With mobile venture capital growing and mHealth technology on the cusp of another generation, the mHealth Summit Venture+ Forum is bringing a window into the strategy of one of the largest venture funds, whose leader sees digital health at a crossroads.
On Sunday, December 8, Qualcomm Life Fund Director Jack Young will open the HIMSS Media mHealth Summit gathering with entrepreneurs, VCs, investors and technologists. There, they'll hear ideas and pitches from a number of startups.
Young has guided the $100 million Life Fund, with particular interests in self-monitoring, aging in place, transitional care and clinical trials, as part of Qualcomm Ventures, a firm broadly investing in mobile and wireless technology.
“Institutional and corporate investors have built up portfolios, incubators and accelerators around the world are churning out more companies and crowdfunding sources are enamored with personal health devices – but is this sustainable?” asked Young, an electrical engineer and former EVP for the ZTE Corporation, the world’s fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer, in a press release issued by HIMSS Media.
[See also: Will VCs steer startups toward mHealth 2.0, more effective apps?]
Young said he intends to explore that question during his keynote, as well as addressing the viability of today’s boom in mHealth funding and looking at where investment dollars might go in the next few years.
Also scheduled to weigh in at the Venture+ Forum are Eric Koester, COO of the small business IT company Data Collateral; Elliot Menschik, MD, managing partner of DreamIt Ventures; Lorren Pettit, market research VP at HIMSS Analytics; Patricia Salber, MD, CEO of Health Tech Hatch; Amita Shukla, CEO of Vitamita; Lisa Suennen, managing member of the Psilos Group; and Christopher Wasden, managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
During the forum, A panel consisting of Andrew Farquharson, managing director of InCube Ventures; Valeria Gaydos, president of Capital Growth; Amy Millman, president of Springboard Enterprises; and health attorney Howard Burde will review presentations from 11 mHealth startups. The presentations will focus on new mobile-clinical integration platforms, personal genomics and clinical research technologies.
“The Venture+ Forum, which is focused on bringing the newest, most promising innovations to light, is the perfect way to start off the Summit,” said Rich Scarfo, vice president of events for HIMSS Media and director of the mHealth Summit, in the release.
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