One of Germany’s leading health tech investors, Heal Capital, is coming to The Healthtech Festival on June 13th. – The Nordics is especially interesting due to its cultural openness towards innovation, says Dr. Lucas Mittelmeier, part of the investment team at Heal Capital.
Heal Capital is a € 100m venture capital company deeply rooted in the health care system in Germany. The VC, founded in 2019, is focusing on Seed stage and Series A, supporting early-stage ventures in the health tech sector.
What makes the Berlin-based VC somewhat special is that it is backed by 22 German private health insurance companies, including major insurers like Allianz, Axa, and DKV. Through its innovation council, the VC also has a close relationship with Sana Kliniken – a major healthcare provider in Germany, owning more than 120 healthcare facilities treating around two million patients annually.
– We are an interdisciplinary team working to leverage the digital side of the health care industry, says Mittelmeier who is a trained physician with background from consultancies and the startup world in Berlin.
Mittelmeier says that the strength of Heal Capital is their deep connectedness to the key players in the health ecosystem. This is an important factor in a sector which is complex and where change often happens at a slow pace.
– Since digital and AI are still new, and because new solutions often challenge the health care system on a systemic level, sales are tougher, says Mittelmeier.
This is why you need a deep understanding of how the system works and a close connection to parties who have the incentives and strength to create a much-needed change.
– I think our fund positioning is solid , since our investment capital comes from the health care sector itself. The whole ecosystem of health care is in our DNA, says Mittelmeier.
Is there any special niches you are particular interested in?
– We look for B2B AI tools that can improve how care is delivered and organized. We are also interested in solutions that improve the healthcare provider model and bring new business models into health care. For example, tools for improving elderly care are especially interesting, due to the big demographic challenge, says Mittelmeier.
Why do you look to the Nordics?
– In the Nordics, there is a cultural interest for innovation. And you have a historically high rate of successful startups, which makes the Nordics a very interesting market, says Mittelmeier.