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Emily Zhen
Principal at Zeal Capital Partners
Emily Zhen is a prominent venture capital investor who recently transitioned from New Enterprise Associates (NEA) to Zeal Capital Partners, where she serves as a Principal focused on health equity investing. At NEA, she specialized in digital health and life sciences, contributing to investments in various healthcare companies and serving as a Board Observer for firms like Spiras Health and Slope.12
Education and Early Career
Zhen graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania's Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management, earning a B.S. in Finance from Wharton and a B.A. in Biology, along with a certificate in healthcare policy. Before her venture capital career, she worked in healthcare investment banking at Goldman Sachs and held positions at the U.S. Department of Treasury, PwC, and several digital health startups.123
Impact and Focus Areas
During her time at NEA, Zhen was instrumental in deploying over $500 million in capital and was involved in the incubation and growth of portfolio companies. Her focus areas included improving healthcare access, affordability, and outcomes, particularly for underserved populations. At Zeal Capital Partners, she leads investments aimed at addressing systemic disparities in healthcare, emphasizing collaboration with diverse management teams.234
Zhen's commitment to health equity is also reflected in her advisory roles, including her involvement with Gold House’s Gold Rush Accelerator, which supports Asian American Pacific Islander founders.2
Highlights
Healthcare payments are complex to navigate. Given our mission at Zeal Capital Partners of closing the wealth, health, and skills gaps, we are active investors in healthcare payments infrastructure and solutions that improve access and affordability of care. One example is our portfolio company Pay Theory. Alongside Pay Theory, we are writing a series on Innovation in Healthcare Payments, and the first is on navigating regulatory and market trends like the increase in out-of-pocket payments, the Hospital and Payer Price Transparency Acts, and the No Surprises Act.
If you are innovating in this space, please feel free to reach out to us!
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One of the investment focus areas I am particularly interested in is AgeTech. Investing in innovative solutions for older adults is critical. The number of Americans 65+ is projected to increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Across the many facets of the AgeTech category, there are opportunities to leverage technology—including AI/machine learning, value-based and home-based care solutions, and financial technologies—to better understand and serve the needs of older adults and caregivers on a longitudinal basis. We are actively looking at investment opportunities in AgeTech at Zeal Capital Partners.
Thank you to Emerging Venture Capitalists Association (EVCA) and Terra Nova for putting this piece together and including me on the 2023 Top 25 Emerging VC List. It was great to discuss my viewpoints on AgeTech innovation spanning from healthcare to fintech, and a few examples of amazing companies I've invested in paving the way including Strive Health, Curana Health, Auxa Health, Icon, Spiras Health, ViuHealth and Seven Starling.
Link to Thesis Brief article: https://lnkd.in/gEKpSCUm
If you are a founder or investor in this space, please reach out!
