Year In Review: 2021 š
Sending gratitude as we look back at the year and prepare for what's to come
Hey there! Iām Jordan Pascasio, Investor at Next Ventures.
Every month I write a piece encompassing whole person health. If you would like to receive it directly in your inbox, subscribe now.
As we approach the new year, I wanted to take the time to thank everyone that has supported my newsletter since launching this past April. My original intention was to leverage writing as a way to help further my knowledge on particular areas of interest. Not only has it become an amazing medium for learning and self expression, but it also has served as an unbelievable way to meet inspirational people within my space. The latter aspect truly opened my eyes to how powerful a supportive, like-minded network can be.Ā
I still laugh when I think back to how nervous I was as I hovered my cursor over the āpublishā button of my first piece. Iām extremely grateful to have accumulated over 200 subscribers and 6,700 views since that moment! Still humble beginnings, but certainly a good foundation to build upon as we head in 2022.
My Year in Review in a nutshell:
As a way to outline the high-level areas that Iāll plan to cover next year, Iām reposting a piece from my fundās newsletter below which outlines our human optimization investment thesis.Ā
Starting in 2022, we will publish industry coverage pieces from the Next Ventures newsletter (subscribe here if interested) while I continue to publish thought pieces (i.e., forward-looking opinions) on our areas of focus.Ā
I couldnāt be more excited for whatās to come āØ
See you on the other side!
- Jordan
Original post can be found here.
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the NEXT VENTÅŖRES newsletter! Going forward, weāll be publishing pieces pertaining to our goal of investing in companies that are pushing the boundaries of human optimization.Ā
We saw a record amount of capital invested into our area of focus over the past 12 months as consumers continue to care deeply about wellness and as healthcare becomes increasingly consumerized.
As such, it should be no surprise that 2021 marked our most impactful year yet. However, before diving into a post-mortem of our investment activity this year, letās recap our journey since launch for those that are familiarizing themselves with our fund.Ā
Health and wellness are crucial to our society, yet access to the things we need to be healthy (e.g., knowledge, products, quality care) is more unevenly distributed than ever. We're a thesis-driven fund focused on human optimization, meaning we look for companies that are helping consumers live healthier lives.
When we launched NEXT VENTÅŖRES in 2019, our focus was on innovation in sports technology and athlete performance. In 2021 and beyond, human optimization means something much more holistic to us. Our mission is to invest in founders and companies best positioned to democratize access to solutions that enable the manifestation of the āhealthy consumerā. Moreover, we believe that these solutions canvas a wide spectrum that includes the optimization of physical, mental, social and financial wellness, serving as the core components that will undergird the conscious, communal shift toward a healthier future.
Now that weāre all up to speed on us, letās take a look at some of the amazing companies that we partnered with this year:
Terra is solving the problem that siloed health and wellness data creates. Currently, the company's unified API solution offers developers normalized data insights across its user spectrum to efficiently track, monitor and measure fitness and many other forms of activity and sensor based output. Looking ahead, we believe that Terra can also play a huge role in the growth of digital health by turning aggregated biomarker data into real world evidence (RWE) that leads to better clinical care and outcomes. Terra will ultimately help a new generation of companies in our space better serve their consumers by enabling data interoperability and contextual insights.
Humane is creating the best human experience, ever. We canāt wait to share more in the upcoming year. Weāre beyond excited to be on an extraordinary journey with theĀ amazing Humane team, bringing the next evolution of human-computer interaction into the world.
OK Capsule operates a white-labeled supplement production platform that enables personalized nutrition provision at any scale. By leveraging OK Capsuleās headless solution, brands gain access to personalized supplement provision while forgoing the manufacturing and supply chain backend costs and risks - allowing customers to capitalize on the emerging consumer expectation for precision health & wellness solutions.Ā
Vital Bio is on a mission to make diagnostics ubiquitous, moving healthcare beyond episodic encounters to a world of proactive and accessible care. From how the company measures biomarkers, to new ways of managing our daily health, Vital is building the next generation of tools to create a healthier humankind.Ā
2022 and Beyond
Going forward, we will continue to spend our time focused on early Seed and Series A opportunities across health, wellness, fitness and sport that contain a through line of any of the four human optimization types mentioned at the outset of this piece.Ā
Here are themes within our investment thesis where we see significant white space for meaningful innovation - and thus opportunities ripe for investment. Weād love to explore partnering with founders building promising solutions around them:
Financial access and inclusion for individuals who are increasingly burdened with high out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
Care provision, care coordination or accessibility boosters for underserved communities/cultures.
Health insurance coverage that is destigmatized and better aligned with the working habits of emerging generations.
Monetization and relationship optimization for fitness and athlete creators.
Sensor fusion experiences within digital health & wellness.
For a more comprehensive view on where we are inquisitive, weāve put together a market map that canvasses the verticals and sub-verticals that predicate our thesis. Click here to learn more.Ā
Subscribers can expect to receive views and breakdowns of our industry coverage on a steady cadence in 2022. If you are building or investing in our space, weād love to chat! Please reach out to jordan@nextventures.com. We look forward to hearing from you in the new year!
In great health,Ā
Mel, Lance, Julian and Jordan