New York-listed pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly has provided $30m for Unseen Capital Health Fund, a venture capital fund investing in racially-diverse healthcare startups and developers of products serving for marginalised communities.
US-based Unseen Capital is targeting $100m for its debut fund, which will invest in up to 50 companies operated by underrepresented founders.
Eli Lilly’s chief financial officer, Joshua Smiley, said: “The pandemic has reinforced our understanding that there is unequal treatment and unequal access to healthcare in underserved communities, made worse by a lack of financial investment for the promising ideas that rise up from within these communities.”
Kayode Owens, general partner of Unseen Capital, added: “Unseen Capital is working in lockstep with Lilly to identify and fund those leaders in health doing work that is both amazing and underestimated, as we move to address inequities and access to quality care for all.”
