Braven, an early stage investment firm focused on regulated ecosystems, today announced the launch of its new Healthcare & Life Sciences Unit, focusing on next-gen platforms merging machine intelligence and financial solutions to advance drug discovery and patient care.
Co-led by William Abecassis, Braven’s Managing Partner, and Dr. Sean Khozin, Senior Life Sciences & Healthcare Partner, the Unit supports the firm’s unique ‘co-building’ investment strategy. By prioritizing deep research and collaboration with stakeholders to identify & validate market challenges and their solution requirements, the Unit aims for more targeted engagement on the very best investment prospects.
“Across healthcare and life sciences, there are countless opportunities for innovation. However, it’s not enough to simply ask, ‘What is possible?'” states Abecassis. “To create successful solutions, founders and investors must also ask, ‘Why hasn’t this transformation happened already, and what must be made true for it to happen today?’. Rigorous focus on understanding and solving these questions are the cornerstone of Braven’s differentiated approach.”
In complex ecosystems like healthcare, which boasts $4.3 trillion in annual US spend, stakeholder orchestration and incentive alignment frequently roadblock successful innovation. Braven’s newly established Unit assembles a multi-disciplinary team – including experienced healthcare investors, operators, practitioners, and former regulators – that works with founders to develop stakeholder engagement and ecosystem reconfiguration strategies. Braven’s best-in-class joint investment and operating team positions the firm to provide unmatched support to innovators navigating complex ecosystems.
Dr. Khozin remarks, “Our work takes a targeted approach to catalyze solution-oriented ecosystems around groundbreaking technologies. From experience, I can vouch for the challenges healthcare founders face in overcoming systemic obstacles, and I am excited by Braven’s unique value proposition for founders. The team’s capabilities are precisely calibrated to unlock the full potential of machine learning and other technological breakthroughs in healthcare and the life sciences.”
Dr. Khozin, a successful healthtech entrepreneur who has founded two start-ups, brings invaluable expertise to the team. He previously served as Global Head of Johnson & Johnson’s Data Strategy & Data Innovation, played a key role in the US FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, and acted as Executive Director of the FDA’s Information Exchange and Data Transformation (INFORMED). Abecassis has a deep track record in healthcare and data & machine intelligence infrastructure investments, having led over $1 billion in investments across 25+ portfolio companies as the former head of BlackRock’s Innovation Capital.
To augment the Unit’s capabilities, Braven has enlisted a team of specialized fellows with expertise spanning from pharma development to healthcare provision. Additionally, the firm is forming an advisory board of prominent practitioners and founders actively involved in ecosystem development across healthcare, life sciences, and machine intelligence. Early members of these groups boast experience from renowned institutions such as IQVIA, Sg2, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MIT, IBM, and Google.
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