Health tech fund for women’s and children’s health

TORONTO – Cross-Border Impact Ventures (CBIV) has announced the launch of the firm and the first close of its Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund, which will invest in health technology companies that address the health needs of women, children, and adolescents or make health systems more resilient. CBIV has secured US$30 million in commitments towards an ultimate fund size of more than US$100 million and anticipates making its first investments in Q1 2022.

The following experienced health and impact fund investors are among the Limited Partners (LPs) in the CBIV Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund:

• Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), a philanthropic organization focused on transforming the lives of children and adolescents.
• Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC), a non-profit organization catalyzing the development of technologies to improve health worldwide. GHIC is investing in the Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund with the financial support of the German government through its KfW Development Bank.
• Grand Challenges Canada (GCC), a Canadian not-for-profit organization that invests in local innovations that address critical global health, humanitarian, and Indigenous community challenges in Canada and low-resource countries.
• Hamilton Community Foundation, a public foundation whose activities include investing in organizations that create positive impact beyond financial returns.
• Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, an impact investment vehicle within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation that invests in purpose-driven entrepreneurs innovating at the front lines of care.
• RockCreek, a leading global investment firm that applies data-driven technology and innovation to create long-term value.

CBIV is also supported by Sida – the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which provides a guarantee to investors in the fund to encourage private sector participation in the firm’s impact investing strategy.

CBIV will invest in health technology companies with global growth, high return, and impact potential. Its primary focus is on medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies based in North America, Europe, and Israel. Its secondary focus is on commercial stage companies in emerging markets with global technology transfer potential. The fund will use a gender lens to invest and will work with portfolio companies to improve their diversity and ensure products meet the needs of more users of diverse backgrounds.

In addition to sourcing deals, undertaking due diligence, making investments, and working at the board level to support company growth and exit opportunities, CBIV will also target, measure, monitor, and report on impact in terms of health outcomes. CBIV has set an ambitious impact target across its portfolio companies of 500,000 lives saved and improvements in the lives of 10 million underserved women and children in emerging markets.

As an Impact Fund, CBIV is working towards SFDR Article 9 compliance in Europe, and will be signing on to the UN-developed framework for the Principles for Responsible Investment and the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Operating Principles for Impact Management.

“We launched Cross-Border Impact Ventures based on the idea that borders should not dictate who gets access to the best health technologies,” said Annie Thériault (pictured on left), managing partner at CBIV. “Our firm will play an important role in the health technology market by investing in companies that are creating innovations that have the potential to save lives or transform healthcare in North America, Europe, emerging markets, and underserved populations. This includes healthcare tools that are easier to use, provide greater precision, and can rapidly deliver diagnostics.”

“Over the next decade, we expect trillions of dollars to be allocated to impact investing given its potential to drive tangible change,” said Donna Parr (pictured on right), managing partner at CBIV. “The timing could not be better for us to launch our impact fund, which has already attracted interest from investors in global markets that are looking to make a difference in the world while seeking venture returns.”

CBIV has a Scientific Advisory Board composed of world-class medical experts in women’s, children’s, and adolescent’s health and innovation. This Board will provide the investment management team with objective and expert scientific views related to clinical trial protocols, product design needs, adoption issues, and trends in health technology.

CBIV was incubated in partnership with Grand Challenges Canada (GCC), one of the country’s largest impact-first investors. Funded by the Government of Canada and other partners, GCC funds and supports innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada to seed and transition to scale their Bold Ideas with Big Impact®. Over the past 11 years, GCC has funded over 1,300 projects in more than 105 countries. These innovations are expected to save up to 1.78 million lives and improve up to 64 million lives by 2030.

In addition to providing initial funding to develop the strategy and facilitate the first close of the Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund, GCC also supports CBIV with access to world class expertise in health and health impact modeling. CBIV also benefits from GCC’s connections with other global health organizations and on-the-ground implementation partners. While CBIV is an independent firm, GCC will remain an advisor to CBIV.

“We’ve learned from our anchor investment in the Global Health Investment Fund and now incubated a fund more aligned with Canada’s strategic priorities: women’s and children’s health and gender equality. Grand Challenges Canada is an innovation platform designed to support new models of funding innovation for impact, exactly like Cross-Border Impact Ventures,” said Jocelyn Mackie, co-CEO of Grand Challenges Canada.

About Cross-Border Impact Ventures
Cross-Border Impact Ventures (CBIV) is an impact investor in transformative health technology companies that address the needs of women, children, and adolescents or make health systems more resilient. Through its Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund, CBIV primarily invests in commercial stage health technology companies that have global growth, high return, and impact potential. CBIV has set an ambitious impact target of 500,000 lives saved and 10 million lives improved in emerging markets across its portfolio companies. For additional information, visit crossborder.ventures.