Seae Ventures launches US$107m fund to address equity gaps in healthcare

The Boston-based venture capital firm, Seae Ventures, has announced its inaugural fund of US$107m.

Seae is the largest fund dedicated to advancing equity by investing in women and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) entrepreneurs, focused on developing technologies that address financial wellness, mental health, women’s health and personalised medicine that benefit traditionally underserved and vulnerable populations.

“It is a well-known fact that women and BIPOC entrepreneurs have not had equal access to capital,” says Jason Robart, Seae Ventures, co-founder and managing partner. “Closing gender and racial equity gaps starts with investing in historically overlooked entrepreneurs.

“We are confident our efforts will motivate other venture firms to recognise this unseen value and amplify our portfolio’s collective mission through investment and support.”

Co-founded in 2019 by Tuoyo Louis, Jason Robart and Pete Sally, Seae is driven by a mission born from their personal experiences and frustration with the widening health disparities across the country.

The firm has garnered support from a broad coalition of more than 30 investors who are dedicated to increasing the prevalence of venture firms with diverse leadership, including the American Hospital Association, Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Cambridge Associates, Eli Lilly and Company, Goldman Sachs and Health Care Service Corporation.

Seae aims to change the overall U.S. healthcare system, having already funded 17 start-ups addressing the country’s most pressing healthcare disparities, including:

• Health in Her HUE, a platform designed to help Black women and women of colour easily access culturally sensitive healthcare providers, health content, and community
• Hurdle, an innovative digital mental health platform company aiming to remove barriers to mental health care for People of Colour
• MD Ally, a company that triages 911 calls and reroutes non-emergency calls to telehealth medical services
• Moving Analytics, a telehealth company providing virtual cardiac rehab solutions
• Tia, a company building the “modern medical home for women” across virtual and in-person care

While the initial fund is closed, Seae will continue to build their firm while enhancing equitable access to capital for diverse entrepreneurs building growth stage companies in future funds.

“Seae Ventures’ mission to drive capital toward diverse founders is not just reflective of our shared goals and values, it is also aligned with our investment thesis, which is to affect supply and demand dynamics,” Jasmine Richards, managing director at Cambridge Associates, has explained.

For more info, visit seaeventures.com.