Starting a new healthcare venture from the ground up and scaling it into a successful company is challenging under normal circumstances. When that company’s business model is focused on reaching historically underserved patients or when entrepreneurs have limited access to capital and other resources, the challenges increase significantly. It’s impossible to do it alone. At Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures (JJIV), an impact investment fund within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, we actively support partners that are building a stronger ecosystem specifically for healthcare impact entrepreneurship. Here are some recent highlights:

• New investment platform: We funded the development and pilot launch of Baraka Analytics – a unique platform in the global health space to serve both entrepreneurs and investors. It provides a forum for efficient matchmaking, encourages partnerships with potential co-investors, and contextualizes data and analysis to expedite investment opportunities.
• Early-stage entrepreneurs: With funding and support from us, Village Capital recently graduated a cohort of entrepreneurs from the Health Equity Accelerator Program and MIT Solve announced the winners of the 2023 Health Access Prize . Johnson & Johnson also launched its Health Equity Innovation Challenge for 2023 to support local solutions to racial inequities in five U.S. cities.
• Research for advocacy: Innovations in Healthcare released a report based on a study we funded exploring the landscape of impact investing in healthcare, the barriers faced by innovators and funders and actionable solutions to help accelerate progress. Research like this gives us a data-backed roadmap for advancing the field.
• Collaborative convenings: Our JJIV team has been active at several conferences and events recently, including the Global Impact Investing Network, the World Health Summit, SOCAP and the UN General Assembly. While these provide opportunities for broader stakeholder engagement, there is also a need for more focused forums at the intersection of impact investing and healthcare.

In addition to these developments, we have continued our core impact investing and are excited to welcome two new companies into the growing JJIV portfolio. Quality Interactions provides cultural conscious training to healthcare providers in the U.S. and Field Intelligence is building a robust supply chain for essential medicines in Africa.

You can stay up-to-date on all our investments and announcements by visiting the JJIV news page.

Best,

Dana Deardorff
Global Director, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures

Subscribe to read the full newsletter and receive updates from JJIV in the future.