LifePoint Health has a new “innovation engine.”
The Nashville-based hospital operator has inked a partnership with venture studio 25madison and private equity firm Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) to launch a new health-tech incubator in Nashville, according to a news release.
The incubator, called 25m Health, will initially be seeded with $20 million and will build new companies with innovative ideas aimed at improving care and lowering costs for LifePoint, according to the release. The partnership is part of LifePoint’s “LifePoint Forward” strategy designed to drive innovation.
“I am incredibly proud to establish LifePoint Forward as a key pillar of LifePoint’s growth and community healthcare investment strategy. We’ve built a robust infrastructure to develop and invest in new ideas, partnerships and technologies — all focused on meeting patient needs, driving growth and advancing our mission of making communities healthier. Prior to today’s unveiling, we’ve had successes with LifePoint Forward, partnering with companies that are positively disrupting the healthcare ecosystem,” LifePoint President and CEO David Dill said in the release. “When we met the 25madison team, it was clear that they had the experience, capabilities and shared vision to accelerate our work. Our 25m Health venture allows us to expand beyond investing in existing capabilities to also incubating and building businesses that can benefit LifePoint, our communities, and the broader healthcare delivery system.”
The incubator’s launch comes as Nashville's health tech industry is awash in cash, with several high-dollar rounds of funding hitting Nashville-area startups’ bank accounts this year. Franklin-based Relatient Inc. raised $100 million in August from Brighton Park Capital. In June, data analytics company Xsolis (stylized XSOLIS) secured a $75 million investment, also from Brighton Park. That was preceded weeks earlier by a $160 million capital raise by Monogram Health, which was led by private equity firm TPG Capital.
Through 25m Health, entrepreneurs will partner with business leaders from 25madison and health care experts at LifePoint to scale their technologies across LifePoint’s system of hospitals and other sites of care, according to the release. A council of seven advisors will help guide the strategic direction of 25m Health.
“We believe there is no better place for 25m Health to be based than in Nashville, the epicenter of the healthcare industry, as it provides an unmatched strategic advantage for the entrepreneurs we support,” Steven Price, co-founder and CEO of 25madison, said in the release. “Together with LifePoint, we are excited to begin cultivating innovative businesses and ideas that improve access to high quality care; use technology to enhance the delivery of care across the healthcare continuum; and support the continued evolution toward value-based care.”
Last month, LifePoint and Louisville-based Kindred Health announced they would launch ScionHealth, which will be headquartered in Louisville.
ScionHealth, which will launch upon the closure of LifePoint's purchase of Kindred, will include Kindred’s 61 long-term acute care hospitals and 18 LifePoint hospitals and associated health systems, for a total of 79 hospital campuses in 25 states.
LifePoint will be left with more than 65 hospitals, a network of physician practices and Kindred’s rehabilitation and behavioral health businesses.
