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UNC Health is relaunching its venture capital fund and boosting it with $125 million that it will invest in emerging healthcare companies that it believes will help both its patients and its bottom line.
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UNC Health Ventures succeeds the Rex Health Ventures fund that was created in 2012 with $10 million in seed money. Rex Health Ventures has supported nearly 30 young companies over the years that it believes are good investments and are developing equipment or therapies that will eventually benefit local patients.
“Novel technologies are essential to advancing the care we provide to our patients and communities,” Cristy Page, UNC Health’s CEO and dean of UNC School of Medicine, said in a statement. “UNC Health Ventures gives us the opportunity to engage with promising healthcare advancements earlier, helping our clinicians evaluate new approaches to care while shaping solutions that address real-world challenges across our health system.”
Money from the venture capital fund comes from the nonprofit health system’s broader investment portfolio. Income is reinvested into the health system to support patient care, operations and research, though spokesman Alan Wolf declined to say how much Rex Health Ventures has generated over the years.
“I can say that returns have exceeded investments, with more than half of the capital still deployed in active companies,” Wolf wrote in an email.
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Among the companies supported by Rex Health Ventures is Reprieve Cardiovascular, a Massachusetts firm that has developed technology used in treating heart failure patients. Rex was one of several venture funds that helped the company raise $61 million last year and begin enrolling patients in an important clinical trial.
“Partnering with UNC Health Ventures has played a pivotal role in advancing our mission to redefine care for patients with acute heart failure,” Mark Pacyna, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “Their support extends well beyond capital, providing clinical collaboration, strategic insight and real-world experience that accelerated progress toward meaningful impact for patients, clinicians and health systems.”
Raleigh-based Rex Healthcare was already part of UNC Health when it launched the venture capital fund 14 years ago with a three-pronged mission of making money, improving healthcare and creating local jobs. Since then, the fund’s reach has expanded across the UNC Health system, which with its flagship medical center and school in Chapel Hill includes 20 hospitals and hundreds of clinics statewide.
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