Breakthrough health tech is useless if it fails to meet people where they are, especially when it comes to underserved populations.
 

So, how do we encourage VCs to invest in culturally competent digital health solutions? How do we direct capital in a way that promotes health equity for women and communities of color?

Deena Shakir is Partner at Lux Capital, where she invests in transformative technologies improving lives and livelihoods.
 

She is passionate about investing in women's health, digital health infrastructure, health equity and foodtech, and her portfolio includes notable startups like Maven Clinic, Everly Health and Gameto.
 

On this episode of The Beat, Deena joins host Dr. Jessica Shepherd to discuss the fertility and maternal health crises we face in the US and the $90 million Lux has invested to address these issues.

Deena describes some of the category leading companies in the Lux health tech portfolio and explains how she thinks about putting women’s health at the forefront of research, technology and innovation.

Listen in for insight on building technologies that meet people where they are and get Deena’s take on the future of the healthcare investment landscape.

Topics Covered

• Deena’s journey to becoming a VC in health and wellness tech
• The $90M Lux has focused on investing in women’s health
• Deena’s insight on the fertility and maternal health crises we face in the US
• The category leading companies in integrated women’s health in the Luxe portfolio
• Putting women’s health at the forefront of research, technology and innovation
• How the conversation around women’s health is changing among VCs
• How innovation has improved coming out of the pandemic
• Why women in leadership serve as champions for cultural competency in healthcare
• How time spent with her founders lifts Deena up on a bad day

Connect with Deena Shakir

Deena at Lux Capital

Connect with Dr. Jessica Shepherd

HLTH

Dr. Shepherd on Twitter

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Resources

Google Health

Maven Clinic

Everly Health

Alife Health

‘Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of Samples Collected Globally in the 20th and 21st Centuries’ in Human Reproduction Update

Gameto

Miga Health

Cityblock Health

Waymark

Anne Wojcicki