US-based venture capital firm StartUp Health closed $19.3m in capital on Wendesday for its second fund, securing commitments from insurance group Ping An, healthcare provider GuideWell and medical device producer Masimo.
StartUp Health Transformer Fund II is intended to invest in more than 200 health technology developers within the next two years, furthering StartUp’s pursuit of 10 health moonshots: solutions for global health challenges such as cancer or mental health.
StartUp Health’s first fund provided capital for more than 100 companies in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain and the US.
The firm’s exits include precision medicine technology developer Tute Genomics and wearable sensor maker Basics. It formed a partnership agreement with insurance firm Allianz in January 2017 to co-develop “at least two dozen” digital health companies over a two-year period.
StartUp Health’s other partners include Genentech, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Roche, along with biopharmaceutical and chemical firm Bayer and GE Ventures, the corporate VC subsidiary of industrial conglomerate General Electric.
Ping An invested in StartUp Health Transformer Fund II through Ping An Global Voyager Fund, the $1bn corporate venturing subsidiary for health and financial technology investments it unveiled in May 2017.
Jonathan Larsen, CEO of Ping An Global Voyager Fund, said: “We are inspired by StartUp Health’s bold plan for solving the world’s biggest health challenges and are very pleased to embark on this partnership to support a generation of health entrepreneurs together.”