Marcus Whitney’s newest venture has officially launched.
Jumpstart Nova announced its first venture fund Wednesday, with $55 million to invest exclusively in Black founder-led health care companies, according to a news release. The fund is oversubscribed $25 million from its original $30 million goal.
The Business Journal first reported Whitney’s plan to launch Jumpstart Nova in April.
Jumpstart Nova’s investors and strategic partners include some of the biggest names in U.S. health care and banking, including Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH), Atrium Health, Henry Ford Health System, LHC Group, American Hospital Association and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Local partners or investors include HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA), Meharry Medical College, Pinnacle Financial Partners (Nasdaq: PNFP), FirstBank (NYSE:FBK), Ingram Industries, Vanderbilt University and Truxton Trust.
Of the nearly 785,000 health care companies in the U.S., 35,000 (or less than 5%) are Black- or African American-owned, according to the release. Jumpstart Nova aims to address that inequity by maintaining Black-owned general partners, growing the number of Black venture capital partners and venture capital professionals, generating good returns and investing in innovative Black founders, according to the release.
”The healthcare venture capital industry has missed out for decades on investing in America’s brilliant Black innovators, and this has been a loss for us all. Jumpstart Nova’s strong start and incredible group of limited partners validate the need to capitalize and support the vital solutions from this untapped talent base.” Whitney, who is also Jumpstart Nova’s managing partner, said in the release.
Whitney is one of Nashville’s most prominent entrepreneurs, co-founding Jumpstart Foundry in 2010 with Vic Gatto and launching health care innovation conference Health:Further in 2015. That event grew from 600 attendees in its first year to more than 2,000 three years later. Whitney is also the co-founder of Nashville SC and has sat on the board of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
In an April interview, Whitney said the startups Jumpstart Nova invests in can be based anywhere in the U.S. and while the fund is aimed at Black-founded companies, the founding team can be diverse. Startups will have access to Jumpstart Nova’s experienced network of health care entrepreneurs and insiders for support.
Whitney said Jumpstart Nova does not have a specific investment range but will invest in companies in seed and series A stages of capital raising. He said the fund is focusing on startups working on innovation in care delivery, health tech and innovation in care payments.
Jumpstart Nova’s initial portfolio companies include:
- New York City-based Drugviu — A platform that allows autoimmune disease patients to consolidate their health records, participate in clinical research and receive personalized health suggestions
- San Francisco-based Cellevolve — A biotech firm focused on turning cell therapy innovations into treatments
- New York City-based Teamwork — Provides tech-enabled applied behavioral analysis services in New York to children with autism
- Detroit-based Alerje — A food allergy management tech startup
“Our initial portfolio companies are tackling important issues for the healthcare industry like equitable access to clinical trials, bringing novel cell and gene therapies to market, helping families with autistic children get the therapeutic support they need, and seeking to mitigate the risk of life threatening food allergy attacks,” Whitney said in the release. "We knew these founders were ready for primetime when many doubted they even existed. Together, we are going to make a significant mark on the healthcare industry.”
In addition to Whitney, Jumpstart Nova is led by partner Kathryne Cooper, who is based in Los Angeles and will lead deals and manage the portfolio alongside Whitney, according to the release. She is an investment advisor at The West Coast Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics and previously managed the group’s $6.6M seed fund that invested in more than150 medical technology companies.
“I started my career in medicine, so as an investor, I am motivated not only to work with innovators creating solutions that impact patient and clinical outcomes on a broad scale, but also believe that capital allocation - getting more capital into the hands of diverse investors and founders - is one of the most important ways to drive impact in healthcare venture investing,” Cooper said in the release.
