CVS Launches $100 Million Healthcare Innovation Fund

Need to Know

• The $100 million CVS Health Ventures will focus on companies focused on making healthcare more accessible and affordable.
• Companies developing technology-enabled innovation and disruption in digital healthcare will receive expertise and insights from CVS, in addition to funding.
• CVS Health currently manages a portfolio of more than 20 healthcare investments.

Analysis

CVS has launched a new venture fund that will enable the US pharmacy chain to strengthen its foothold in the digital healthcare space.

CVS Health Ventures will see the company earmark $100 million for investments in healthcare companies whose focus is on making healthcare more accessible and affordable. CVS will be prioritizing companies whose approach to healthcare involves technology-enabled innovation and disruption; Karen Lynch, president and CEO of CVS Health said that the pharmacy is looking for businesses that put customers at the “centre of cutting-edge, digitally enabled solutions.”

“Forming CVS Health Ventures will build on our successful track record of scaling innovation and driving change in health care,” Lynch added.

In addition to funding, CVS will provide expertise and insights from CVS Health to the companies in which it invests. Josh Flum, EVP of enterprise strategy and business development for CVS Health said the new venture will build on CVS’s proven track record of investing in innovative companies; CVS Health already has more than 20 healthcare investments in its portfolio, including HealthEdge and Lumira DX.

“We will build on this experience by providing capital to our start-up and venture partners and helping them scale more rapidly through commercial relationships with our business units,” Flum continued. “This is an exciting opportunity to accelerate innovation and effectively bring new solutions to the consumer health space.”

The new investment plans from CVS come shortly after the company reported massive success with its digital loyalty program, ExtraCare, which now counts more than 74 million members — part of a robust digital strategy which the company first laid out at the beginning of last year.

CVS is following competitor Walgreens into the world of digital healthcare innovation. That chain revealed its internal healthcare startup earlier this year, announcing plans to launch a modern healthcare platform that will allow patients to better manage their care. The platform will allow patients to choose whether they manage their healthcare digitally or in person, and will provide a marketplace that allows patients to find and get care. Walgreens also recently launched a self-serve advertising group, which allows brands to leverage the pharmacy’s loyalty program data.