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Issue # 5, Sept 22, 2022
- MEDA Angels Fund 1
- From our desk
- Access to investors & hospital customers
- MEDA investments & portfolio company news
- MEDA around the country
- New MEDA staff !
- Upcoming events
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MEDA Angels is excited to announce the launch of its first fund, MEDA Angels Fund I (FUND)!! The FUND comes on the heels of 14 investments made over a 3.5 year period (since 2019) that has yielded a superior performance of 1.9x ROI, 51% IRR (largely unrealized gains), 0 shutdowns and 1 exit (2x ROI, 86% IRR).
This is a great opportunity for investors to benefit from a diverse portfolio of MedTech and Life Science startup companies, all vetted by providers, payors, other healthcare & relevant experts!
The FUND launched in mid-September 2022 with a goal of raising $2 Million and investing in 10-15 companies over a two-year period. Distinct from many Funds, Limited Partners (LPs) can actively participate in the selection of companies where investments will be made. If an LP’s time and availability are limited, s/he can enjoy passive investing knowing that diverse and experienced health care leaders will be driving these investment decisions.
Minimum investment is $10,000. LPs who invest at ≥$50,000 or more will receive 110% of their principal back before a carry of 10%. A portion of the carry will be allocated to diligence team members, another key distinction from traditional Funds. Our FUND is structured over a close and a capital call. First close is Jan 31, 2023. It is managed by the General Partners of MEDA Angels and operational details are handled by our FUND administration company, Allocations.
If you are interested in learning more about the FUND or would like to make an investment, please contact General Partners:
Elizabeth Cho-Fertikh: elizabeth@medaangels.com or
Greg Buchert: greg@medaangels.com or gregbuchert1527@gmail.com
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Thoughts on healthcare investing...
The business of healthcare extends well beyond hospital walls to include home health, nursing homes and hospices. These acute, long-term and end-of-care patient care services have boomed in the past two decades, unsurprisingly given our growing aging and chronic care patient populations. None of this would be possible without a supportive reimbursement environment: between 2000 – 2017, Medicare payments to hospices increased from $2.8 billion to $17.7 billion, accounting for nearly 85% of payments in recent years, Medicaid for 5%, HMOs and private insurance payors for 6.9%.1 For home healthcare, nursing and long-term services, roughly 52% was covered through Medicaid, 20% other public or private programs, 16% out of pocket and 11% through private insurance.2 As of 2017, approximately 98% of Medicare beneficiaries lived within a zip code co-habited by home health agencies 3.
These reimbursement schemes have fostered a move within an industry traditionally run by non-profits to for-profits, notably private equity firms. In 2016 and 2017, 80.6% of home healthcare agencies and 66% of all hospices were for-profit, respectively.4 Private equity companies accounted for 50% of deals in home healthcare between 2018-19 and their investments in the hospice sector increased by 25% between 2011-2020 .4
Although naysayers will grumble that for-profit equates to poorer standards of care, impactful investments can lead to effective care delivery and positive patient outcomes. Investments in portable technologies for risk stratification (e.g. butterfly ultrasounds), diagnostics (Retinavue) and seamless, integrated EHR care delivery software platforms. Novel remote patient monitoring technologies can also be impactful IF they drive clinically meaningful outcomes, address meaningful pain points and the data generated, feasibly analyzable.
The industry still has far to go, which translates into a wealth of investment opportunities to seek and find. A complete view of the payment mechanisms, clinical needs, operational challenges and regulatory ecosystems are essential to lay out smart investments in this rapidly evolving space. If 2001 is any guide, many startups will alas be forgotten, but a handful of new players are expected to reshape medicine.
1 Fay, Max. “End-of-Life Options - Hospice Costs & Who Pays for Care.: Debt.org, 25 Oct. 2021,
2 O’Malley M et al. “Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Enrollment and Spending” KFF, 18 Feb. 2020. 2020.
3 Coit, David. “What’s the Value of Your Home Healthcare Agency?” Salient Value, 27 Jan. 2021.
4 Medicare Hospice Care: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen CMS Oversight of Hospice Providers, US Government Accountability Office, Oct. 2019, pg. 19.
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Access to Investors and Hospital Customers
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These are undoubtedly among the top needs of healthcare startup companies. As investors, we certainly 'get it'. In support of these needs, the Health Innovation Table (“HIT”) consortium was established in Jan 2022, comprised of the Small Business Development Center (funded by the Small Business Administration), Hoag Hospital & Children’s Hospital both of Orange County, CA, Tech Coast Angels (TCA) & MEDA Angels. Additional health systems across the country will be joining as the HIT group grows.
The benefit goes both ways: investors are keen to find and invest in the next big disruptors and innovative-minded hospitals seek novel technologies to improve care delivery and outcomes for their patients. For startups, hospital engagement can range from valuable input from clinical customers, to pilot/full studies and purchase orders.
The HIT meets weekly. Since its inception, 56 startups have pitched to the HIT group, 20 have been introduced to clinical partners, 6 have received offers for clinical collaboration, 13 were invited to apply to TCA, MEDA or other investor groups and 12 have received investor funding.
There is no charge for startups to apply for a pitch opportunity. Startups should be past the ideation stage, have a team in place and based anywhere in the US and Canada.
Interested startups and healthcare systems are invited to contact:
Laura Beken: Director, Tech Coast Angels, laura.beken@techcoastangels.com and
Elizabeth Cho-Fertikh: Cofounder, MEDA Angels: elizabeth@medaangels.com
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MEDA's Q3 2022 investments
FemSelect: 3rd MEDA investment in a minimally invasive device company addressing female pelvic prolapse. Now commercial with own reimbursement code.
SmileyScope: digital therapeutics company that provides a drug-free virtual reality neuromodulation device to reduce pain and anxiety for patients during procedures.
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Portfolio company news!
Epibone, a stem cell therapy company spun out of Columbia University has seen safety & efficacy results coming thru in its Phase 1/2 bone regeneration trial that successfully enrolled its final patient in Aug 2023. The company is now planning its final Phase 3 trial. Its stem cell program for osteo-chondral regeneration has wrapped up all IND-enabling studies. Phase 1 trials are on the horizon once their IND submission receives FDA's green light.
Landsdowne Labs, an MIT-spin out from the Bob Langer laboratory, is a beneficiary of a lobbying effort that resulted in bipartisan support and passage into law, #117-171 (Reese's Law), mandating rigorous safety around button battery packaging. Accidental swallowing of button batteries can lead to fatalities or extensive surgical procedures in young children. The new mandate positions the company's one-of-a-kind safety coating around button batteries to become an industry standard.
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MEDA around the country
The team has been actively engaged bi-coastally as guest panel speakers & judges at medtech & life science forums including Life Science Pitchforce, UCI’s Pitch.Launch.Grow, RESI's MedDevice & Digital Health, Global Health Impact Network & Landmark Health.
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Presentations we have given include:
- What Entrepreneurs Need to Know about Investing in the Medical Sector, Medical Design & Manufacturing Conference, Anaheim, CA.
- Healthcare Purchaser to Startup Investor: Lessons Learned Along the Way, Orange County Life Sciences Innovation Forum.
- Culture-Centered Approaches to Advance Equity, American Health Insurance Plans' National Conference-Health Policy and Govt Programs.
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New MEDA Staff!
We are excited to welcome Melanie Russo & Min Lang, MD, our two new venture fellows and Soo Min Lee, our new Marketing Associate, to the MEDA family!
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- Melanie Russo, Venture Fellow
- BA, Economics & Psychology, Dartmouth University
- Cofounder, Pavlo AI
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- Min Lang, MD, Venture Fellow
- Director, AR/VR Lab, Mass General Hospital
- Senior Radiology Resident, Mass General Hospital
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- Soo Min Lee, Marketing Associate
- Marketing, Edelman, Global Business Alliance, Georgetown Marketing Association
- Class of 2023, Georgetown University
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Upcoming events!
For Members & Invited Guests
Pitch Sessions
Wed, Oct 5, 2022
Wed, Nov 2, 2022
4 - 6 pm PST / 7 - 9 pm EST, Virtual
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Holiday Event & Pitch Session (Hybrid)
Wed, Dec 7, 2022
Time & Location, TBD
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Interested in becoming a Member?
We invite you to learn more here!
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Remind me, what is MEDA Angels?
MEDA Angels is a healthcare angel investor group founded by MDs and PhDs, based in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Newport Beach & Honolulu. The group recently launched its inaugural Fund. Members reside throughout the US and internationally. They include physicians, current/former healthcare execs, exited medtech entrepreneurs, JDs, PhDs, financiers & attorneys, with decades of aggregate experience in clinical and benchtop science, finance, legal and regulatory domains. Collectively, MEDA members bring a deep, 360 degree understanding of the healthcare investment space. Investments at the mid-seed and Series A stages are made in medical devices, digital health, SaaS, and repurposed drugs that touch on healthcare management, prevention and wellness. US-based companies are the main target; international companies will be considered on occasion.
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