Aegis Ventures

Aegis Ventures is a New York-based venture studio founded in 2020 that co-founds and scales AI-native healthtech companies in partnership with leading health systems. The firm operates a distinctive Digital Consortium model, collaborating with 14 regional health systems — including Yale New Haven Health, Keck Medicine of USC, Hartford HealthCare, and Mayo Clinic affiliates — to identify clinical and operational pain points and co-found startups to address them. Co-founders John Beadle and John Driscoll serve as Managing Partners, with David Feinberg as Executive Chairman and Chris Ross, former CIO of Mayo Clinic, as Venture Partner. Aegis leads seed and Series A rounds with check sizes of $1 million to $10 million, and has co-founded and launched 5 companies that collectively raised over $68 million, with an 80% seed-to-Series A conversion rate. Portfolio companies include Ascertain (AI workflow automation), Avandra Imaging (real-world imaging data, $17.5 million Series A), Caregentic (generative AI patient companion), Hume AI (emotionally intelligent voice AI), and Optain (AI retinal imaging for disease screening). The firm concentrates its thesis across five areas: real-world data for care improvement, patient experience, workflow automation, new biomarkers for disease detection, and AI-powered clinical decision-making. The health system consortium structure gives portfolio companies direct access to clinical validation environments, institutional sales channels, and patient populations from day one — a meaningful advantage in a market where clinical credibility is the primary barrier to adoption.