“Physicians are at the epicenter of changing the way we live our lives”
AGA launches GI Opportunity Fund
Scope Forward has always been about finding the way forward for gastroenterology. Naturally I was excited that a leading GI society such as the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) was scoping forward by launching a venture capital fund called the GI Opportunity Fund (in partnership with Varia Ventures).
What was even more exciting is that AGA chose to invest in Virgo to launch the fund. I interviewed Virgo’s cofounder Matt Schwartz earlier this year – we talked about the value of data in GI.
In this interview, you’ll learn from Tom Serena (CEO of AGA) on why (and how) AGA chose to go down the route of venture investing. How the market opportunity for GI is enormous. How to invest and participate in this fund? If you are an entrepreneur, how to land an investment.
More importantly, you’ll understand the central premise of this interview. As Andrea Vossler, Cofounder and Managing Director of Varia Ventures said, physicians are the epicenter of medical care. You are the ones who are innovating. It’s time to step forward and make your ideas into a reality. If you listen closely, Matt has this one piece of advice for GI entrepreneurs.
- Why is AGA getting into venture investing
- “We have been staying sharply focused on GI”
- “The market opportunity for GI is enormous”
- What kind of GI or health tech companies will Varia invest in?
- How will the GI Opportunity Fund help Virgo?
- What benefits does Virgo offer to the GI community?
- What kind of exit horizon do these investments have?
- “Our goal is to get Virgo integrated into as many health systems around the globe as quickly as possible”
- “Pivoting,” within a large organization such as the AGA
- How will the GI Opportunity Fund evolve in the coming years?
- “We’re all looking at private equity and how that’s going to affect not just GI but us”
- “Physicians are right in the epicenter of changing the way that we live our lives”
- What is the process of becoming an investor in the fund?
- What is the typical size of the investments that the fund makes?
- The number one piece of advice to entrepreneurs in the GI space
- What is the future of GI?