Venture capital firm Abundant Venture Partners has launched Abundant Platform aimed at helping startup companies partner with providers.
The platform will be offered through the firm’s Venture Studio, which helps healthcare startups gain commercial traction, connect with target buyers, form partnerships and receive strategic operations support.
Abundant Venture Studio members have access to the Abundant Alliance, a network of health systems committed to development and investment, as well as Abundant Venture funds, which back companies that have demonstrated that they can solve problems for provider organizations.
Abundant Venture Studio provides companies with Series A venture funding to help scale their businesses.
Health system members of the Abundant platform play a key role as co-developers, early adopters and aligned owners of the startups.
According to the company, the platform is supported by 17 health provider companies, including ChristianaCare, Kettering Health, Medical University of South Carolina, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, MedStar Health and Sharp HealthCare.
“Health systems have taken unnecessary risk and haven’t been rewarded adequately for their work with early stage ventures,” Harry Kirschner, CEO of Abundant Alliance, said in a statement.
“After decades of reacting to the market and choosing what new innovations to ‘bet on,’ healthcare providers can now be in the driver seat and work closely with their peers to de-risk and accelerate the operational and equity impact from work with early stage ventures.”
THE LARGER TREND
Another venture capital firm working directly with health systems is General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Transformation Corp. (HATCo), which in 2024 signed a definitive agreement to purchase Summa Health for $485 million.
Summa Health is a nonprofit healthcare system with over 30 locations throughout the Akron and Canton, Ohio, areas.
That same year, General Catalyst closed $8 billion in new capital, including $6 billion for its Fund XII fund and $2 billion in separately managed accounts.
The $8 billion boosted the firm’s investments across various sectors, including defense and intelligence, climate and energy, AI, industrials, healthcare and fintech.
The company distributed $4.5 billion to its core VC funds focusing on seed and growth equity across its Ignition, Endurance and Health Assurance strategies; $1.5 billion for its Creation strategy; and $2 billion for separately managed accounts.
