This post is sponsored by MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum.
Healthcare is one of the Midwest’s strongest industries; some of the world’s top healthcare companies are located in the Midwest. The universities that populate the Midwest are engaged in some of the most cutting edge research in healthcare. The mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has made the creation of a medical research, innovation and investing hub a priority. The Baby Boomer population is aging and is on the threshold of starting to consume more healthcare.
All of those forces converge to create magnificent opportunities for investing and building disruptive companies. The MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum, now in its 11th year, highlights the increasing role the Midwest plays in bringing the latest technology and emerging innovations to the investment community.
MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum takes place April 22-23 in Chicago. It’s the premier healthcare investing conference that connects active investors with corporate business development executives to facilitate investment opportunities with promising Mid-America based startups.
Buy your tickets now—space is limited.
The conference program features a lineup of speakers from leading healthcare and venture investment organizations and beyond. We’ve put together panels that cover investing, digital health and crowdfunding, as well as hard-hitting keynotes and fireside chat speakers.
To address the dramatic changes to the national venture capital landscape in the new healthcare economy, the MidAmerica Forum Challenges and Trends in Venture Capital and Investing Panel will provide an opportunity to hear leading venture capitalists, investors and other experts discuss their views on the current investing climate and the potential for venture investing in 2014 and beyond.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Venture Investing Panelists include:
- Margarita Chavez, Director, Ventures & Early Stage Collaborations, AbbVie Inc. Chavez has been in her current role since June 2010 (then Abbott Biotech Ventures), leading investments and managing portfolio companies in the U.S. and Europe. She has over 15 years of deal-making experience.
- Bill Gantz, President, PathoCapital, an investor in healthcare companies. Gantz also serves as Executive Chairman of Naurex, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company.
- Kathleen Tune, Partner, Thomas, McNerney & Partners. Tune has experience as a healthcare analyst covering the medical technology sector, is on the board of AxioMed Spine, CAS Medical and Vertiflex and serves or has served in advisory roles to Torax Medical, Asante and Atritech. She is the President of the Mid-America Healthcare Investors Network (MHIN).
- Geeta Vemuri, Vice President, Head of Baxter Ventures. Geeta’s background includes nine years at Quaker Partners, where she grew biotech and healthcare startup companies, participated in raising funds and serving as a board member/observer in portfolio companies.
More about MidAmerica and registration.
Digital health—and its business models—are coming of age, as promising young companies are integrating into healthcare and, in some cases, beginning to find exit partners. But that’s also meant new scrutiny from everyone from investors to the FDA.
Find out how to navigate this promising new market in the Opportunities (and Challenges) in Digital Health Panel, where innovative leaders will discuss their perspectives and experience.
Digital Health Panelists include:
- Amy Len, Director, Healthbox. Founded in 2012, Healthbox partners with leading healthcare organizations and entrepreneurs to solve the industry’s biggest challenges, with operations in five locations, a network of over 20 strategic partners and a portfolio of 55 companies.
- Julie Kling, Director of mHealth, Verizon Wireless. With over 20 years of experience as a healthcare professional and clinician, Kling has delivered as a product management expert. She is a national speaker and is considered an expert in integrated care management and mobile health, among other areas of the healthcare business.
- Jack Young, Director, Qualcomm Life Fund, Qualcomm Ventures. Young heads up the $100M Qualcomm Life Fund (QLF) at Qualcomm Ventures, recently ranked as one of the most prolific investors in digital health. His investment interests are focused on the intersection of healthcare and digital/wireless technologies.
We also have the MidAmerica Showcase, featuring 30 of the most promising startups, Panels on Digital Health, State of Venture Investing and a live broadcast on Crowdfunding and the JOBs Act, and more. I hope you can join us.
MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum will be held April 22-23 in Chicago at the J.W. Marriott. This prestigious event unites active investors with the most promising Midwest startups, and is the premier healthcare investing conference in the Midwest.
MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum is the best place to learn about opportunities to invest in the thriving technology and innovation community that characterizes the Midwest. Join us.
