Introduction: Create Health Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to early-stage digital health startups with a mission to improve access to care, enhance the patient experience, and achieve better health outcomes. Recently, they announced the closing of a $21 million fund to back early-stage digital health startups. The firm’s co-founders, Emma Cartmell and Amit Aysola, along with some of their portfolio company leaders and partners, were kind enough to provide additional insights to us via a Q&A format.
Emma Cartmell, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Create Health Ventures
Q: Emma, you mentioned that Create Health Ventures aims to improve access to care, enhance the patient experience, and facilitate better health outcomes. Could you elaborate on how the firm identifies the most promising startups to meet these objectives?
Emma Cartmell: Much of our pipeline comes from payers and consultants who know what we are looking for and share effective companies they discover with us. Once a company enters the diligence process, we always talk to their customers and dive into the data that quantifies how they are improving outcomes. If the data isn’t trending in the right direction, we won’t invest. Companies that move the needle in providing access, enhance the patient experience, and improve outcomes will be successful.
Q: Can you provide examples of specific innovations or technologies that you believe will make the most significant impact in these areas?
Emma Cartmell: We have several in our portfolio:
- Pair Team: This company connects vulnerable Medicaid patients to local care teams that help them access clinical, behavioral, and social services. This population accounts for a disproportionate percentage of healthcare spend largely because they have struggled to access relevant care. We believe Pair Team’s coordination of clinicians, behavioral health specialists, and community health workers is ideally positioned to address these challenges and deliver significant improvements while reducing the burden on Medicaid.
- Nmible: Nmible provides a platform that enables fast and easy reimbursement for participants in clinical trials. The software improves clinical trial performance by reducing the financial burden on participants and the administrative burden on trial sites. It stood out as a market-leading platform because of its intuitive user interface and ability to solve the reimbursement needs of a broad range of customers, including trial sites, CROs, and pharmaceutical companies.
- Watershed Health: This care collaboration platform reduces readmission rates, improves care quality, and enhances the patient experience by driving the right behaviors and decisions across multiple providers. We were very impressed with Watershed’s ability to aggregate comprehensive and relevant healthcare data and deliver timely guidance during the patient’s care journey.
Amit Aysola, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Create Health Ventures
Q: Amit, you highlighted the importance of payer-facing technologies and the digital experience for health plan members. How do you see these technologies evolving in the next 5 years, and what role does Create Health Ventures plan to play in that evolution?
Amit Aysola: A key focus of Create Health Ventures is investing in payer-facing technologies, as payers are subsidizing or paying for provider-facing technologies to execute on value-based models and improve member experiences. Health plan members often have an insurance card in their wallet without an accompanying digital experience like they do in most other facets of their lives. Payers want to fix that by digitizing the member experience to better help them navigate their healthcare. The biggest challenge in healthcare is still the lack of data and workflow connectivity among stakeholders. By backing technologies that sell to health plans, our firm is enabling more seamless data and workflow aggregation that will change the game for payers, providers, and patients. Additionally, payers are able to more effectively scale these technology solutions across geographies, reaching a larger pool of stakeholders.
Q: What are the main challenges these technologies face in achieving widespread adoption among payers, and how do you think they can be overcome?
Amit Aysola: The payers have clearly shared their intent to move in this direction. The challenge is always timing and budgets. Our thesis is that if we can make a significant impact in reducing costs by improving care, then companies will pay for that value. We’ve found that when we can demonstrate a real ROI for the payers, driving adoption becomes much easier.
Q: With the increasing number of late-stage clinical trials, what specific technologies or innovations is Create Health Ventures focusing on to improve recruitment and retention of participants?
Amit Aysola: We are investing in technologies that strengthen pharmaceutical companies’ ability to recruit and retain patients in clinical trials. Currently, the pharmaceutical industry has many point solutions, but there is a lack of data and workflow connectivity. There is a massive need for innovation in this field as the number of late-stage trials is increasing rapidly. More robust and holistic technology solutions that enable the recruitment and retention of trial participants are what’s needed to keep up with this rising demand.
Q: Given the current landscape, what do you believe are the critical factors for success in the clinical trial technology space?
Amit Aysola: Companies need to make the entire experience simpler, easier, and more like a consumer journey. They have to start by improving each component of the process, from recruiting to measuring progress during the trial to enabling patient retention. This need exists across the entire clinical trial site landscape, from provider organizations to CROs.
Dr. Chip Grant, Founder and CEO of Watershed Health
Q: Dr. Grant, how has partnering with Create Health Ventures helped Watershed Health scale and address the challenges of uncoordinated healthcare? What specific support has been most valuable to your growth?
Dr. Chip Grant: Partnering with Create Health Ventures has been instrumental in Watershed Health’s growth. Their support goes beyond just funding—they’ve brought strategic guidance and connections that have significantly accelerated our ability to scale. Specifically, their deep understanding of the healthcare landscape and their network have allowed us to form key partnerships that address the core issue of uncoordinated care. Create Health Ventures has also helped us refine our approach to operational challenges, making our solutions more robust and effective across diverse healthcare environments.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you see your partnership with Create Health Ventures evolving?
Dr. Chip Grant: Moving forward, I see our partnership with Create Health Ventures becoming even more collaborative. As we expand into new markets and tackle emerging challenges in healthcare, I anticipate that their strategic insights and continued support will be invaluable. We’re excited about the potential for initiatives that will further integrate our platform with innovative technologies and care models, all aimed at improving patient outcomes and reducing inefficiencies in healthcare delivery.
Shara Cohen, President and CEO of Carallel
Q: Shara, you’ve praised Create Health Ventures as a value-add partner. Could you share specific instances where their insights or collaboration significantly influenced the growth or direction of Carallel?
Shara Cohen: Create Health Ventures has been an invaluable partner in Carallel’s journey. Their strategic insights have played a crucial role in investigating new lines of business and exploring potential growth areas. They’ve shared their extensive network of consultants and prospects, facilitating personal introductions that have opened doors and led to new customer relationships. Emma likes to joke that she works for Carallel, but it’s no joke. The collaborative approach from both Emma and Amit has been instrumental in shaping our direction and accelerating our growth.
Q: What advice would you give to other startups considering a partnership with Create Health Ventures?
Shara Cohen: If you’re thinking about partnering with Create Health Ventures, my advice is to do it! They’re fantastic at getting to know your business without being intrusive or distracting. Be open about your goals and challenges. As former operators, they get it, and a little bit of vulnerability will help you make the most of their expertise. The trust and collaboration you’ll build with them can lead to some great conversations and smart decisions. Plus, their introductions and insights can really help you navigate your growth journey. They’re genuinely committed to being a valuable partner, and it shows in everything they do.
Scott Ensign, Chief Strategy Officer of Butler/Till
Q: Scott, as a marketing agency leader, how do you view the role of venture capital firms like Create Health Ventures in driving innovation and aligning business outcomes with positive societal impacts?
Scott Ensign: We’re all about aligning incentives at Butler/Till. There are so many parts of the healthcare ecosystem that are ripe for positive disruption. If investment from a fund like Create Health Ventures can allow new players to improve access and remove barriers in the way healthcare is delivered, that will have both positive business outcomes and positive societal impacts. One of the really attractive things about Create Health Ventures for us is their focus on the innovations that can have a game-changing impact in the space.
Q: What future trends in healthcare technology do you believe will have the most significant impact, and how is your agency preparing to support these developments?
Scott Ensign: Like most industries, healthcare is on a long journey of digital transformation. Creating digital connections between patients and their health will continue to remove friction from the system. We’re innovating solutions like AI-powered messaging and dynamic creative to help health brands fulfill their end-to-end digital transformation goals through their marketing.
Conclusion: Create Health Ventures is not only funding startups but also actively shaping the future of healthcare. Through strategic investments and value-added services, the firm is driving innovations that improve access, enhance the patient experience, and lead to better health outcomes. With a focus on payer-facing technologies and clinical trial solutions, Create Health Ventures is set to be one of the firms leading the charge.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to this article:
- Emma Cartmell, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Create Health Ventures
- Amit Aysola, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Create Health Ventures
- Dr. Chip Grant, Founder and CEO of Watershed Health
- Shara Cohen, President and CEO of Carallel
- Scott Ensign, Chief Strategy Officer of Butler/Till
