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Medical Innovation: Pinnacle Vision

All human progress operating in service of bettered humanity is a response to one essential question: how do we evolve current knowledge into revolutionary concepts? In my four decades as an inventor, I have often found my response to this question to be one of medically-directed invention.

Where We Are Investing Now: Microbiome

Scientific exploration of the microbiome represents the opening of one of the greatest new areas of science in decades, perhaps centuries. It has the potential to rival Einstein’s impact on physics or the double helix on understanding biology. While young, this area shows historic potential across a dizzying expanse of health and human experience. 

Buoy Health Raises $37.5M to Help People Accurately Self Diagnose and Receive the Right Care

It took one rotation in the ER of a major Boston hospital for this former med student to realize that a disproportionate number of people who came to the ER based on flawed, online self-diagnosis while patients who needed to be in the hospital often stayed at home. Recognizing this troubling dynamic, Andrew Le took a sabbatical from med school to launch Buoy Health, an AI-powered digital assistant that helps patients accurately self-diagnose and access appropriate care. The company has helped over 9 million people understand their symptoms and seek relevant care options whether it’s telemedicine, primary care, behavioral health resources, etc. Boston TechWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Andrew Le, MD to learn more about the company, its future plans, the impressive traction during the pandemic, and recent round of funding from investors that include Cigna Ventures, Humana, Optum Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co, and Trustbridge Partners.

Where We Are Investing Now: Neuroscience

Neuroscience has always been a focus area for Social Starts and Joyance Partners and should continue to be due to the large and clear unmet need. Stress, anxiety, mental illness, and their associated impacts are at all-time highs. People seem desperate for solutions. Science points toward many potential new approaches. We also recognize that there […]

Where We Are Investing Now: Longevity and Aging Economy

Longevity and Aging Economy will be one of the core investment areas for Social Starts for the remainder of 2020. Longevity ties strongly into Health and Happiness: “Healthspan”—the number of years a person can expect to live with full health and no activity limitations—is an emerging concept in this area and should stand at the […]

Where We Are Investing Now: Health Tech

Because of the inextricable tie between health and happiness, there exists an equally strong connection between happiness and health. Now, powerful new science is opening whole new categories of products capable of contributing to happiness. Therefore, we see Health Tech as a central investment focus area.

Where We Are Investing Now: Health and Happiness Digitally-Native Vertical Brands

We believe that successful digital brands have these characteristics…

What We Look For In Deep Science Pitch Decks

Pitch decks come in a lot of flavors. We’ve seen five pages, we’ve seen fifty. We’ve seen them sparsely punctured with bullet points, we’ve seen what might have happened if David Foster Wallace wrote a novel in PowerPoint. Where’s the golden mean? What can you throw away and what sparks joy?

Individual Health in the Time of the Pandemic

Mike Edelhart of Social Starts walks us through some observations on how COVID-19 has impacted trends from a VC’s perspective.

Smiling Robots Alleviate Human Anxieties with Expper Technologies

Loneliness and isolation are heightened in the midst of the pandemic. Can robots fill a void? Expper’s founder Karén Khachikyan says the company’s robot Robin changes a kid’s perception of medical treatments, where they will no longer feel isolated, lonely, and scared. The innovator explains how his whimsical four-foot robot employs digital facial expressions to form lasting bonds with its young users.