By Oak HC/FT
Looking back on an exceptionally challenging year, we are proud of how quickly and decisively our companies answered the call to adapt – delivering healthcare and financial services to individuals, families, and communities at their times of greatest need. Having worked in venture capital for as long as we have, we know that it is often the moments of greatest adversity that force us to perform at our very best.
The entrepreneurs, executives, and employees across our portfolio companies have done just that and why we are excited to announce that we have recently closed our fourth fund. Adding $1.4 billion of fresh capital will enable us to continue the work we love: partnering with exceptional visionaries who are modernizing, digitizing, and even revolutionizing the way people around the world engage in Healthcare and FinTech.
When we launched Oak HC/FT seven years ago, entire industries were being made and remade by the advent of mobile, data, and the cloud. Nowhere was this more evident than in Healthcare and FinTech, trillion-dollar industries where we have long been participants. Those tech innovations have been welcome solutions to complex regulatory frameworks and enormous market efficiencies and created massive opportunities. This trend that guided our investing for decades continues at even greater scale today.
Our thesis was, and still remains, to leverage our Healthcare and FinTech knowledge and networks to help inspiring founders drive these transformations. Now with Oak HC/FT Fund IV, our team of thirty gains additional runway to pursue our collective passion at a time when Healthcare and FinTech are evolving and accelerating ever more rapidly and globally.
Digital adoption within Healthcare and FinTech has grown more over the last six months than the prior ten years. WhileCOVID-19 accelerated much of that shift, these changes were years in the making and will continue for decades more. Examples like telemedicine and remote care increasing delivery, accessibility, and inclusivity in Healthcare; or in FinTech, vastly improving consumer experiences through applying technology to loan applications, international payments, and identify verification.
These are the opportunities our portfolio of sixty companies is pursuing across the US and around the world which have ranged from immediate to evolving during this systemic shift.
Companies like DispatchHealth instantly sprang to action last year to bring all types of patient care to the home as hospitals became inaccessible, and Ocrolus’ solutions helped half a million small businesses process PPP loan applications to access much needed capital at a critical time.
As the social framework evolved, so did people’s needs. Fortunately, people could access coordinated health and social services through UniteUs’ platform built for serving vulnerable patients in the hardest-to-reach areas. Truepill’s pioneering API technology powered newfound patient access via combined telehealth and pharmacy services. Blend enabled financial institutions to streamline the customer journey with digital lending for virtually any banking product. Namogoo improved the e-commerce experience as consumers have had to rely on online shopping more than ever.
Wholesale shifts in markets present even greater opportunities for broader impact like VillageMD orchestrating the introduction of full-service doctor offices into more than 500 neighborhood Walgreens over the next five years. Rapyd unlocking payments on a massive, global scale by helping any company become FinTech-enabled.
These companies and many more like them in our growing portfolio are emblematic of the innovation and opportunity benefiting consumers in Healthcare and FinTech – today and for years to come. Of course, partnering with and investing in great companies wouldn’t be possible without the support of our loyal limited partners, the tenacity of our talented team, and the unparalleled passion of our entrepreneurs – both new and repeat.
Time and again, we’ve seen the amazing achievements of our companies and with the launch of Fund IV, we at Oak HC/FT are racing forward toward the extraordinary future that lies ahead in Healthcare and FinTech.