The Non-Profit Venture Studio Partners with the Local Healthcare
System to Provide Aspiring, Diverse Entrepreneurs with New
Opportunities to Build Disruptive Healthcare Startups in the
Phoenix-metro area.
PHOENIX, March 28,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Journey Venture Studio
announced today a strategic collaboration with Valleywise Health, a
comprehensive healthcare system with locations throughout the
Phoenix metro area. In pursuit of
fostering innovation, this collaboration is set to provide diverse
entrepreneurs with invaluable access to clinical expertise, patient
populations, and community health data to launch successful
healthcare startups and create impactful healthcare solutions.
"We are excited to partner with Valleywise
Health to provide founders with access to investigators, research,
and expertise, leading to innovative healthcare startups that aim
to improve health outcomes and the healthcare system" , said
Mark Moeremans.
Valleywise Health is one of the leading healthcare providers in
Phoenix and is the metro area's
only public, safety net, teaching health system. They are governed
by a publicly elected board of directors focused on exceptional
care for all who turn to Valleywise Health. With the support of
Valleywise Health, entrepreneurs in The Journey's
Founder-in-Residence program will have access to healthcare leaders
and decision-makers who will help guide innovation and facilitate
potential pilots and implementations, coaching founders toward
solutions that will be more easily integrated into the healthcare
landscape.
As part of the collaboration, Valleywise Health's Chief Clinical
Officer Dr. Michael White has joined
The Journey's Board of Directors. "Our commitment to exceptional
care extends beyond the walls of our facilities, with a focus on
community outreach, education, and proactive health initiatives" ,
said Dr. White. "Partnering with The Journey will
help Valleywise Health realize its vision to be nationally
recognized for transforming care to improve community health.
Working with the Founders-in-Residence complements our teaching
mission as Maricopa County's only
community safety net and public teaching system".
The Journey's mission is to close the racial and gender
opportunity gap by empowering diverse founders to pursue
entrepreneurship while providing resources and support to increase
their odds of success. The Founder-In-Residence program is an
opportunity for underrepresented founders to ideate, validate,
pilot, and potentially launch new HealthTech startups.
"Some of the most successful startups are those that solve
real-world problems", said Mark Moeremans, the Managing Director of
The Journey Venture Studios. "We are excited to partner with
Valleywise Health to provide founders with access to investigators,
research, and expertise, leading to innovative healthcare startups
that aim to improve health outcomes and the healthcare system. With
the support of Valleywise Health, we are providing aspiring
entrepreneurs with an unrivaled sandbox for startup creation which
will hopefully give them a leg up in bringing their innovations to
market".
The strategic collaboration between The Journey and Valleywise
Health allows both organizations to pursue unique funding
opportunities. Investors are interested in helping spur innovation
by funding organizations like The Journey, while still wanting to
work with established and trusted organizations that have a track
record of success and service in the community like Valleywise
Health and the Valleywise Health Foundation. Together these
organizations are innovating the healthcare landscape by bringing
together history with patient care and social change.
The Journey has also added Ashok
Santhanam to its board of directors. Ashok Santhanam is a Venture Partner at AZ-VC
and has more than 30 years' experience leading software product and
service businesses as an entrepreneur and executive. He has founded
three companies, two venture-backed and one bootstrapped, and
exited two after achieving valuations in the hundreds of
millions.
"I'm honored to join the board at The Journey and excited to
support their pioneering mission of incubating underrepresented
entrepreneurs in HealthTech. The healthcare sector is ripe with
opportunity to leverage AI and other technologies to improve
outcomes. The diverse entrepreneurs in the Founder in Residence
program have the drive and passion to pursue these opportunities
while receiving a tremendous boost from The Journey's unique
approach and combination of resources. I look forward to working
with the Journey team and board to help turn this vision into
reality".
To learn more about The Journey Venture Studio visit
https://thejourneyventures.com/ . To learn more about Valleywise
Health, visit https://valleywisehealth.org/ and
https://valleywisehealthfoundation.org/. To learn more about AZ-VC,
visit https://azvc.com/.
The Journey Venture Studio
The Journey, a Phoenix-based 501c3
not-for-profit entity, is a venture studio creating and launching
healthcare companies to be led by underrepresented founders. With a
mission to launch healthcare companies aimed at improving health
outcomes while creating opportunities for historically
underrepresented entrepreneurs from around the country through a
tailored venture fellowship, The Journey will activate a new
generation of diverse founders; leveling the playing field and
bringing world-changing healthcare solutions and technology to
life.
Valleywise Health
Located in Phoenix, Arizona and
named one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson
Health in 2020, Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated
Health System) has a proud tradition as the public safety net
health care system with a mission and commitment to serving the
underserved. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health
Medical Center, Arizona's only
public teaching hospital, the only trauma center in Maricopa County verified by the American
College of Surgeons to treat both adults and children, and
Arizona's only nationally verified
Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States. Other services
include the McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV
primary care in Arizona, Refugee
Health Services, three behavioral health hospitals, and a network
of 11 community health centers located throughout Maricopa County. To learn more, please visit
http://www.ValleywiseHealth.org.
Valleywise Health Foundation
Valleywise Health Foundation is the Phoenix-based 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to
providing philanthropic support for critical patient and program
needs at Arizona's public teaching health system, Valleywise
Health. Named Arizona Business Magazine's AzBusiness Angels
Healthcare-focused Nonprofit of the Year in 2020 and in 2021, key
funding areas include, burn survivorship care, innovative
behavioral health programs, and teaching tomorrow's healthcare
professionals. The Valleywise Health mission is to provide
exceptional care, without exception, every patient, every time –
regardless of a patient's ability to pay. More than 70 percent of
Valleywise Health's patients are financially vulnerable. To learn
more and donate, visit
http://www.valleywisehealthfoundation.org.
AZ-VC
AZ-VC was built out of necessity to fill the void that existed in
terms of capital sources for post-revenue companies looking to
expand beyond seed-level financing. As Arizona's largest VC firm, AZ-VC targets
proven, post-revenue local companies, cherry-pick the best and
brightest, and help ensure that these companies grow, thrive and
flourish in Arizona. This effort
is led by invisionAZ Chairman Jack
Selby, a former PayPal executive and two-decade resident of
Arizona. Jack's deep Silicon
Valley connectivity and successful track record of early-stage
investments serve as core value-adds to the local ecosystem.
Media Contact
Brandon Duenas, Serendipit
Consulting, 4802540169, bduenas@serendipitconsulting.com,
https://thejourneyventures.com/
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/the-journey-venture-studio-announces-strategic-collaboration-with-valleywise-health-and-additional-board-members-302102976.html
SOURCE The Journey Venture Studio