Leerink fund raises $313m for HIT plays

A fund backed by investment bank Leerink Partners raised $313 million for investments in the health information technology sector.

Boston-based Leerink Transformation Partners said its first fund was significantly oversubscribed compared with the $250 million it initially sought to raise. Co-founder Todd Cozzens is a medical device industry veteran and former Sequoia Capital partner; Dr. Jared Kesselheim, a internist, spent 8 years at Bain Capital Ventures.

“We are distinctly positioned to help the best healthcare IT and services companies and their leaders accelerate their growth because of our differentiated backgrounds as founders, operators, clinicians, and investors,” Cozzens said in prepared remarks.

“We built a fund entirely focused on healthcare IT and services because of two key transformative tailwinds: The rapid adoption of information technology and the $3 trillion reimbursement shift underway from fee-for-service medicine toward value-based care,” Kesselheim added. “These drivers have created an unprecedented opportunity for disruption in a massive market whose complexity is best addressed by a fund with 100% sector focus.”

The inaugural fund also manages a $28 million pool, the Massachusetts Innovation Catalyst Fund, a $28 million fund, for backing Massachusetts-based companies.

“Massachusetts is home to some of the top hospitals and biopharmaceutical companies in the world and has abundant software engineering talent, so it is a natural geography to excel in developing healthcare IT businesses,” Kesselheim said. “We’re thrilled to build great local relationships and contribute to the Massachusetts healthcare ecosystem with the MICF.”

The post Leerink fund raises $313m for HIT plays appeared first on MassDevice.

from MassDevice http://ift.tt/2fDu4U5