Welcome to the 102nd edition of Deep Tech Catalyst, the educational channel from The Scenarionist where science meets venture!
AI in healthcare is moving fast—from diagnostics and imaging to drug discovery, virtual care, and advanced therapies.
Alongside the technology, though, there is a quieter but decisive layer: the way capital is structured, which influences how long companies can stay in experimentation mode, how they absorb risk, and how they pace their path to scale.
Within that layer, different models coexist. Traditional closed-end funds work with defined fundraising, deployment, and exit cycles. Family offices and disease-focused foundations often use more flexible or evergreen structures. Each of these approaches creates its own constraints and opportunities for founders and investors working in healthcare.
To explore the patient capital model in more detail, we’re joined by Everett Kamin, Healthcare Investment Director at Gemini Capital Partners, Chief Investment Officer and Board Advisor to the Silverstein Family Office and its Dream Foundation, and Impact Investment and Board Advisor to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Key takeaways from the episode (TL;DR):
🧭 Family Offices Play a Different Game Than Funds
They are not constrained by a 7–10 year fund cycle and focus more on capital returned over time than on IRR, which changes how they underwrite risk in healthcare.
🌱 Evergreen Structures Match Healthcare Timelines
Without a forced exit clock, patient capital can stay with services, devices, and enabling technologies for as long as it takes for regulation, adoption, and reimbursement to catch up.
🤖 In Healthcare AI, Data Comes Before the Model
Investability hinges on data integrity, security, ownership, exclusivity, and access duration—only then does model defensibility and the “flywheel” effect really matter.
👥 Founders Need Both Depth and Versatility
Experienced, “Swiss army knife” teams that have built and launched products before, and that target real unmet needs rather than crowded categories, stand out to this type of investor.
🎗️ Foundations Bring Capital, Credibility, and Access
Mission-driven investors like the Silverstein Dream Foundation and Macmillan Cancer Support act like VCs on the cap table, while also opening doors to hospitals, ecosystems, and non-dilutive grants aligned with specific disease areas.
