If Digital Health Was a Party, What Kind of Party Would It Be?
In this episode, I talk to two of my favorite digital health investors about what the heck is happening.
After explosive growth in the first year of the pandemic, the amount of VC funding flowing into digital health in 2022 was about half of what it was in 2021. Meanwhile, exit opportunities have seemingly dried up.
In this episode, we dive into the macroeconomic landscape and what it means for digital health founders, investors, and employees. Listen to the end to find out the answer to the question, if digital health was a party, what kind of party would it be?
Topics covered:
What to expect in 2023 in digital health (and why they are both still optimistic)
The evolution of digital health business focus from revenue to outcomes to ROI to unit economics
If healthcare and digital health are recession-proof
What types of companies are best positioned to weather the storm
Why there’s more M than A
If roll-ups work
If digital health was a party, what kind of party it would be
Fun fact: both our speakers are first generation Iraqi-Americans whose dads went to medical school together in Baghdad!
Mohamad Makhzoumi
Mohamad Makhzoumi is Managing General Partner, Healthcare and Head of NEA’s Global Healthcare Investing practice, which typically accounts for 40% of NEA's funds across healthcare services, healthcare IT, biopharma and medical devices. Mohamad’s personal investment practice is primarily focused on the digital health sector where he is currently a Director of Aetion, Belong Health, Bright Health, Collective Health, Comprehensive Pharmacy Services, Curana Health Everside Health, Nuvolo, Radiology Partners, Strive Health, Vori Health, and Waymark. Mohamad’s past investments include Bravo Health, CHG Healthcare, DaVita NephroLife, DSI Renal, Golden State Medical Supply, Long Term Care Group, ppoNEXT, SCI Solutions, U.S. Renal Care, Vantage Oncology, and Welltok.
Previously, Mohamad focused on growth equity investments at Summit Partners prior to which he worked with UBS Investment Bank. Mohamad received a bachelor's degree, with distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania and is a Board Member of The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), Building-21, and the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children’s Health at Stanford University.
Deena Shakir
Deena Shakir is a General Partner at Lux. Deena's investments span stages and sectors, and include women's health, digital health infrastructure, health equity, foodtech, and fintech. Above all, she seeks out extraordinary, often underdog, founders on a mission.
Prior to Lux, Deena was a Partner at GV (formerly Google Ventures), led product partnerships at Google for health, search, and AI/ML, and directed social impact investments at Google.org. Deena also served as a Presidential Management Fellow at The U.S. Department of State under Secretary Clinton, where she helped launch President Obama’s first Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
Deena self-funded her undergraduate degree at Harvard (Social Studies and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations) and MA at Georgetown through a variety of merit scholarships and side hustles, including co-founding and selling her first company while in college. She is a Lecturer in Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a Board Director for the National Venture Capital Association, and a member of Kauffman Fellows, Aspen Finance Fellows, and The Council on Foreign Relations.
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