The health and medical innovation energy in Seattle is infectious! As a seasoned startup team member and interested accredited investor, when I was looking for resources to learn more about investing, I found a GrapeVine Women (now Reveleven) event about startup investing presented by Yoko Okano and Minda Brusse of First Row Partners. They were experienced early-stage investors and introduced me to Seattle Angel Conference (SAC) and I was hooked. Among all of the investment groups I spoke to, SAC’s unique fundamental “learn by doing” bootcamp format was exactly what I was looking for as I began my journey. After I attended one of SAC meetup events (find out more here), SACVIII fund manager and assistant fund manager plus John Sechrest were relentless and convinced me that the time was now to start investing. I couldn’t answer when they asked “why wait?”.
The SAC method is a chance to learn from seasoned investors and experienced entrepreneurs about the craft of angel investing and the collective arrangement gives a sense of belonging to an otherwise risky investment setting. Similar to the sequential step-by-step way my daughter learned ballet, each step of the investment process is broken down then added to the previous steps. Investing lessons are immediately applied by vetting 50+ companies and selecting one winner at the end of the 6-month term. That's how I became an investor in SACXVIII and made my first investment in Jerry Yen and his founding team at Advice Analytics and also participated in a side car fund to invest in Martha Montoya and the team at AgTools.
But at the end of my SAC experience I still wanted to learn more about this investment process with health care and medical technology innovation and we’ve seen the number of companies applying for SAC funding grow and grow. My passion is fueled when I hear things like the amount that is spent on healthcare is staggering and in the US we spend an amount that is approaching 20% GDP and at last count we’re at $3 trillion dollars. There’s massive expensive gaps in our health care system and early innovation is big part of the answer. Come learn more about Apis Health Angels and let’s be part of the solution, what Clayton Christensen called the Innovator’s Prescription.
A man wearing what looks like a chunky black wristwatch stares at a tiny digital dinosaur leaping over obstacles on a computer screen before him. The man’s hands are motionless, but he’s controlling the dinosaur—with his brain. Science fiction? No -- an actual device made by the startup company CTRL-Labs.
We are on the brink of massive changes in medicine and health because of advances in technology and entrepreneurs who are willing and able to take the risks necessary.
Medicine and health is a very rich space ripe for disruption. Here are just a few of the possible areas that startups are exploring in this domain:
- Miniaturization of devices
- Data management, analysis and comprehension
- Accessibility (ie “Walmart-ification”)
The industry is large -- approaching $1T (yes, trillion!) a year -- and growing.
The time is ripe for APIS -- a group focused on medical and health startups and the people who want to support them. APIS is committed to investing close to $500K in medical and health startups per year, along with giving close to 50 new investors the chance to partner with these great businesses in order to be a win for everyone: win for the entrepreneurs, win for the investors and win for the greater community.
Have a great medical or health startup looking for some support to increase your traction? Contact APIS!
Interested in the medical or health and want to engage with interesting, engaging people? Contact APIS!
https://www.mastercontrol.com/industries/medical-device/trends-2020/