Cancer-Focused Seed-Stage Fund Makes First Three Investments
Cancer-focused venture capital fund Oncology Ventures has made its first three investments in early-stage cancer startups. The seed-stage venture capital fund invests in data and infrastructure startups that make cancer care more affordable, efficient and accessible.
In introducing the fund in January 2023, Ben Freeberg, founder and managing partner, said he was uniquely positioned to launch this fund, because he has invested in healthcare technology start-ups as a key decision maker at two venture capital funds (Optum Ventures and Alpha Partners), and helped build a value-based cancer technology startup (Thyme Care). In addition, he has lived through the experience as a cancer patient and is now five years cancer-free.
He noted that the fund will not be investing in drugs, therapeutics or medical devices.
"Considering oncology's inherent complexity and reach, cancer startups deserve a dedicated cancer-focused venture fund to help them scale," said Freeberg, in a statement. "We are proud to foster cancer innovation and are passionate about ensuring startups' success by providing support around business model development, go-to-market strategy, hiring, strategic introductions and more."
The Oncology Ventures team has already met with more than 250 early-stage cancer startups and has made investments of undisclosed amounts in:
• VivorCare: A fully-integrated cancer survivorship platform that is working to improve survivorship care for the more than 17 million cancer survivors in the U.S. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Oncology Ventures on our mission to help cancer survivors live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Ben brings a very unique perspective on innovation in the oncology space due to his background as an investor, operator, and fellow cancer survivor—and we are so looking forward to working together,” said Hil Moss, founder and CEO, in a statement.
• Gabbi: An early-detection platform for breast cancer that aims to make late-stage breast cancer obsolete.
• Health Universe: An open-source community for artificial intelligence and machine learning that will seek to impact precision medicine in oncology, clinical trial matching, cancer care navigation, and more.
Oncology Ventures also has announced strategic partnerships with City of Hope and New York Cancer and Blood Specialists.
