One of the nation's largest health systems, St. Louis-based Ascension has a venture capital arm to fund medical device, health tech and healthcare services companies.
Ascension Ventures has limited partners that include other nonprofit healthcare systems across the U.S., generating returns for them to help support their missions of providing healthcare to the underserved.
More things to know about Ascension Ventures:
When it was founded:
- 2001
Size:
- More than $1 billion under management over five funds
Big companies in its portfolio:
- Help at Home
- NaviHealth
- Omnicell
- R1 RCM
- Stereotaxis
- Strive Health
- Syapse
- United Surgical Partners
Top executives:
- Ryan Schuler, senior managing director, joined Ascension Ventures in 2002 and leads investments in the healthcare services sector.
- Tara Butler, M.D., senior managing director, joined Ascension Ventures in 2002 and primarily focuses on investments in the medical device and diagnostics sector.
- John Kuelper, senior managing director, joined Ascension Ventures in 2014 as a Kauffman fellow and is founder and president of Qualia Holdings, a platform for systems biology and therapeutic ventures.
Noteworthy news:
- A company it has funded, Google spinoff NextSense, is developing an earbud that tracks brain health, Wired reported in April.
- Vori Health, another firm it has invested in, aims to transform treatment for back and joint pain through integrated, nonsurgical care, according to a January story in Forbes.
- A glaucoma device company it has funded, Ivantis, was acquired in November 2021 by global eye care firm Alcon.