Advocate Aurora Health, a system headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has joined forces with three companies — Foxconn Technology Group, Johnson Controls and Northwestern Mutual — to create the $100 million Wisconn Valley Venture Fund.
Each entity will contribute $25 million to the early stage venture capital fund.
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The Wisconn Valley Venture Fund will invest in U.S.-based and global startups in various industries, including healthcare, technology, manufacturing and financial services. Investments will be between $250,00 and $5 million over a span of five years, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal. The specific number of deals going through the fund hasn’t been determined.
A key goal of the fund is to create strategic benefits between the four entities and the startups in which it invests. Each of the founding organizations will have representation on the fund’s committee and will help pick a manager to lead it.
All four entities have a presence in Wisconsin, and the fund will be headquartered in Milwaukee.
Foxconn Technology Group is an electronics manufacturing company, while Johnson Controls produces batteries, electronics and HVAC equipment. Northwestern Mutual is a financial services organization that provides everything from insurance to investment assistance.
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As for Advocate Aurora Health, it was formed from the merger between Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. The deal was first announced at the end of 2017 and closed earlier this year. The system now operates 27 hospitals throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.
“Technology will play a critical role in the future of health and wellness, and as a national healthcare leader, we are constantly looking for ways to make care better, safer and more convenient for consumers,” Advocate Aurora Health president and CEO Nick Turkal said in a news release. “Through the fund, we can foster continued growth in the future of our region and promote new ways to improve healthcare delivery on a global scale.”
Advocate Aurora Health isn’t the first health system to make moves in the realm of venture capital funds.
Last year, Texas Medical Center in Houston launched its $25 million TMC Venture Fund.
Also in 2017, Partners HealthCare System raised $171 million for a second innovation fund targeting seed stage investments in life science startups. Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital each committed $50 million to the effort.
Photo: Auris, Getty Images
