Recently, our Managing Partner, Dr Fiona Pathiraja, was named by Real Deals as one of the 40 individuals pioneering diversity and inclusion in Venture Capital and Private Equity. The list showcases key individuals in the asset class who are making a notable impact on improving diversity and inclusion practices across their firm and the wider industry. We are thrilled that Fiona has been included alongside so many phenomenal investors.
This provides us with a wonderful opportunity to reiterate why we are committed to improving diversity and inclusion in healthtech, and how encouraging diversity in the industry is a key part of our mission to enable ambitious European healthtech entrepreneurs to build world-beating businesses.
For us, it starts very simply: healthcare solutions need to work for patients from all walks of life, so we need to encourage a greater diversity of thought during the inception and funding of these products.
Healthtech, at the end of the day, has to be about patients. And, if a product or service is designed by a homogenous coterie of people, rather than a broad group that considers a variety of experiences and perspectives, it runs the risk of being too narrowly focused, and it will be the patients that feel the consequence. We want to help build a better future for all patients, regardless of background.
That’s why we launched Crista Galli LABS, a separate investing strand that enables us to invest in pre-seed companies that would typically be considered too early for Crista Galli Ventures. In addition to pre-seed investment, these companies receive mentoring and coaching from the Crista Galli Ventures team on how to build their company. At least 50% of the companies we fund via the LABS programme will be founded by outstanding founders from under-represented backgrounds. More about LABS here.
It’s critical that we begin to build a fairer and more representative industry now. We are at the cusp of the healthtech wave. The process of digitisation has taken place in many sectors but in healthcare, it’s happening now. Now is the perfect time to build the solutions that will shape the healthcare industry for years to come. And, therefore, now is the time to gather a more diverse set of minds around the table to ensure those solutions positively impact the lives of all.
