Health IT

Aspire Ventures launches $300M fund with health system for tech supporting precision medicine

The fund, in which Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is a general partner, will support tech emerging from the Smart Health Innovation Lab, an initiative with Capital Blue Cross, Lancaster General and Aspire Ventures, as well as other health tech businesses, a spokesman clarified in an email.

Aspire Universal has launched a $300 million fund through its venture arm to invest in technology to support precision medicine. Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, a health system, is a general partner in the fund, according to an emailed statement from Aspire. The Aspire Ventures Precision Medicine Fund builds on a pre-existing collaboration between Aspire Ventures, Lancaster General Health, and Capital BlueCross to start Smart Health Innovation Lab, which was formed last year.

The Aspire Ventures Precision Medicine Fund will invest in companies developing AI and Internet of Things technology to apply to precision medicine, according to a company statement. The fund will support technology emerging from the Smart Health Innovation Lab as well as other health tech companies, a spokesman clarified in an email.

At the Innovation Lab, eight startups per year sponsored by the AVP are selected for a 12-week intensive certification process that accelerates insurance reimbursement and pilot deployments, according to the Lab’s website.

Some examples of companies Aspire Ventures has invested in, to date, include Connexion Health, which uses sensors to assess how people move. In employer wellness programs, its Fusionetics+  has an eight-minute program to assess movement in order to provide feedback to reduce musculoskeletal injuries, according to the company’s website. The venture firm is also backing Clio Health, a futuristic digital healthcare facility that’s slated to open next year, is evaluating Connexion’s technology as well. Medstatix, a patient survey and analytics business, works with athenahealth and Greenway Health. Nanodyne Labs has developed microfluidic technology that can be worn on the skin to measure blood glucose, blood alcohol, and mineral levels.

Photo: StockFinland, Getty Images

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