With Labor Day behind us, the flurry of conferences began. Conference season includes clinical and scientific conferences, start-up pitch and accelerator events, investor conferences, and more. In our networking section below, we highlighted how Capita3 and our portfolio companies have been very busy organizing, attending, and speaking at events.
HLTH2024, one of the largest and most important healthcare conferences of the year, took place October 20 - 23 in Las Vegas, NV. This conference attracts all the largest players in healthcare. Many Capita3 portfolio companies took advantage of the event to meet with investors and customers, including FlyteHealth, B.well, Zerigo and MDisrupt.
"Flyte had a very productive time at HLTH," said CEO Sloan Saunders, with a focus on "strategic partnership meetings and advancing customer conversations." As they ramp up for series B financing in 2025, HLTH was also critical to exploring and initiating financing conversations.
Portfolio company Claros Technologies made a big splash at New York Climate Week with their announcement of a successful pilot project with a key customer. Claros was also at the Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) in New Orleans, along with other industry conferences during the last few months.
Capita3's Annual Meeting is on Thursday, November 21st from 4-7 pm in Minneapolis. If you have not already received an invitation and would like attend, please contact one of us or RSVP here. We look forward to sharing an overview of our productive year.
We attended the first of two Bridge Funding Global Program dinners with LPs in San Francisco and look forward to another in NYC in November. This program is designed to provide emerging fund managers with access to a curated funding ecosystem using virtual and in-person activities, including an annual conference and intimate GP/LP dinners across the country.
Deal Flow Expansion
We continue to expand our deal flow, leveraging the conference season and our deep network to source the most promising start-ups. Pam attended the 2024 HITLAB Women’s Health Tech Challenge, while Kathy was a mentor of the latest national Ignite Fire Pitch cohort. Meanwhile, Sara recently kicked off Discovery MN Angels, a new angel network focused on start-ups with a connection to the University of Minnesota.
We also attended in person and virtual Matter Health pitch events along with teaching several Capita3 Leader Launch cohorts over the last quarter.
Portfolio Company Updates
MDisrupt Partners with
The American Heart Association
Capita3 Fund II portfolio company MDisrupt announced an investment from and partnership with the American Heart Association.
MDisrupt received a milestone-based $1M investment from American Heart Association Ventures (AHA Ventures), the newly established venture arm that leads and coordinates the Association's venture capital investments. In addition, the AHA entered into a services agreement with MDisrupt and Lisa Suennen, Managing Partner of AHA ventures joined the MDisrupt board.
Marani Receives $5M CDC Grant
The CDC awarded a joint $5M research grant to Marani and telehealth provider Ouma Health. Their research will focus on reducing racial disparities in maternal and infant health, especially among Black women in Wisconsin, who face 3-4x higher rates of pregnancy-related hypertension and maternal mortality.
"We are thrilled to collaborate on this transformative initiative," said Ann Holder, CEO of Marani Health. "This CDC grant will enable the management of patients outside the walls of hospitals and clinics and allow patients to interact with their clinical team in the comfort of their home."
Joylux Announces Partnership With Halle Berry
This partnership with Halle Berry was over a year in the making and was announced in September.
The collaboration between Joylux, the global leader in intimate wellness, and Respin, the women's midlife wellness brand founded by Halle Berry, will bring solutions to the 60 million peri/post-menopausal women suffering from common intimate health issues, and will work to destigmatize the taboo of intimate health with science-backed solutions. The partnership kicks off with the introduction of two innovative products: a new intimacy gel and a special edition award-winning vFit Plus device.
Pegus is widely acclaimed for her leadership in leveraging data-driven solutions to increase access to care and improve community health. In addition to her role at FlyteHealth, she serves on the boards of Boston Scientific Corporation, Concentra, the American Heart Association and the Alice Walton School of Medicine.
Castaneda joins FlyteHealth from Omada Health, where he was national vice president of sales. His 25-plus-year career also includes significant time at Blue Cross and Blue Shield and UnitedHealth Group.
Capita3 Brand and
Network Expansion
Recent Events
We continue expanding our brand awareness and network of healthcare experts, syndication partners, and institutional investors through speaking engagements and events.
Highlights include:
The Healthcare Women Executives (HCWe) - "Beyond Boundaries"
Minneapolis, MN
October 10-11
Kathy did a presentation and panel on the "Beyond Stocks and Bonds". The conference theme was "Beyond Boundaries. Exploring ways to create a better tomorrow."
Other key brand awareness and pipeline activities included the Fredrickson/WCD sponsored event "Minnesota’s Corporate Edge: Leading Through Change with SEC Insights" with SEC commissioner Mark Uyeda. We also participated in the October luncheon of the
The event was healthcare panel discussion with Rahul Koranne, President & CEO, Minnesota Hospital Association, Andrea Walsh, President & CEO, HealthPartners and moderated by Jeannine Rivet, Retired EVP, UnitedHealth Group.
Other key brand awareness and pipeline activities in October included
Twin Cities Startup Week 2024 Planning Community Jam
Minneapolis, MN
November 6
Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate Rochester, MN
November 13
Kathy will be a speaker at this event as a part of Mayo Clinic's collaboration with JETRO Japan on a US Healthcare Immersion Program
WCD Business Partnership Excellence in the Boardroom
Minneapolis, MN
November 14
Co-sponsored by the Minnesota Chapter of Women Corporate Directors (WCD) and the Minnesota Business Partnership with speakers including Archie Black (retired CEO, SPS Commerce), Shelly Ibach (Chair, President & CEO, Sleep Number), Brian Murray (CEO, Ryan Companies), and Corie Barrie (CEO, Best Buy)
