Startups are at the heart of the MedCity INVEST conference scheduled for May 22-24 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Chicago. The Ask the Investor program provides an intimate setting for startups to ask a group of investors questions about their investment strategy and the digital health and life science subsectors that they target. Startups across health tech and life sciences are also showcased in the pitch contest Pitch Perfect. The contest is divided into several tracks.
Here’s a look at the investors taking part in INVEST as judges in these tracks.
Click here to view the full agenda and to register.
Day 1
Medical device track 3:55-5:10 pm (CT)
- Harry Glorikian, general partner, Scientia Ventures
- Before joining Scientia Ventures, he served as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence to GE Ventures – New Business Creation Group, leading to the founding of Evidation Health and DrawBridge Health.
- Oliver Keown MD, managing director, Intuitive Ventures
- He focuses on identifying future leaders of minimally invasive care, including early-stage start-ups across digital, medical device, therapeutic and diagnostic domains.
- Julien Pham MD, founder and managing partner, Third Culture Capital
- In 2020, he founded Third Culture Capital (3CC) to bring more opportunities to emerging health tech and healthcare innovation companies in the early stage, some of which have become rapid growth stage companies. In 2022 alone, 3CC reviewed over 700 companies to add to their growing portfolio. 3CC has invested in 9 companies to date and looks to increase that number as the innovation space grows.
Day 2
Health tech: Payer/Provider 11:30 am to 12:35 pm (CT)
- Raffi Boyajian, principal, Cigna Ventures
- He has over 10 years of experience in various healthcare verticals leading investments, M&A transactions, corporate development initiatives, strategic partnerships and capital raising efforts.
- Kelsey Maguire, managing director, Blue Venture Fund
- She currently serves on the Board of CirrusMD, Ideal Option, Insightin Health, Origin Physical Therapy, Quilted, and Wayspring. She also helps manage the Fund’s investments in Everly Health, Lumiata, and axialHealthcare.
- Jay Rughani, investment manager, Andreessen Horowitz
- He focuses on software, data, and network businesses across healthcare and life sciences, including Turquoise Health, Pearl Health, and Komodo Health.
Day 3
Biopharma 10:50 am to 12:00 pm (CT)
- Sofia Guerra, investor, Bessemer Ventures
- Prior to joining Bessemer, she was an investor at BoxGroup Ventures and the co-founder and President of Nucleate Bio, a national life sciences entrepreneurship program helping PhDs, Post-docs, and students commercialize scientific projects.
- Ayush Jain, vice president, Rise of the Rest
- He is Vice President at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, which invests catalytic capital into the most promising companies located outside of Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston.
Health tech Consumer/Employer 1:00 pm to 2:05 pm (CT)
- Shawn Ellis, managing partner, Distributed Ventures
- He is co-founder and managing partner of Distributed Ventures, focusing on early-stage investments at the convergence of digital health, fintech and insurtech. Previously, he founded and led NFP Ventures, the venture investment arm of the diversified insurance broker NFP.
- Prateesh Maheshwari, managing director, Maverick Ventures
- He focuses on investments in digital health and healthcare services. Prateesh sits on the board of Belong Health, CareHarmony, Chapter, and On Belay and is a board observer at Garner Health.
- Marissa Moore, investor, OMERS Ventures
- Working out of the Bay Area office, she focuses on early-stage health tech opportunities in North America. Prior to joining OMERS Ventures in early 2022, she was a managing analyst on CB Insights’ healthcare intelligence team.
Photo: phive2015, Getty Images
