As healthcare startups become more common, one thought on entrepreneurs’ minds is how to land funding in a space that’s becoming crowded.
MATTER, the local healthcare startup incubator in the Merchandise Mart, is home to about 200 healthcare startups, with about two-thirds of them operating in the health IT space.
In an event at MATTER Wednesday, part of this year’s Chicago Venture Summit, Matthew Warrens, vice president of innovation partnerships at OSF, gave attendees a glimpse into what he looks for when picking companies to fund.
OSF, based in Peoria, Ill., is a Catholic health system that operates 11 acute care facilities throughout the state. They have a $75 million venture fund and are active investors in MATTER startups.
“Some of the best startup companies are right here in Chicago,” Warrens said at the event. “I’m so impressed with the number of great solutions that are coming out of this space particularly.”
When looking for startups to invest in, he said he wants those that work to solve a current problem in the healthcare industry. OSF invests in a range of healthcare startups, including those in medical devices, therapeutic solutions and other kinds of digital health products and software.
Warrens said ideal startups usually operate in patient engagement, behavioral health and care management spaces. Additionally, OSF looks for companies that have already closed a Series A funding round.
“The goal of today was to really build awareness about some of the startups that are in our community,” said Arun Bhatia, the director of programming at MATTER, which currently has about 12 health system partners. “[Warrens] is an interesting case study because when [startups] think about an investor, they often think about an independent VC. This was helpful to profile what other types of investors are out there.”
Six Chicago-based healthcare startup founders pitched their concepts to Warrens and other investors in the room. They included Cancer IQ, a software that tests cancer genetics; Diagnostic Photonics, maker of a handheld, imaging tool that identifies cancer; HealthiPASS, a platform that connects patients with their providers; Life XT, a human performance program that reduces employees’ stress and maximizea productivity; rMark Bio, an analytics platform that connects pharmaceutical companies with scientists and SurvirorPlan, an oncology care platform for cancer patients.
