If we have learned anything from the last 18 months, it’s that innovation in life sciences and healthcare is crucial to our global wellbeing. Developments in testing, vaccine technology, remote monitoring, tele-health, and mental health treatment… to name just a few, have been tremendously impactful in saving lives, improving quality of life, and even preserving economic health in many areas of the world.
How can impact investing play a role in health innovation? In the US, billions of dollars a year is spent on medical research. However, just a tiny fraction of that research ever leaves the lab, in large part due to the lack of funding for startups and early-stage companies. Philanthropic capital is an ideal funding source for early-stage investing in life sciences and healthcare, as it has a higher risk tolerance and is more patient than other more traditional funding sources.
Focus of the session:
Learn how venture philanthropy and impact investing can accelerate the advancement of novel technologies from the lab to the bedside.
- Philanthropic capital, with its higher risk tolerance, can help bridge the funding gap (the “valley of death”) to help early-stage companies successfully develop technologies
- A catalytic approach: Early investment validates the company, the team and the technology, which facilitates additional funding
- Strategic co-investing relationships can catalyze like-minded funders
- A case study in “regenerative philanthropy”, where an evergreen model recycles funds for impact in perpetuity
- Examples of successful investments to address the mental health crisis, including a novel treatment for depression, and cutting-edge technologies to accelerate drug development
