DeepSummary
The episode features an interview with Catherine Cooper, a partner at Jumpstart Nova, a $55 million fund investing in seed and series A companies led by Black founders focused on healthcare innovation. Cooper discusses the genesis of Jumpstart Nova, which was born out of her partner Marcus Whitney's reaction to the murder of George Floyd and the disparities in healthcare investments for certain groups of founders.
Cooper emphasizes that while Jumpstart Nova focuses on Black founders, their solutions don't necessarily need to solve health equity issues but can address problems for all patients. She also discusses the fund's process of being open and transparent, with founders going through a consistent process to reduce bias. Additionally, Cooper talks about the importance of leveraging Jumpstart Nova's strategic limited partners, which include major healthcare companies.
Cooper shares her background, including her transition from pursuing a medical career to working in the healthcare startup space. She also discusses her work outside of Jumpstart Nova, such as her research on the intersection of venture capital investments, health tech, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Jumpstart Nova is a $55 million fund focused on investing in seed and series A companies led by Black founders in the healthcare sector.
- The fund was created in reaction to the disparities in healthcare investments for certain groups of founders, particularly Black founders.
- Jumpstart Nova emphasizes transparency and consistency in its investment process to reduce bias.
- The fund leverages its strategic limited partners, which include major healthcare companies, to provide additional support and resources to portfolio companies.
- Catherine Cooper, a partner at Jumpstart Nova, has a background in healthcare, venture capital, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
- Cooper acknowledges the challenges and frustrations faced by underrepresented groups in the venture capital industry but believes it's important to address these issues.
- Jumpstart Nova is open to investing in a wide range of healthcare solutions, not just those focused on health equity issues.
- The fund considers various factors, including traction, progress, and potential fit with its strategic limited partners, when evaluating investment opportunities.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “It's interesting because I think it's kind of an evolving process. Right. The problems that, let's say, hospitals and healthcare systems are having right now, and then they're the problems that they're trying to anticipate that they might have a year and a half, two years from now.“ by Catherine Cooper
- “I think we're similar more to the UK and Australia than other countries, but in terms of. Because at least for Jumpstart Nova, we focus on us based companies with us based solutions.“ by Catherine Cooper
- “I don't want to make this seem like it doesn't matter. I actually think it matters a lot. And I also don't want to say, like, everything is rosy, and you should just be super, super positive. Sometimes it can be extremely frustrating.“ by Catherine Cooper
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Episode Information
LA Venture
TenOneTen
5/11/22
Kathryne Cooper tells us about Jumpstart Nova, a new $55M fund investing in incredible Black healthcare founders at the seed and series A stage.
Jumpstart has LPs such as Meharry Medical College, Eli Lilly and Company, Cardinal Health and is part of the trend of VCs offering strategic help from their LPs as an important value-add.