MedStars - Blog

Health Innovation Summit

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:26:00 -0700

On January 20, 2012, I was a speaker on the panel "Funding Mechanisms" at the Healthcare Innovation Summit in San Francisco.

The key takeaway are:

Sculley: Domain expertise just as critical as technology in healthcare

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:48:00 -0700

Venture Capital Flows to Cost-Effective Health Care Companies

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:31:00 -0700

The Dartmouth Staff inteview about HealthTech Capital investment in Pharmasecure

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:04:00 -0600

PharmaSecure - an international company founded by two Dartmouth alumni in 2007 that prints unique barcodes on consumer drugs to verify their authenticity - received additional funding this week, bringing its total awarded amount to $3.9 million over the past two months, co-founder and CEO Nathan Sigworth '07 said in an interview with The Dartmouth. PharmaSecure, which is based in Lebanon, N.H., and operates exclusively in India, received the funding through a joint investment from HealthTech Capital, Gray Ghost Ventures, TEEC Angel Fund and Innovation Endeavors, which is run by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, according to a PharmaSecure press release.

The company installs specialized printers that print unique barcodes and serial numbers on drug labels in pharmaceutical factories, Sigworth said. When a consumer purchases a drug, he or she can text the code on the label to PharmaSecure, which then sends a response message notifying the consumer of the drug's authenticity, he said.

There is no charge for consumers to use PharmaSecure's service, Sigworth said. The company profits from the drug manufacturers that purchase and use the printers, he said.

PharmaSecure, which was co-founded by Taylor Thompson '08, plans to use the funding to expand its team and develop new ways to use the data it collects regarding where drugs are used and who purchases them, Sigworth said. He said he hopes this information will allow people to receive better health care in the future.

Anne DeGheest, managing director of HealthTech Capital, said HealthTech was attracted to PharmaSecure because it fit with the fund's aim of investing in companies that use business models to improve health care delivery.

"PharmaSecure really hit our sweet spot," she said. "They found a low-cost and effective way to reach out to the patient so that he could confirm that the drug he had in his hands is correct." HealthTech invested over $400,000 in PharmaSecure and also encouraged Innovation Endeavors to give a donation to the company, DeGheest said.

Talking points about investment in Niveus and PharmaSecure

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:09:00 -0600

The Los Altos Town Crier published an interview this week about two recent investments with my angel group HealthTech Capital:

Local angel investors kick-start two health-tech firms By Elliott Burr

Los Altos Hills resident Anne DeGheest serves as managing director of HealthTech Capital, an angel-investor group based in town. Recently, the healthcare veteran's firm invested in two startups as part of a Series-A syndicated financing round. Following is a Q&A between the Town Crier and DeGheest.

Q: As the name suggests, your company invests in tech companies centered in the health-care industry. What are some telltale signs that a particular company is a good investment? A: HealthTech Capital is a group of angel and venture investors investing in companies that will decrease health-care costs. We typically see two big categories: better productivity tools to improve the delivery of health care by existing providers (from hospital to home health) and new patient engagement solutions from the very sick to the healthy/fitness market.

What I Know Now That I Wish I Knew Then: Anne DeGheest, MedStars and HealthTech Capital

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:05:00 -0600

MedStars and HealthTech Capital invest in Niveus

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:14:00 -0600

For the last 2 years, I have been mentoring Brian Fahey, the founder of Niveus who is now closing on a $2 Million series A from major angel groups.

My angel group, HealthTech Capital, played a key role with our members investing directly over $500,000. By sharing our due diligence with other angel groups, we helped in creating a powerfull value add syndicate.

FDA drafts mobile medical app regulations

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:38:00 -0600

Health Care Information Technology: Venture's New Darling?

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:38:00 -0600

As traditional venture-like returns are harder to generate from drug development and medtech plays, some frustrated VCs see new opportunities in health care information technology, an area many have traditionally avoided by Paul Bonanos, Start-Up 06/01/2011
"....With health care costs spiraling upwards, VCs see an opportunity to create businesses via IT to cut costs out of the health care system. Government initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and the HITECH Act are galvanizing a tech-ready industry that has been slow to adopt new procedures and may provide VCs with potential new buyers for their fledgling companies.

Healthcare Technology Innovation Boom

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:18:00 -0600

Anne DeGheest was a speaker on May 18, 2011 in Palo Alto at the SDForum on Healthcare Technology Innovation Boom. Watch the video below!