in testing that has since faded away.
Currently, the pharma industry has no end of specialised offerings to draw on for patient recruitment and retention, but there is a lack of data and workflow connectivity, it claims.
On the payer side, meanwhile, the aim is to address the widespread issue where "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," according to Aysola.
"Payers want to fix that by digitising the member experience so that they can identify members in need and better help them navigate their healthcare. 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."
The new fund has already announced its first five portfolio companies, currently mostly on the payer side of the equation.
Carallel works with health plans and employers to provide support for caregivers, Watershed Health's platform connects healthcare providers and health plans, Pair Team has been set up to forge links between underserved communities and care teams, and Advocatia Solutions is dedicated to helping the uninsured and underinsured find coverage. All four are based in the US.
On the clinical trials side is UK-headquartered nmible, which provides a clinical trial payment system to life sciences companies.
