The MedCity INVEST conference, scheduled for April 19-23, is offering new ways for healthcare startups to connect with investors at the online event. Ask the Investor sessions will provide a way for startups to get insights on investment strategy and to pose questions about funding and more.
Ellen Herlacher Principal, LRV Health, is one of a handful of investors taking part in these sessions. She will be joined by Dennis Depenbusch, Director New Ventures, BCBS Kansas and president of Mid-America Healthcare Investors Network (MHIN) and Austin Duke, Senior Venture Associate, UnityPoint Health Ventures.
Ellen Herlacher, LRVHealth
Although registration to INVEST is free, startups will be asked to pay $99 to participate in Ask the Investor sessions. Each virtual meeting will include one investor and last for 45 minutes. Following the investor’s presentation on their investment strategy and area of interest, startups will be asked to provide a 1-minute company overview. There will be an opportunity for Q&A. Investors will receive executive summaries for each startup with contact information.
Space is limited to 10 startups per meeting. Please register here.
Herlacher said she decided to participate in the Ask the Investor session in part because the last year has been so tough on entrepreneurs. The lack of in-person meetings in the past year has meant fewer opportunities for them to network and meet potential partners, customer, employees, or investors.
“I can relate because, as an investor, I’ve missed being able to have chance encounters and thoughtful conversations with talented entrepreneurs, too. I’m really looking forward to the Ask the Investor session at INVEST because it will help fill that void a little bit.”
In response to emailed questions, Herlacher noted that LRVHealth is a venture platform that invests exclusively in early stage digital health companies.
“Our investment dollars are 100% strategic, which is to say that our investors are a mix of healthcare systems, payers, and large healthcare IT vendors. We draw heavily from their perspectives as well as from our collective experiences as healthcare operators to invest in companies that improve the delivery and administration of healthcare and make people healthier.”
Asked what kinds of criteria LRVHealth considers when deciding whether to work with a startup, Herlacher noted that strategic alignment with the investment themes the firm has developed through close counsel with its network, based on their current and future priorities, is the most important consideration.
“On top of that, I also look for thing like quality and aptitude of the team, size of the market and competitive dynamics, business model, and go-to-market strategy.”
Herlacher said healthcare startups should work with LRVHealth because the firm is interested in developing deep and meaningful partnerships that are backed by industry experience and a network of healthcare leaders, decision makers, and buyers.
“We have a track record of success that extends over two decades.”
Photo: bernie_photo, Getty Images
