Black Opal Ventures raises USD 58M; to invest in health innovation

The US venture capital firm Black Opal Ventures has announced its inaugural health tech fund, raising US$58m to date.

Founded by managing directors Dr Tara Bishop and venture capitalist Eileen Tanghal, the fund has raised capital from institutions, including Eli Lilly and Company, Bank of America, Atlantic Health System Venture Studio, J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Project Spark, New Summit Investments, Illumen Capital, Henry Ford Health, Women of the World Endowment and Global Corporate Venturing.

The firm says it will use the capital infusion to empower innovative early-stage companies “at the intersection of healthcare and technology”, heralding what it describes as a new era of transformation in the healthcare industry.

“As investors, we see Black Opal Ventures as a trailblazing force in the health tech sector,” explained Brad Robling, VP global head of Lilly Ventures – Investing.

“As a female-led venture capital firm, Black Opal Ventures not only adds diversity and inclusivity to the industry but also brings a fresh perspective and an innovative approach to healthcare technology.”

With global healthcare spending approaching US$9tn annually, substantial problems still exist, including uncured and unmanaged disease, medical errors, lack of access to care, health disparities and unsustainable costs.

“We want to improve healthcare accessibility and affordability,” said Tanghal.

“In my 20 years of start-up investing while at In-Q-Tel, Arm and Applied Materials, I have had the privilege of seeing the early development of cutting-edge technology in artificial intelligence (AI), compute and communications.

“It is time to leverage that technology to solve the biggest challenges in society, beginning with healthcare and to do so in a way that improves outcomes for all.”

Black Opal Ventures aims to invest in companies that are working to build the future of healthcare, from diagnosis and care delivery to drug discovery.

Tanghal and Bishop believe that data and AI will play a significant role in the future of healthcare. Their fund, they say, is particularly focused on investing in companies that will create the infrastructure layer to unlock their potential.

“We are identifying start-ups that we believe will make a difference in healthcare and our fund is giving them the boost they need to continue their great work. We are confident they can change the industry for the better,” said Bishop.

“It is exciting to be helping to enable improvements in healthcare access, quality and cost through the use of cutting-edge technology.”

The fund has already made strategic investments in nine companies in oncology, neurology, obesity and infertility. These investments include Intellihealth, Conceivable Life Sciences, Optellum, Hyro, Empatica, TigerGraph, and Blaze.tech.

Additionally, the New York-based fund has assembled a network of industry experts, strategic partners and resources to support start-ups. In turn, they wish to usher in a new age of venture capital investing driven by expertise and inclusivity to solve “some of the world’s most important issues”.

Gary Tsuyuki, managing director in global strategic and sustainable investments at Bank of America, said: “The extraordinary synergy and vast experience that Dr Tara Bishop and Eileen Tanghal bring to Black Opal Ventures has set a remarkable precedent for a female-led venture capital firm driving change in the healthcare technology landscape.” FemTech World