US-based health services provider Optum launched a $250m corporate venturing fund today, dubbed Optum Ventures, that will focus on the healthcare sector.
Funded by Optum, the fund will be led by partners AG Breitenstein and Virginia McFerran, who will report to Larry Renfro, chief executive of Optum and managing partner of Optum Ventures. It will operate out of offices in Boston and Menlo Park.
The fund will particularly seek out early-stage companies that are working on technologies to deliver better healthcare, such as digital health startups that aim to improve access to services and businesses that make the healthcare system easier to navigate and more reliable.
Portfolio companies will also be given strategic advice to develop and grow through Optum’s network of experts and partnerships. They will also benefit from Optum’s expertise to bring their products to market and scale more quickly.
Optum Ventures has already made four investments, though it did not reveal any amounts. The businesses include Apervita, a cloud-based platform that seeks to make the development of analytic applications more efficient.
Buoy Health has created a digital health assistant that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help patients understand symptoms and provide guidance on what care they should seek.
Mindstrong Health has developed AI and machine learning technology to detect and treat neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, such as depression and schizophrenia, by analysing a user’s interaction with their smartphone.
Shyft Analytics operates a cloud-based data and analytics platform aimed at life science businesses to reduce cost and risk while boosting clinical and commercial performance. The platform is chiefly aimed at oncology, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and rare conditions.
Renfro said: “Optum Ventures is uniquely positioned to help develop and grow startups and early-stage companies through capital investment, Optum’s decades of experience in health care, and our access to the health care marketplace.
“Optum Ventures will be the partner of choice for companies developing innovations that help make health care work better for everyone.”