Jan 13, 2020

Ex-Kleiner Perkins partner raises $87 million for digital health fund

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Lynne Chou O'Keefe, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins, has launched a new venture capital firm called Define Ventures that will focus on early-stage digital health companies. She also raised $87 million for the firm's debut fund.

Why it matters: Digital health is a growing area, with Define to focus on such sub-sectors as telemedicine, clinical research databases, and chronic condition management.

Yes, but: Digital Health still needs to prove itself.

  • Livongo Health, on whose board Chou O'Keefe spent four years before it went public last July, is now trading below its IPO stock price. So is Health Catalyst, another company that recently went public, though there are some small successes like Progyny, which bundles fertility benefits for employers and is profitable.
  • Chou O'Keefe acknowledges that telemedicine isn't the panacea the tech industry thought it would be for health care—in some cases, patients need a lot of in-person interactions with their doctors.

Go deeper: Health care IPOs had a very good 2019

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 12,220,166 — Total deaths: 553,438 — Total recoveries — 6,696,632 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 3,111,902 — Total deaths: 133,195 — Total recoveries: 969,111 — Total tested: 38,032,966 — Map.
  3. Public health: More young people are spreading the virus — Cases rise in 33 states — Florida reports highest single-day death toll since pandemic began.
  4. Science: World Health Organization acknowledges airborne transmission of coronavirus.
  5. 1 🐂 thing: How the world could monitor for potential pandemic animal viruses.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
4 hours ago - Podcasts

Inside Joe Biden's economic plan

Joe Biden on Thursday returned to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to give his first major speech on economic policy since becoming the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

Axios Re:Cap digs into Biden's plans, how they developed and how they may change, with former U.S. Commerce secretary and campaign surrogate Penny Pritzker.

Dave Lawler
5 hours ago - World

Countries grapple with whether to lock back down as hotspots emerge

Tokyo in the time of coronavirus. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty

Many politicians and public health officials sounded a similar lockdown refrain in the spring: let’s do this right so we only have to do it once.

Reality check: While some countries have thus far managed to keep cases under control after opening up, dozens of countries that had initially turned a corner are now seeing a worrying rebound. They have to decide if and how to return to lockdown — and whether their populations will stand for it.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow