GrowthCap is pleased to announce The Top 25 Healthcare Investors of 2022. Over 800 investors were considered at the start of this year’s nomination process. To determine the awardees, we focused on feedback received from portfolio company CEOs, firm colleagues and peers in the industry as well as our own proprietary research. The 2022 awardees represent a diverse set of individuals with backgrounds in medicine, science, and technology in addition to finance and investing. Across growth equity and growth buyouts in addition to emerging growth and venture, what these investors all have in common is demonstrated exceptional performance in the areas of investment selection, value creation, and ESG engagement.
This year’s awardees were nominated by their firms, portfolio companies, healthcare industry colleagues, and/or peers at other investment firms. More specifically, awardee selections and rankings were based on deal experience and track record, strategic and operational capabilities provided to portfolio companies, unique and differentiated attributes, as well as contributions to ESG, DEI, charitable work, and overall industry advancement. Healthcare plays a critical role in the quality of our lives, underpins all other business and economic activity, and ultimately determines the state of our world. Please join us in recognizing and celebrating the achievements of The Top 25 Healthcare Investors of 2022.
Firm: Bain Capital
Title: Managing Director, Global Head of Healthcare and Managing Director, North America Head of Healthcare
Chris Gordon and Devin O’Reilly lead Bain Capital’s healthcare investing efforts and have been working closely together for 17 years. Chris also co-heads Bain Capital’s overall North American private equity business.
Since joining Bain Capital in 1997, Chris has been actively involved in nearly all of Bain Capital’s healthcare investing activity, and also helped launch Bain Capital’s dedicated life sciences investing effort in 2016. Over the past 25 years, Chris has played a leading role with numerous Bain Capital-backed healthcare companies including HCA Inc., Quintiles Transnational (now IQVIA), Grupo Notre Dame Intermedica, Waystar, Cerevel Therapeutics and Innovacare.
Prior to joining Bain Capital in 2005, Devin served healthcare industry clients as a consultant at Bain & Co., and also held general management positions in the technology industry. From 2010-2015 Devin led Bain Capital’s healthcare team in Europe based out of the firm’s London office. Devin has driven Bain Capital’s investments across a variety of healthcare and HCIT companies including Bio Products Laboratory, Aveanna Healthcare, Surgery Partners, Zelis, PartsSource, and athenahealth.
“Bain Capital’s institutional presence across the entire healthcare value chain positions us uniquely to understand the complexities and key trends facing the sector and support companies driving value within the dynamic interplay between life sciences businesses, healthcare providers, consumers, payers, and regulators. This presence is also underscored by our ability to collaborate with our partners across the Bain Capital platform including our Life Sciences and Technology teams, and leverage their insights globally at scale, which is a true differentiator. We’re extremely privileged to partner with a visionary group of entrepreneurs and management teams, and we are committed to providing them the resources and on the ground support to continue their innovation and growth.”–Chris Gordon & Devin O’Reilly
Firm: TPG Capital
Title: Co-Managing Partner
Jeff Rhodes is a Co-Managing Partner of TPG Capital, the firm’s dedicated private equity platform. A career-long healthcare investor, Jeff has been with TPG for more than 16 years and currently co-leads TPG Capital’s industry-leading healthcare franchise and its investment activities in the healthcare services, pharmaceutical, and medical device sectors. In 2019, building on years of successful healthcare deals, TPG Capital launched TPG Healthcare Partners, a first-time, sector-dedicated vehicle that is recognized in the industry as one of the largest pools of capital dedicated to healthcare investments.
During his tenure at the firm, Jeff has led notable investments including BVI, EnvisionRx, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Kindred at Home, LifeStance Health, and WellSky. Jeff currently serves on the boards of BVI, Immucor, LifeStance Health, Pediatric Associates, and WellSky. He previously served on the Boards of Biomet, EnvisionRx, IMS Health, Kindred Healthcare, Kindred at Home, Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Surgical Care Affiliates, Zimmer Biomet, and as a founding Board member of the Healthcare Private Equity Association. Jeff received his MBA from the Harvard Business School, and earned his BA in economics from Williams College.
“We are highly thematic and growth-oriented investors. We focus on understanding where an industry is going and what’s going to make it more important and strategic to its ecosystem in the long term. In healthcare, this means partnering with leading management teams and companies that are driving true innovation, expanding healthcare access, and improving the costs of care, and working with those teams to inflect long-term growth. Every TPG healthcare investment is centered around building and growing companies that are bringing more value to our healthcare system and enabling better patient outcomes. It’s a privilege to lead the Capital business and our investing efforts in healthcare, and we look forward to building on our leadership in the sector.”–Jeff Rhodes
Firm: HealthQuest Capital
Title: Managing Partner and Founder
Garheng is the Managing Partner and Founder of HealthQuest Capital, a private asset firm that currently provides growth capital to transformative companies that are improving value in the healthcare system. A physician, scientist, and engineer by training, Garheng has over two decades of experience investing in innovative companies in all areas of healthcare, and has led over 28 companies to successful exits (IPO and M&A). Prior to founding HealthQuest, Garheng was a partner at Intersouth Partners and Sofinnova Investments, and has also spent time at GlaxoSmithKline and McKinsey, and as a CEO of two early-stage biotech companies.
Garheng also serves on boards of LabCorp (LH), Alimera Sciences (ALIM), Xeris (XERS), Be The Match, and the Duke University Medical Center. He is an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow, Kauffman Fellows Mentor, and member of YPO. Garheng received undergraduate degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences from Stanford, while on an athletic scholarship, and earned MD, PhD, and MBA degrees from Duke University.
“We’re in a time of unprecedented advancements in healthcare, that make identifying, diagnosing and treating disease faster, more convenient and more personalized for the patient. The ecosystem that we’ve built at HealthQuest between our team, advisors and limited partners is well-positioned to look across the healthcare landscape to find and develop truly transformative companies that are optimizing value: either improving patient outcomes, or taking inefficiency and cost out of the equation.”—Garheng Kong
Firm: Battery Ventures
Title: General Partner
Chelsea Stoner, based in San Francisco, is a General Partner at Battery Ventures focused on software and healthcare-IT investments. She has been at Battery since 2006 and was promoted to general partner in 2014. Currently Chelsea—who has a particular interest in vertically focused SaaS businesses—serves on the boards of Chargify/SaaSOptics, ContinuumCloud, Curve Dental, Ontra (formerly InCloudCounsel), PageUp and Redox. She is also an investor in Honeybook.
Her previous investments include Avalara (NYSE: AVLR), Brightree (acquired by ResMed), ClearCare (acquired by Wellsky), Data Innovations (acquired by Roper Industries), Glassdoor (acquired by Recruit Holdings), Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE), Intacct (acquired by Sage), Marketo (NASDAQ: MKTO, acquired by Vista Equity Partners), RealPage (NASDAQ: RP) and WebPT (acquired by Warburg Pincus). Prior to Battery, she held positions at Key Principal Partners, Accenture, Merrill Lynch and Classified Ventures. Chelsea received a BS with honors in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She also sits on the Northwestern University Engineering School Board.
“I’m a people person—and a recovering chemical engineer—who will fly anywhere to find passionate people building the next great SaaS company. I love true grit and creativity in a team.”—Chelsea Stoner
Firm: General Atlantic
Title: Managing Director, Global Head of Healthcare
Robb Vorhoff is a Managing Director and Global Head of General Atlantic’s Healthcare sector, and also serves on the firm’s Management Committee.
Robb is active on the boards of Alignment Healthcare, Equality Health, Included Health, Marathon Health, Oak Street Health, OneOncology, Stellar Health and Vida Health. Notably, in the last year he led new growth investments in NationsBenefits, Stellar Health and Vida Health. In 2021, he also supported the IPO of Alignment Healthcare, the merger of Doctor on Demand and Ground Rounds to form Included Health, and the successful sale of Landmark Health to Optum.
Robb joined General Atlantic in 2003. Prior to joining General Atlantic, Robb was an analyst at Greenhill & Co. He graduated with a BS in Finance from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.
“Since General Atlantic’s founding over 40 years ago, its core values and dedication to empowering business leaders remain unchanged. The firm continues to equip entrepreneurs with powerful tools to grow their businesses without wavering from their founding principles, culture and values. I’m honored to partner with impactful healthcare entrepreneurs and trailblazers who continue to transform, innovate, improve outcomes and expand access in the healthcare sector.”—Robbert Vorhoff
Firm: TPG Growth
Title: Co-Managing Partner
Matt Hobart is a Co-Managing Partner of TPG Growth, the growth equity and middle market buyout business inside of TPG, and he leads Healthcare investments for both TPG Growth and The Rise Fund. Matt has been with TPG for 18 years and was a key member of the TPG team that launched TPG Growth in 2007. His investing experience spans multiple geographies globally and across the healthcare continuum including healthcare services, technology, and life sciences.
During his tenure at the firm, Matt has led notable U.S. investments including Evolent Health (now NYSE: EVH), GoHealth, Precision Medicine Group, and Medical Solutions, and has led a diverse set of healthcare investments across emerging markets including the Evercare Group and Asia Healthcare Holdings (including Cancer Treatment Services International). Matt currently serves as a board member of RefleXion Medical, GoHealth Urgent Care, Q-Centrix Inc., AHH, Precision Medicine Group, BGB Group, Blue Cloud, and Evercare Holdings. Prior to TPG, Matt made private equity investments in the U.S. and Europe for Morgan Stanley Capital Partners III L.P. and helped raise and invest funds for the Morgan Stanley Global Emerging Markets Fund. Matt holds a BA in Economics from Miami University and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
“I am proud to have partnered with our global investment and operating teams to establish TPG Growth as a leader in both growth and healthcare investing. As a growth equity platform operating within a multi-strategy firm, we have a unique opportunity to work with inspiring founders and entrepreneurs that are driving innovation and growth across key U.S. and global markets in our core sectors of healthcare, technology, consumer, and business services. Beyond growth capital, TPG Growth provides deep sector expertise and insights and expansive operational resources to drive significant value creation. It continues to be a privilege to co-lead TPG Growth and our investments in such an important and dynamic sector like healthcare.”–Matt Hobart
Firm: Thomas H. Lee Partners
Title: Managing Director, Head of Healthcare Group
Joshua Nelson joined Thomas H. Lee Partners (“THL”) in 2003 with a focus on building out the firm’s Healthcare Group. Over the course of his time at the firm, Josh has transformed the healthcare platform into one of THL’s three core areas of focus. Now, as Managing Director and Head of the Healthcare Group, he leads a dynamic team with deep understanding of the healthcare space and operating experience. The healthcare portfolio includes a broad group of innovative companies including those in pharma services, healthcare IT, specialty providers, and healthcare services.
Josh is currently on the board of Adare Pharma Solutions, Agiliti Health, Inc., Autism Home Care Holdings, Inc., CSafe Global, Hospice Care, Nextech, Professional Physical Therapy (ProPT), Senior Home Care Holdings, Inc. and Smile Doctors. Josh holds an AB, summa cum laude, in Politics from Princeton University and an MBA with Honors from Harvard Business School.
“I firmly believe in a partnership driven approach when it comes to working with founder CEOs. Through my work, I’m able to engage with talented teams and founders to support growth and value creation. It’s especially rewarding to do this within the healthcare industry where we can both help people and improve the overall system.”–Josh Nelson
Firm: Silversmith Capital Partners
Title: Managing Partner
Jeff co-founded Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015. In his role as a Managing Partner, Jeff focuses on investments in Healthcare IT & Services. Within Healthcare IT, Jeff partners with talented leaders of proven, high growth software and data companies that can either materially improve clinical outcomes or reduce administrative inefficiency within all segments of the U.S. healthcare ecosystem. Jeff’s healthcare services investments are centered around innovative care delivery models oriented towards value-based care that can be scaled both organically and through M&A.
With more than 20 years investing experience, Jeff has led many of the firm’s key healthcare investments including Iodine Health, LifeStance Health (Nasdaq: LFST), MediQuant, Nordic, Panalgo (acquired by MMIT/Evaluate), Partners Surgical, Sound Physicians, Upperline Health, US Health Partners and Within3. Some of Jeff’s notable investments prior to founding Silversmith include ABILITY Network, Liberty Dialysis, Liazon and MedHOK. Jeff received an AB in Government and Mathematics from Dartmouth College where he graduated magna cum laude, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
“Silversmith was founded to partner with growing, founder-led, profitable healthcare and technology companies. I’ve been fortunate to work with many of our Healthcare IT and Services companies, and am incredibly proud of the talented teams I have had the opportunity to support as they make a meaningful impact on the world through healthcare innovation.”–Jeff Crisan
Firm: Questa Capital
Title: Founder and Managing Partner
Ryan has been actively investing in healthcare since 1996. He specializes in healthcare investments in the medical device, healthcare services, healthcare technology and specialty pharma sectors. During his investment career, he has served on 42 boards of directors and has overseen the deployment of $1.0 billion in equity capital.
Prior to founding Questa, Ryan was a General Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), where he joined in 1996, became a General Partner in 2004 and served on the firm’s investment committee for 11 years spanning four funds totaling $8.0 billion in total capital. He led the firm’s global healthcare investing practice and served as a member of NEA’s four-person management committee. Previously, Ryan was with the Health Care Investment Banking Group of Alex. Brown & Sons and Arthur Andersen & Co. Ryan graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Political Science.
“At Questa Capital, we are passionate about healthcare and we’re on a mission to support the most outstanding innovators and leaders who are building the next generation of growth companies. These companies are improving the patient experience, paving the way for better clinical outcomes, and increasing the overall effectiveness of the healthcare system.”—Ryan Durant
Firm: Frontier Growth
Title: Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Andrew Lindner is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Frontier Growth. In addition to serving on the firm’s Investment Committee and supporting current portfolio companies, he is also involved in setting overall Firm strategy and serves as President of the Frontier Growth Foundation. Andrew also serves on the boards of directors of current healthcare portfolio companies AccessOne and Clearwave.
Andrew’s most notable healthcare investments include HealthiestYou (sold to Teledoc), SimplyWell (sold to Virgin Pulse), AccessOne (including acquisitions of HealthFirst Financial and CueSquared), and Clearwave (partially recapped by Great Hill Partners).
Andrew currently serves on the boards of the Family Impact Fund and the Charlotte Heptathlon. He graduated from the University of Texas and received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Highlights
“The delivery of healthcare is undergoing fundamental change, creating pockets of opportunity to leverage software. The shift to value-based care and consumerism in particular has accelerated the adoption of software to engage patients and provide a better consumer experience. We are excited to continue investing behind these trends and backing world class management teams driving the innovation.”—Andrew Lindner
Firm: Questa Capital
Title: Managing Partner
Brad has spent over 20 years in the healthcare industry and has been investing in the space since 1999. During his investment career, Brad has been involved with 16 company boards of directors and the deployment of over $500 million in equity capital in the healthcare services and healthcare technology sectors. Prior to co-founding Questa, Brad was a senior investment professional at Parthenon Capital, a growth oriented private equity firm, where he helped lead their healthcare investment practice. During his time there, he deployed over $300 million in equity capital and served on eight different boards of directors.
Prior to Parthenon, Brad worked at Broadlane, Inc., a healthcare technology company, where he was a member of the Executive Management Committee. Brad previously worked in a variety of healthcare investment roles at MTS Health Partners and Evercore Partners in their New York offices. Brad started his career in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in New York. Brad graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA with distinction in Economics and concentration in Finance.
Highlights
“Since its founding Questa Capital has focused on being a highly engaged investment partner for leading growth companies in healthcare. We are honored to be in the position to support these CEOs, founders and their management teams as they set out to improve peoples’ lives by increasing the efficiency and quality of care.”—Bradley Sloan
Firm: Insight Partners
Title: Managing Director
Lonne Jaffe joined Insight Partners in 2017 as a Managing Director. While Lonne has invested across many domains during his time at Insight, including but not limited to applied AI and machine learning, quantum computing and fintech, Lonne has a highly impressive healthcare portfolio—driven by his passion for improving health outcomes for all by harnessing the transformative power of technology. In the past 12 months alone, Lonne has led Insight’s investments in Overjet, Iterative Scopes, ScreenPoint Medical and Covera Health.
Prior to joining Insight, Lonne served as the CEO of Precisely (formerly Syncsort) and the senior VP of corporate strategy at CA Technologies. He also held several leadership roles at IBM–he was most recently the VP of strategy for a multi-billion-dollar IBM software division and also served as director of mergers & acquisitions for another one of IBM’s software divisions, during which time he led a number of sizable software acquisitions. Lonne received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Harvard University.
“One of the things we’ve been most excited about at Insight Partners over the last couple of years in healthcare is that many of the futuristic technologies that people have been talking about for decades have finally started to work at scale. During the pandemic, the ability to provide remote care improved dramatically, and machine learning techniques are being deployed in areas as varied as identifying cancerous polyps during a colonoscopy, determining whether a dental patient needs a crown or a filling based on an X-ray, diagnosing depression based on analyzing a patient’s voice, improving drug discovery, making clinical trials more efficient, and much more. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to support companies who are pioneering the next generation of healthcare as they scale up.”—Lonne Jaffe
Firm: The Vistria Group
Title: Senior Partner, Co-Head of Healthcare
David Schuppan is Senior Partner and Co-Head of the Healthcare Team at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based next generation private investment firm operating at the intersection of purpose and profit. With over 20 years of healthcare experience, David joined The Vistria Group in 2017 and has helped grow the firm to over $7.1 billion in AUM. To date, David has spearheaded numerous investments within the firm’s healthcare vertical, including the recent recapitalization of Professional Health Care Network (PHCN) in March 2022.
Known for his expertise in home and value-based care delivery and technology, David led the successful exits of St. Croix Hospice and Agape Care Group. Including PHCN, David’s current portfolio is comprised of Rock Dental Brands, Sevita (fka The Mentor Network), Mission Healthcare, Medalogix, The VitalCare Group (fka Homecare Holdings), Help at Home and HomeFree Pharmacy Services. David prides himself on working closely with management teams to address some of the nation’s largest health challenges; in particular expanding access and value of healthcare for complex and vulnerable populations. David graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University and received his MBA, with honors, from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
“It’s truly a privilege to work with the leaders at our firm, portfolio companies and strategic partners. By putting our minds and capabilities together, we’re all better equipped to support public health, reduce costs, increase access for the underserved, and above all, improve patient outcomes–that’s how we define our intersection of purpose and profit.”—David Schuppan
Firm: BPOC
Title: Managing Partner
Greg Moerschel is the Managing Partner of BPOC, having joined as a Partner in 1997. Currently, Greg serves on the board of directors of Medicus Healthcare Solutions and Maxor National Pharmacy Services. He has previously served on the boards Genoa Healthcare, Cranial Technologies, Hospital Physician Partners, and The Hygenic Corporation, among others. Greg received his BA in economics from Northwestern University and an MBA in finance and health services administration from the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
“BPOC is committed to middle market healthcare companies, typically led by Founders. It is very gratifying to support talented management teams in pursuit of their strategic goals. Beyond capital, BPOC has over two decades of accumulated experience to convey to growing businesses. We appreciate that many Founder-led companies represent the life’s work of a group of dedicated individuals, so we approach each opportunity with respect and humility. More than anything, we are grateful for the hard work of our management partners, which is rooted in a shared commitment to culture and aligned financial objectives. This strategy has produced exceptional results for all stakeholders over the years, and contributed to expanded access, improved quality and reduced costs of healthcare delivery.”— Greg Moerschel
Firm: Edison Partners
Title: General Partner
Lenard Marcus is a General Partner at Edison Partners, a leading growth equity firm that invests across three core sectors: enterprise solutions, financial technology, and healthcare IT. He serves as the co-lead of Edison’s healthcare IT sector where he focuses on data-driven technology-enabled services transforming healthcare. Prior to joining Edison in 2005, Lenard began his career at IBM, where he served as a financial analyst for the company’s Global Services division. His responsibilities included overseeing a budget of $80 million and partnering with international locations to decrease the project costs of IBM Global Services West.
Later, Lenard went on to join Princeton eComm, where he oversaw some of the largest ventures in the online bill payment provider’s history and led the company’s B2C product development. He also held a role at Wachovia Securities in healthcare investment banking. Lenard earned his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from Stanford followed by his MBA in finance and management from Columbia. He is active in the mid-Atlantic investment community serving as a board member for the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation.
“At Edison Partners I have the opportunity to support entrepreneurs in underpenetrated markets to drive healthcare innovation and make a strong impact on both a regional and national scale. Edison Partners is passionate about continuing to diversify our portfolio across the mid-Atlantic market, particularly in healthcare IT, an industry that is rapidly evolving to meet rapidly changing societal needs.”—Lenard Marcus
Firm: JMI Equity
Title: General Partner
Matt is a General Partner at JMI Equity and joined the firm in 2006. His focus at the firm is on high growth digital health and software investment opportunities. Matt currently serves on the board of directors for several leading healthcare companies, including CipherHealth, Clio, Jane Software, Jvion, PointClickCare, and TimelyMD. He previously served on the boards of Capsule Tech (acquired by Qualcomm), Healthx (acquired by Zipari) and Navicure (acquired by Bain Capital). Prior to joining JMI in 2006, Matt was an analyst in the technology investment banking group at Thomas Weisel Partners and a research associate at Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley.
“I’m fortunate to collaborate with world-class founders and entrepreneurs to help grow such a diverse portfolio of digital health and software companies. It is incredibly rewarding to work with them and my talented colleagues at JMI.”—Matt Emery
Firm: Insight Partners
Title: Managing Director
Jon Rosenbaum is a Managing Director at Insight Partners. Since joining the firm in 2014, Jon has focused on vertical and horizontal application software and is responsible for executing transactions and assisting in portfolio management post-close. He has also specialized in helping portfolio companies source and execute M&A—a key strength of Jon’s and a huge asset to the companies that Insight is helping scale for success. In Jon’s eight years at Insight, he has been directly involved in sourcing and leading some of the firm’s most impressive healthcare deals. Most recently, Jon helped lead Insight’s investments in PriorAuthNow and Overjet. He also helped lead Insight’s investments in Tulip, LeanTaas, BrightInsight and Parachute Health. Jon graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, where he received the Spade Award.
Highlights
“At Insight Partners, our mission is to find, fund, and work collaboratively with visionary executives. We’ve been inspired by the innovation in the healthcare industry over the past few years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve also been encouraged by the increasing uptake of software in all facets of healthcare: by providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies, research centers, and even patients. This shift is being driven by both improved software usability and the growing belief in its impact. Insight looks forward to continuing to identify and support the game-changing healthcare ScaleUp companies who are improving health outcomes for all.”—Jon Rosenbaum
Firm: Optum Ventures
Title: Managing Partner
Laura Veroneau is a Managing Partner and Founding Team Member of Optum Ventures, the independent venture fund of UnitedHealth Group that invests stage agnostically across the healthcare ecosystem. Under Laura’s guidance and leadership, Optum Ventures—now with 50+ portfolio companies and $1 billion in AUM–has grown more than tenfold in five years, gaining recognition as a leading platform in healthcare investing. Laura has played an instrumental role in the fund’s activity and success, leading notable investments such as AbleTo, Brightline, Dispatch Health, Garner, Truepill, and Unite Us, among others.
Throughout her career, Laura has developed a deep understanding of the healthcare system, with an eye on how innovation can integrate into and transform the overall industry. With experience ranging from a healthcare startup to UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, and Transformation Capital, Laura has used her vast experience to provide impactful financial, strategic, and tactical insights to portfolio companies, helping to further the advancement of healthcare innovation at large. Laura received her undergraduate degree in Economics and Legal Studies from Williams College and received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
“Five years ago, Optum Ventures was created to develop a comprehensive and strategic presence in the startup landscape in anticipation of increased healthcare innovation at this stage. In this role, we are fortunate to work with passionate innovators across the healthcare ecosystem–from large market players to early-stage startups—all working towards making the healthcare system more affordable, accessible, efficient, and equitable for all. Cross-industry partnerships have the power to move innovation forward and through this lens, I am incredibly proud of OV’s progress to date and even more excited for what the next five years will bring.”—Laura Veroneau
Firm: Health Enterprise Partners
Title: Managing Partner
Ezra joined Health Enterprise Partners (HEP) in 2010, while completing his MBA at Columbia Business School. Ezra is currently on the board of directors of Kno2, Jvion, and Wildflower Health. He previously served on the board of directors of AxiaMed (acquired by Bank of America), Applied Pathways (acquired by AIM Specialty Health, a division of Anthem, Inc), CenterPointe Behavioral Health System (acquired by Acadia Healthcare), InDemand Interpreting (acquired by Stratus Video/AMN Healthcare), and Twistle (acquired by Health Catalyst).
Prior to joining HEP, Ezra was a Senior Analyst at the Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ: ABCO), providing best practice consulting and research services to hospitals and health systems. After leaving the Advisory Board Company, Ezra served as a Senior Consultant in the healthcare practice of Booz Allen Hamilton focusing on engagements in the provider space. He sits on the Harvard School of Public Health’s Health Policy and Management Executive Council. He is on the faculty of Columbia Business School. Ezra holds a BA cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
“Across the last 15 years, Health Enterprise Partners is fortunate to have invested in multiple category-leading healthcare IT and healthcare services companies. Backed by several of the top healthcare organizations in the country, we seek to invest in the themes that are most responsive to the pain points affecting healthcare executives. I am tremendously grateful to the founders who have chosen HEP as their partner for their entrepreneurial journey, to our limited partners who have entrusted us with their capital, and to our team who has devoted itself to backing businesses at the forefront of improving our delivery system.”—Ezra Mehlman
Firm: JMI Equity
Title: General Partner
Sureel Sheth has been part of the JMI team since 2010 and co-leads the firm’s efforts in digital health and life sciences software. He also focuses on legal technology, human capital management, and several other vertical market software areas. In addition to supporting JMI’s current portfolio companies, he also helps to identify and assess potential investment opportunities in high-growth software companies. Sureel currently works with JMI portfolio companies Clio, Ignition, Jane Software, Jvion, OpenSesame, PointClickCare, and SafetyChain.
He has also worked with several other companies, including current JMI investments Cipherhealth and Yello, as well as former JMI investments Adaptive Insights (acquired by Workday), Capsule Tech (acquired by Qualcomm), Halogen Software (IPO; TSX: HGN, acquired by Saba Software), and Healthx (acquired by Zipari). Sureel graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Economics and minor in Human Biology. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Prior to JMI, he began his career as a Business Analyst with McKinsey & Company.
“I am grateful to have the opportunity to partner with transformational digital health and healthcare IT companies and their leadership teams. The challenges and opportunities present in healthcare are widespread and only growing–software and technology-enabled services have the potential to automate inefficiencies, enable clinicians and healthcare workers to focus their efforts on providing the best care, and improve overall patient experiences and outcomes. I am honored to be included among such an impressive group of healthcare investors, colleagues, and friends.”—Sureel Sheth
Firm: Kayne Anderson
Title: Managing Partner
Leon Chen is a Managing Partner of Kayne Anderson’s growth private equity activities. He is primarily responsible for identifying and analyzing investment opportunities, monitoring of portfolio companies, and deal execution. He is a member of Kayne Partners Investment Committee. His areas of investment focus include software and tech-enabled businesses across healthcare, media and telecom, business services, and supply chain & logistics.
Leon is passionate about how technology is disrupting the healthcare industry and has built an investment thesis centered around the use of software and technology-enabled services in driving greater value for users, improving outcomes for patients, and increasing operational efficiencies for providers. This work has contributed to several Kayne Partners healthcare investments, some of which include Fullscript (Online Supplement Dispensary Platform), Cloudbreak Health (provider of telemedicine-enabled language interpretation solutions for healthcare systems), Fully Managed (provider of managed IT solutions for the long-term and senior care industry), and rfXcel (supply chain safety/traceability for the pharmaceutical industry).
“Kayne Partners has a strong track record of investments in the healthcare IT sector, and it has been a privilege being able to contribute to that success. It has been particularly rewarding partnering with companies who are bringing innovation into a system full of inefficiencies and antiquated practices, and witnessing the direct impact their solutions have on the quality of patient lives. We are still in the very early innings of digitization and automation in this space, and I am excited about what the next decade of technology development and adoption has in store for us.”—Leon Chen
Firm: WestView Capital Partners
Title: Partner
Matt Carroll is a partner at WestView Capital and has led the firm’s healthcare technology and outsourced services effort since inception. Prior to WestView, Matt invested in and served as Head of Corporate Development for LogistiCare, a leading medical transportation cost containment provider to the payor market. Previously, he served as an Associate at Triumph Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm and an Analyst with the Private Capital Group at Dean Witter Reynolds. Matt received his BS degree in Finance magna cum laude from Boston College.
Matt has led investments focused on the provider and payor markets including Executive Health Resources, eSolutions, Xtend Healthcare, Alpha II, Jopari Solutions, The Phia Group and Receivable Solutions/RSi.
“From early in my career I had a front row seat to the many inefficiencies in the healthcare system and have dedicated my investing career to supporting the management teams of a number of companies that assist payors and providers in improving, automating or otherwise navigating the complexities and ever changing rules and challenges posed by many of these inefficiencies. At WestView we have had a longstanding commitment to the healthcare sector and are proud to have played a role in the creation of market leading healthcare technology and service companies of enduring value.”—Matt Carroll
Firm: ShangBay Capital
Title: Founding Managing Partner
William Dai is the Founding Managing Partner of ShangBay Capital, a leading early stage Medtech-focused VC based in Palo Alto, California. Since the founding of ShangBay Capital in 2015, William has led ShangBay to become a successful VC with 55 portfolio companies to date and multiple successful exits. William currently serves on the board of directors for SetPoint Medical, Aqua Medical, Emboline, Meditrina, Corinth, FemDx, Apostle, Laplace Interventional, YorLabs and previously served on the board of directors for NeuroVasc (acq in 2019) and Arrinex (acq by Stryker in 2019).
Williamʼs prior work experiences span more than 20 years in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets in both Asia and the U.S. Prior to founding ShangBay Capital, he was the CFO of ShangPharma (NYSE: SHP), Nepstar Corporation (NYSE: NPD), Microport Scientific Corporation (HKZ00853), and Boston Scientific China. William was also the Head of Business Development for a major pharmaceutical company, where he led M&A initiatives for the Asia Pacific region. In these roles, William was responsible for the overall execution of business transactions to drive business success. William Dai holds an MBA with an emphasis on finance from Michigan State University.
“During the pandemic, weʼve seen a tremendous need for disruptive healthcare solutions for people around the world. At ShangBay Capital, we are grateful to partner with world class founders and CEOs who are building game-changing medical technologies that help to improve patient outcomes and save lives.”—William Dai
Firm: Leaps by Bayer
Title: Vice President of Venture Investments
Dr. Lucio Iannone is Vice President of Venture Investments at Leaps by Bayer, the investment arm of the global life sciences company Bayer. He is responsible leading the health investment team in the US and oversees the investment cases and deal execution. He is also involved in the sourcing, screening, and mentoring of companies with game-changing science. Lucio currently sits on the boards of several biotech companies including Mozart Therapeutics, Deka Biosciences, Immunitas Therapeutics, eGenesis biosciences, Affini-T therapeutic, Vesigen and Axxam. Before joining Leaps by Bayer, he had held several senior roles in biotechnology companies and venture capital firms. Over the past seven years, Leaps by Bayer has infused 50-plus companies with more than $1.5 billion. Lucio has been supporting his CEOs from inception to IPO.
He received his M.Sc. in molecular biology from Cambridge university and Ph.D. in Medicine from Imperial College in London. Dr. Iannone’s expertise is in cell and gene therapy, and in several therapeutic fields such as oncology, immunology, cell and gene therapy.
“In the last seven years Leaps by Bayer has been partnering with great investors and supporting entrepreneurs to achieve their vision in healthcare. I couldn’t be prouder of the global network of healthcare entrepreneurs we partner with and for their dedication and willingness to take new and better treatments to patients. Bayer support for the Leaps thesis really shows how the company is forward thinking and takes extra steps to foster innovation for a better life.”—Lucio Iannone
Firm: Boutique Venture Partners
Title: Managing General Partner & Co-founder
Dr. El Assal is a scientist-clinician turned venture capitalist investing in healthcare and life sciences. He is the Managing General Partner & Co-founder of Boutique Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that specializes in early-stage investments in Biotech, Medtech, Digital Health, Health Economics, and Health Edtech startups. In 2020, Rami and his partners launched the Early Disease Detection and Early Treatment Fund, which is recognized in the industry as one of the earliest vehicles focusing on early detection and treatment, and is dedicated to translating the most promising innovations originating from esteemed research labs. At Boutique, Rami has led over a dozen investments and currently serves on the board of both PrinterPrezz and Filtricine.
Prior to founding Boutique, Rami was a Research Scientist (Academic Staff) at the Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is currently affiliated with the Precision Health and Integrated Diagnostic Center at Stanford University. Previously, he completed two Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at Stanford and Harvard Medical Schools. He has been recognized by several entities, such as the Center of Nanoscale Systems (CNS) at Harvard University, and published in the field of Early Detection & Early Treatment, including a two-volume book published in Springer Nature.
“At Boutique, we like to partner with authentic entrepreneurs who create disruptive approaches that improve health and wellness. We leverage our deep connections within the healthcare ecosystem to help founders build their companies from the ground up.”—Rami El Assal
To view additional information on leading growth investors and firms, please see the links below.
________________________
Copyright: The Top 25 Healthcare Investors of 2022 publication is copyrighted material, produced and published by GrowthCap, LLC. For information pertaining to content permissions, please refer to GrowthCap’s award usage regulations.
Disclaimer: The data provided in this publication is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, endorsement, nor recommendation. GrowthCap believes the information in this publication to be accurate but does not verify its accuracy independently and does not warrant or guarantee that it is accurate or complete. GrowthCap has no obligation to provide any updates or changes to the information. No investment decisions should be made using this information.
Discover unique insights from growth investors and leading executives.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter.
