Evening the playing field in health equity investing: venture capital firms expand opportunities for underrepresented startups
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Contributor(s):
- American Hospital Association, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : American Hospital Association, [2023]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Delivery of Health Care -- ethnology Entrepreneurship -- economics Health Care Sector -- economics Health Equity -- economics Investments Minority Groups United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Not only have underrepresented candidates been overlooked by VC firms when recruiting and promoting talent, but startups led by underrepresented founders also face outsized challenges in securing VC investment, notes Deloitte’s VC Human Capital Survey released in March. Deloitte and its partners, Venture Forward and the National Venture Capital Association, have conducted four VC human capital surveys since 2016 to benchmark and assess the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in the VC field. The report notes that research consistently shows that diverse teams have broader networks and are more effective at decision-making. Yet even with studies showing the benefits of diversity in the VC industry, progress has been uneven. For instance, in 2021, VC-backed startups raised more than $345 billion in funding, yet only 2.4% was invested in startups led by female founders, 1.3% led by Black founders and 2.1% by Hispanic founders. Results from the most recent survey conducted in 2022 by Deloitte and its partners show that the VC industry has made “significant but somewhat inconsistent progress” in increasing its gender, racial and ethnic diversity since 2016. Regardless, it’s clear that much work remains to level the playing field in health care for startups led by underrepresented groups. To ensure that this happens and that progress is fast-tracked, some VC firms have created health care innovation funds to provide capital to startups found ed by Black individuals, women and other groups that historically have had difficulty accessing outside capital to fund their companies and innovations. Firms like Jumpstart Nova, Seae Ventures and SteelSky Ventures are targeting their investments toward underrepresented communities in health care. The AHA has invested in all three firms to support health care technology companies and entrepreneurs who too often are left out of early financing. Here’s a look at how these three venture capital firms are making a difference and a snapshot of some entrepreneurs to whom they have provided opportunities to help transform health care while addressing health equity.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (8 unnumbered pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918734069306676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918734069306676