Daniela Amodei

Today, I’m incredibly proud to announce a major milestone for PayZen: we’ve just closed a $232 million Series B round in equity and debt, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). This round includes $32 million in equity and a new $200 million credit warehouse from Viola Credit and a syndicate of insurance companies. I’m thrilled to welcome Mohamad Makhzoumi, NEA’s Co-CEO, as a PayZen board member! Partnering with the right investor at each stage of our company’s growth is both an art and a science (with a bit of luck thrown in). We were fortunate to find strong alignment with the NEA team in terms of business philosophy, mission, market, and strategy. With their extensive experience and stellar track record, I look forward to collaborating with the NEA team as we guide PayZen into the future. This funding will enable us to continue leveraging our AI-powered platform to tackle healthcare affordability. Our proprietary AI/ML models and seamless EMR/EHR integration simplify patient payments for health systems while making it easier for millions of patients to access and afford the care they need. We’re committed to driving innovation in the Revenue Cycle Management market and are excited to expand our affordable, customized healthcare payment options to even more Americans. This partnership with NEA brings back memories. Twenty-five years ago, I fondly recall pitching Webex Communications to NEA alongside my then CEO and mentor, Subrah. That investment certainly worked out for everyone! Time seems to fly, but it’s comforting to know that some things remain constant. I want to thank all the investors and individuals that supported us along the way (Viola Ventures, Omry Ben David, SignalFire, Chris Scoggins, 7wireVentures, Lee Shapiro, Alyssa Jaffee, Ido Vigdor). Mostly, I want to thank my team for raising the bar every day, creating magic and making all of this possible. #healthcare, #fintech, #affordability, #RCM,

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📈 Demand for fertility services is rising -> 💼 PE recognizes this and wants in -> 🏜 but opportunities are scarce (https://lnkd.in/g6zXEVZh). Highly recommend anyone who wants a deeper understanding of what's going with fertility and fertility tech read Aya Spencer's *2024 State of fertility tech report* (https://lnkd.in/gVjK_UpX) - it's a great summary

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Thrilled to announce that we are just 120 days away from launching Sober Companion AI (SCAI), a groundbreaking platform designed to support individuals impacted by addiction—and their families—with 24/7 access to customized care and communication. SCAI’s proprietary algorithms and highly secured data infrastructure allows us to create individualized support models that use real-time personal data to predict relapse before it becomes chemical. Our initial rollout will span the Philippines, Dubai, and the U.S., with plans to bring this cutting-edge solution to hundreds of thousands of families within the next 18 months. Please see the attached video for a preview of what the future looks like. #AddictionRecovery #MentalHealth #AIHealthcare #DigitalHealth #HealthTech #Innovation #Sustainability #Healthcare #Technology #Entrepreneurship #Startups #Leadership #Wellness #Support #Community

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“Do things that don’t scale” is advice that sticks with many Y Combinator founders, but it means more than simply rolling up your sleeves. Early on at Simplifine (YC S24), we chose to work directly with researchers—getting on calls, testing workflows, and uncovering their specific challenges. Those hours spent in detailed conversations and hands-on support weren’t efficient, but they gave us insights data alone couldn’t provide. This approach may seem counterintuitive, yet it’s helped us understand the deeper, often overlooked needs that drive our product direction. Taking this non-scalable route has led to surprising breakthroughs. By focusing on direct feedback and support, we’ve identified critical patterns and quickly adapted our platform based on real-world use, rather than assumptions. This clarity in direction means we aren’t investing in features or workflows that don’t have real impact. Instead, we’re building exactly what researchers need, helping us keep Simplifine focused and practical. Ultimately, our commitment to “doing things that don’t scale” is more than just a startup tactic; it’s our way of staying aligned with our users. The temptation to grow fast is real, but by choosing to engage personally with researchers, we’ve grounded Simplifine in what truly matters. These early, authentic connections have shaped our product and guide us as we scale—ensuring that Simplifine continues to serve the research community in ways that are both meaningful and impactful. #dothingsthatdontscale

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Let's talk about data and dbt at Foundations on Nov 7th!

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𝗥𝗲𝘃 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝟭 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗢𝗹𝗱... 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁? After graduating UCSB in 2023, I teamed up with Jesse Brodkin + Lucas Krall to co-found 𝗥𝗲𝘃 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 – a technology enabled delivery service designed around college campuses. This past September, we celebrated Rev’s 1-year anniversary. That same month, we hit another big milestone in our professional journey: our first business acquisition—the Duffl brand, a Series A-funded and Y Combinator graduate with 8+ locations. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼: • We moved to Seattle with the idea to start a hyperlocal delivery company serving the University of Washington community.✈️ • Built our fulfillment technology 👨‍💻 • Leased our first commercial space (in Bruce Lee’s old studio), purchased our first inventory, and started delivering orders to our customers in ten minutes or less, using electric scooters, for a delivery fee of $0.99. 🛴⚡️ • Lived in the back of our warehouse for months (ask about our homemade shower and kitchen setup). 😁 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻: • We’ve scaled to tens of thousands of unique monthly orders and over 100 employees by leveraging: Data-Driven Pricing and Products📊 Grassroots Marketing 🌱 Student Culture👥 • We acquired the Duffl brand– The OG of the hyperlocal delivery space with 20+ million in revenue under their belt. ✴️ 𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁? It’s time to grow even more.  We’re enabling other entrepreneurs to open their own Duffl / Rev stores at college campuses. If you (or any aspiring entrepreneur you know) want to explore owning your own 𝟳 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, powered by our tech, data, and experience – then let's talk. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gkRDAw8a https://duffl.com https://lnkd.in/gKgrFEN3 https://rev.delivery https://lnkd.in/gzBpff4k

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📣 🎉 We've hit an inflection point in growth at Founders You Should Know and we're hiring for a full-time Head of Operations and Community! This role is US-based with a strong preference for the Bay Area, as we're looking for the perfect person to help us scale the FYSK showcases for 2025. If the following sounds exciting to you, DM me, we'd love to hear from you. == You’re excited to take the reins of a platform which has immense product market fit and turn it into an execution machine. This role is a perfect fit for a detail-oriented, self-directed leader who is excited about technology and startups. We are accelerating the pace of technological innovation by helping connect the best engineers to the fastest growing, breakout founders and the startups they lead. We’re at an inflection point here at FYSK: we’ve already built a top tier brand among engineers and founders, a very strong network of top founder and VC relationships, and a promising new investment platform of our own. Our monthly showcases generate thousands of applications, we have over 8k subscribers to our newsletter, over 2k subscribers to our YouTube channel, and a fast-growing community of top talent. Now we’re looking for the perfect person to help us scale the growth, value and quality of the community. Here are some of the activities that are already working for us that we’d like your help with doubling down on: - Organize and execute 10 showcases in 2025: 7 in SF and 3 in NY - including planning, rehearsals, day-of operations, and post-show follow-up activities - Grow our bespoke process for making matches between the best high-growth startups and top engineering talent from our network - Co-host monthly founder dinners and happy hours for the FYSK community in SF We’re looking for someone who is extremely detail oriented -- owning the production of an epic show for 250 people and 12 founders every 4-6 weeks requires meticulous detail-orientation and impeccable execution. A great candidate will also excel at written and verbal communications with sponsors, co-hosts, founders, and talent, planning, and resourcefulness. This role has tremendous growth potential because it requires the ownership of clear results and will be at the center of a community that includes many of the fastest growing startups, best founders, and top-tier investors. We expect this to be a minimum 2-year position, which will give candidates enough time to grow the network, services, and platform, get exposure to a new type of community-driven investing, while working on new product launches and experiments with the team. This will be a career-defining experience and we hope you’ll consider joining us!

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Hot take on a lot of early-stage digital health companies out there: You're not a tech company. Most tech-enabled care companies I've seen over the past two years are only tech-enabled in the sense that they use telehealth as their delivery mechanism for care. There are exceptions to this, of course - companies who build computer vision and applied AI tools to better the doctor-patient experience, companies who build tooling around risk scoring and stratification to enable more personalized medicine, companies who build truly novel intakes to better route patients to the appropriate care, etc. These companies have real technology chops and, if they sell it right to the market, can get credit for this from investors. But if you're truly a telehealth provider, you need to realize now that the goal post has shifted dramatically from 2021 and you're going to be valued at maturity at something like 3x EBITDA. That's profit. Not revenue. Throw a revenue multiple out the window. That's not the world we live in if you're a virtual doctor's office. Think of how that impacts venture math. If you're raising a seed round at $15M post-money (or $12M pre-money), it means you'll have to generate something like $150-200M in annual EBITDA to be a fund returner for your seed investors. Maybe even more with dilution, since telehealth businesses are not traditionally capital efficient and will likely need to raise material additional capital to reach that scale. You need to be ridiculously profitable (probably on $800M-$1B in annual revenue since you're likely going to be a 40% gross margin business). Here's the good news: you can set yourself up well (and probably be a contrarian founder relative to your peers), by talking about EBITDA growth and how you can grow into a fund-returning outcome based on realistic mature market comps. This will stand out for the investors you're pitching, even at the early stage. This is how you can beat the malaise of the tech-enabled care market. Focus on the right metrics and the right type of growth. You don't have to have all the answers (no founder does), but you need to make sure the ship is headed in the right direction. A focus on profitability for "tech-enabled care" (*ahem* telehealth) businesses is a good first step.

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where’s OpenAI ‘s sama? oh look. he’s in elon’s shadow. makes sense. he’s shorter. Lol. the island of cannibals that is silicon valley has a new co-chair as mayor of sf. unelected. uninfluential in washington. has weasled his way into a transition team for sf. I wonder is watching elon w trump he found his trump locally in sf. sama is a mirror. he was for pg. he was also for many others. including elon. I guess this is a way to perhaps shore up political points locally in sf. to protect himself as best as he can. washington is a country wide, global game. kinda reminds me of another rebranding. im just jenny from the block. https://lnkd.in/e_jNXXRD if ai companies are to flourish OpenAI Google Microsoft Amazon Apple will require that startups are not somehow impeded. this is a game of davids and goliaths. where the slingshot appears innocuous. that is llms, transformers, access to privileged data. this out of no-where announcement demonstrates that this is a defense tactic by sama. he speaks fondly of sf and has done nothing until now. so his disingenuous nature finds yet another loop hole to worm into. we would be more supportive of his efforts except he’s created an industry for himself through a con game approach. why is he ceo of OpenAI when he’s there 6-7 hours a week. forgive me. isn’t a ceo supposed to be singularly focussed. his game is getting funding that invests in companies that he’s already invested in and as it’s a non for profit there are no conflicts of interest applied. wow. he uses other peoples money to invest in what he’s already invested in. sounds like y combinator showed him how to play the sv players. the next trick will be to do something no one has ever done. take a multi-billy non for profit and flip to for profit. as a non for profit there is no reporting required. there are tax incentives. a moral narrative to spin. then. oooops. how do we monetize this. we believe he will not succeed. to do so would cannibalize capitalism as it’s structured. it also would create a new pathway for universities which are by definition research centres. creating this precedent would alter their business. given that elon has beef with sama. and elon has never been more on top of his game. well. we find local political maneuvering is a way of squirming. OpenAI investors chiefly Microsoft are about to be thrown under the bus. unwittingly. recall it’s the talent at OpenAI that makes it special. the a team has left. the b team is in place. 2025 will not be good for OpenAI elon will have his revenge. 44 millys invested. for what. for sama to throw his weight around. he’s a lightweight. just look at him. lol. source: https://lnkd.in/e9WtQ48k < . >

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Day #4 of observations from attending Home Care 100 this month: There is a cambrian explosion of "AI scribe for OASIS docs in <15 min" startups currently underway in Home Health. A new one of these is launching every few months. I'm certain we'll see 2x AI scribe vendors at the next HC100 in January. And so, I listened for the overall positioning of these products by the vendor and buyer at Home Care 100. It sounded like this: HH CEO: “I need a solution to lower the caregiver burden of clinical documentation” HH Vendor: “I offer AI to reduce the burden of clinical documentation” This may sound like a "checkmate" match between what the CEO is saying, and what the vendor is offering. But it isn't. The CEO actually has a business model problem. They cannot afford to sufficiently pay for the time it takes for caregivers to complete clinical documentation. And so, they are stuck looking for solutions that minimize the cost of personal time on documentation that caregivers have to absorb. Solutions that offer AI and the promise of driving down this cost down for the caregiver are the start, but not the endgame. If I were not building Arya, and wanted to build a standout documentation product, I would build an "AI-powered clinical documentation agency", not an AI scribe. Here's what this AI-powered documentation agency would sound like: 1. We eliminate 90% of all clinical documentation at your company. We do it at 1/10th the cost of a traditional outsourced documentation shop 2. We do this by a human-in-the-loop AI solution, that allows our human documenters to work 10x faster than DIY 3. Under the hood, we integrate with *all* the best AI out there (incl. ChatGPT) in a SOC2+ HIPAA guaranteed environment. We decide the best AI+human workflow to use for each documentation on the fly. Regardless, you always pay a flat rate, and we absorb the risk or AI vs human effort 4. Your caregivers approve each human-in-the-loop documentation. We don't publish anything to the EHR till it's approved 5. We guarantee a <1% error/ change rate on our documentation from caregivers, or we offer some money back I did some back of the napkin math to see what the economics of an such an agency might look like. With the current math, the caregiver is still absorbing upwards of $10 worth of time per OASIS documentation. If an AI-powered agency drove this cost down to the single digits per doc, might HH agencies be able to work this into their financial model and take this off the caregiver's plate entirely? Here's hoping for a "we've got you covered on the documentation " caregiver benefit coming in the future. #homecare #homecareagencies #HC100 #homecare100 #homehealth

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Solve for information asymmetries! Architecture & Civil Engineering - Layout interpretation ~other industries: Healthcare - <Prescription> interpretation Financial Products - <Subject to market risks documentation> interpretation Loans - <Fine print> interpretation There’s going to be a slew of startups commercialising this year with a value prop of simplification using AI

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Everyone Thinks Nathan Chan Built Foundr Alone. They're WRONG. Here Are 3 Secrets Behind Foundr's Success: 1. Foundr Content Thrives with Outsourced Talent It's easy to overlook, but Foundr's content performs exceptionally well thanks to a well-curated team of outsourced talent. From in-depth interviews with business moguls like Richard Branson to insightful articles, it's the writers, editors, and graphic designers who bring Foundr's vision to life. The magic isn't just in-house; it's in the diverse talents from across the globe. 2. Foundr’s Flexible Model: Managed Services for Course Creation Foundr's success also stems from its ability to turn its SaaS model into a managed service. By working with subject matter experts (SMEs) and video production teams, Foundr creates top-notch courses without the hassle of full-time employment. 3. Visibility and Recognition: Key to Outsourcing Success Foundr understands that talent thrives on visibility and recognition. By highlighting their best contributors and giving credit where it's due, Foundr builds strong relationships with its external partners. This mutual recognition fosters loyalty and encourages ongoing collaboration, which is crucial for sustaining the high-quality content pipeline. TAKEAWAY: Foundr has mastered the art of leveraging outsourced talent to build an insanely effective content machine. They've harnessed the power of a global network of remote talent without being solely dependent on an in-house team. Ready to outsource? Odesa helps you find top tier tech talent for 60% less than US-based equivalents. Find your next tech hire here: https://hireodesa.com/

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I can't believe it. RankedVote reached over 200,000 people this election season! Some highlights since September: - A RankedVote QR Code showed up on the big screen at a Portland Trailblazers game - RankedVote's results visualization was used to explain ranked choice voting on WXPI TV News in Washington, D.C. - Thousands voted in the adorable "Dog of the Year" contest in Sweetwater, Tennessee - Included on Portland's mail-in ballot educational materials - Reached tens of thousands as the #1 search result for numerous ranked choice searches like "pros and cons of RCV" I'm hopeful that these efforts gave people a glimpse of the potential for this voting reform. And maybe even changed a few skeptical minds. Speaking of...if you're in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska, or Washington D.C., you've still got a chance to directly impact ranked choice voting's adoption. If you haven't voted yet, make sure to: - Colorado: Vote YES on Prop 131 - Idaho: Vote YES on Prop 1 - Oregon: Vote YES on Measure 117 - Nevada: Vote YES on Question 3 - Alaska: Vote NO on Ballot Measure 2 (protect the progress that's been made!) - DC: Vote YES on Initiative 83 If we can exit this election cycle with more states using ranked choice voting than when we entered, it'll be a significant step forward. And we're so, so close thanks to the great work of groups like Unite America, Rank the Vote, FairVote, and all the dedicated teams and volunteers on the ground in each state. Let's run through the tape and make it happen! 🇺🇸

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Paraform just raised $3.6M to help startups connect with independent recruiters—a smart pivot after the 2022-2023 tech layoffs. With 100,000+ recruiters laid off and going independent, Paraform’s platform offers startups access to this valuable network. So far, they've helped over 200 companies hire and grow their revenue 10x since their pre-seed round! The subscription Key takeaways: Subscription + success fee model ensures commitment from startups. Paraform works with in-house talent teams for flexible, on-demand recruiting. Expanding globally and branching into new industries like defense and manufacturing. PS: Will the future of recruiting be all about networks? #startups #recruiting #AI

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My cofounder twisted my arm to join a "B2B Product-Market Fit" bootcamp. I was skeptical, but it wound up being insanely useful - probably the highest ROI thing we've ever done. Here's why: WHY I WAS SKEPTICAL: Yes, product-market fit is "the only thing that matters." But it's a vague concept. It's a vague, ethereal thing that nobody seems to understand. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing you can teach or learn. I'd also tried all the "best practices" out there (ideation exercises, customer interviews, experimentation, etc.) and found that they... didn't really work. So a bootcamp about product-market fit seemed like the best way to incinerate money and time. WHY I DID IT: My cofounder and I met with Rob Snyder, who's got founder experience and started this weird Product-Market Fit bootcamp... geared towards MBA/consulting/i-banking as well as product and developer types. In our first 30-min meeting, Rob didn't try to sell us on the bootcamp... he just helped us make a TON of progress in our business. I was still skeptical… But we decided to do the bootcamp & schedule weekly 1:1s with Rob. Why not -- it was more affordable than a sales coach, and Rob actually speaks at a founder level WHAT HAPPENED: The bootcamp is insane, like nothing else I've experienced. It approaches product-market fit from first principles, but is highly actionable. So we made a bunch of progress on our business, but I also built mental models about product-market fit and scaling that help me feel confident that I'm focused on the right things. It also didn't take a ton of time, maybe 2-3 hours per week. Not at all a distraction, with a very high signal:noise ratio. My favorite part has been getting a ton of feedback from Rob and from other founders in the program. We review each others' sales decks, sales calls, outreach messages... and debug things to get closer to "pull", vs "push." It was cool to see that there were pre-revenue companies all the way to companies with $2M+ ARR... each trying to find repeatable pull and deepen their understanding of product-market fit. SO WHAT: Our startup feels different now. We're getting a lot of traction, our sales conversations are smooth, and I know exactly what matters & doesn't. We feel pull in sales calls, customers say, "we're cutting budget... Konko is the only thing we're investing in." This is energizing to hear, and a lot of this comes from the work we've done as part of this bootcamp. If you're a B2B startup, $0-$2M ARR, and customers aren't pulling the product out of your hands... you should apply to the next Product-Market Fit bootcamp. We're coming back for our second round, it starts July 8, DM me for an intro to Rob! (Or just DM Rob Snyder)

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Oftentimes, evaluating the performance of intermediate steps on an LLM pipeline is just as important as evaluating the final output. This is especially relevant for RAG, where you want to score on document relevancy (eval retrieved docs wrt query) and hallucination (eval final generation wrt retrieved docs). We’ll show an example with agents later too. LangChain LangSmith lets you process the entire pipeline trace in an evaluator, eliminating the need for doing contrived things like returning the retrieved docs as part of the final response. Docs here: https://lnkd.in/g3bq6HHB

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If you have a YC interview coming up - reach out and our team of YC Alumni can help set up some mock interviews

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💰 Attn: Are you a founder or CEO prepping for fundraising? Or a GTM pro who works for one? You’ll want to check out our (2) new templates: 📚 Interactive fundraising deck: https://lnkd.in/eCECjnG5 📚 Executive summary: https://lnkd.in/e7SfggGf Even though AssetMule was designed to help GTM teams better engage prospects with interactive sales assets, we’ve started to see an influx of founders signing up to build their fundraising assets. And it makes total sense. Just like buyers, investors are overwhelmed with the amount of pitches coming their way and are harder to reach than ever before. Founders need new ways to rise above the noise and earn their attention. And that’s exactly what AssetMule is designed to do. Not only will these templates help you pull your core fundraising assets together in a fraction of the time & with less effort, but they’ll help you engage investors in a more meaningful way and book more pitch meetings. Check out Justin Dorfman's demo below & sign up for AssetMule to get started for free: https://lnkd.in/efkfwj7i #startups #ceos #founders #fundraising #saas

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FemTech Isn't Niche, It's Next Lets talk about #femtech. When we frame it as a "$multi billion opportunity," we're missing the bigger picture. This isn't about creating another tech vertical - it's about reimagining healthcare innovation itself. Why This Matters Now Israel's ecosystem of 100+ FemTech companies isn't just building products - they're challenging core assumptions about how we approach #health #innovation. While investors flock to #AI and #cybersecurity, they're overlooking a fundamental shift happening right in front of us. Think Bigger! Consider this: - What if every healthcare innovation started with gender-specific insights? - Why do we treat solutions for 51% of humanity as a "specialty market"? - How many breakthrough innovations are we missing by thinking too narrowly? The Real #Opportunity The real opportunity lies in how FemTech approaches could revolutionize all healthcare innovation. These aren't women's health solutions alone- they're blueprints for better inclusive healthcare design. We expect personalized medicine to be personalized and accurate, but currently, it is not. A Call to Innovation Leaders FemTech is a category to invest in. And it is also a catalyst for transforming how we approach all health technology. The companies that understand this first will lead the next wave of healthcare innovation. Because we need to include the 51%! Looking Forward Reimagine the future of healthcare. One that doesn’t need to distinguish between FemTech and health tech, because health tech accounts for everyone. To get there we need to take into account, aggregate data and build solutions for the 51%. We need to impact.51! The house can only be built when all the foundations are strong and in place. That's not niche - that's next. Michal Shalem impact.51 Marissa Fayer Michal Elovitz, MD Mitzi Krockover, MD Nicky Newfield Leslie C. Cohen Yael Maizels, PhD

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