Expanding access to quality, reliable healthcare is an issue we’ve cared deeply about since founding Incite.
Our interest in this work is deeply personal. Each member of our team has been personally impacted by health challenges which have pushed us to the limits of the existing system. It’s our firsthand experiences as patients with cancer care, reproductive health, care access inequity, and more that’s driven our work in areas ranging from cutting edge oncology tools to AI-powered pharmaceutical development to paid family leave advocacy and expanding access to family planning financing. We are always looking for entrepreneurs with bold ideas to improve health outcomes for more people.
This is a renaissance period for technologies that allow more people to access better quality care. We're investing in companies developing more affordable treatments, and those who are using data and software to enable good physicians and providers to reach more patients. We're also investing in supporting service innovations, such as those that unlock the financial barriers to better care.
And there is much room for improvement in who and how we heal. If harnessed virtuously, and tracked appropriately, we believe technology can also help our healthcare system overcome some of the bias and barriers within it, to more equitably treat more Americans.
We're particularly excited to share two of our most recent health tech investments – in Trial Library and Violet Health.
Trial Library is a startup we recently invested in that is tackling one part of this important challenge. The company aims to improve health equity by expanding access to cancer precision medicine for more patients, especially those under-represented in cancer clinical trials with the cutting edge of treatment options. Founded by UCSF oncologist Dr. Hala Borno, who has studied and worked on this challenge for years, Trial Library’s platform improves patient recruitment and diversity in oncology clinical trials by connecting community oncologists, trial sponsors, and trial sites with patient recruitment tools.
In broader areas of care accessibility, we like to look for lightweight, drop-in solutions that can be easily built on top of existing tools and technologies. Violet Health uses software to match patients with providers who can most effectively speak to their lived experience, improving health outcomes in the process. The team led by Gaurang Choksi has built an upskilling platform to help providers across the healthcare industry deliver more inclusive (and effective) care for under-represented patients. In a world where there’s been significant consolidation of physician-provided care in wake of the Affordable Care Act, there’s also a crisis of care in rural areas and communities of color – and Violet has built a flexible software-based approach to better serve more people.
Digital health solutions, new therapeutics, and technology-enabled wellness care are areas of continued interest for us. Lately, we've been exploring and learning about innovations in affordable at-home care, which leads to stronger health outcomes. This includes at-home care for seniors, many of whom want better options to age in place. Tools that help providers address the lingering costs of the COVID pandemic are another area of interest.
There's some food for healthy thought for your week ahead! If you know anyone with an interesting idea in the healthcare accessibility space, as always, we'd love to meet them.
