WAVEMAKER THREE-SIXTY HEALTH

The WHY

L.A.’s healthcare innovation ecosystem is so incredibly strong thanks to remarkable institutions like UCLA Medical Center, CedarsSinai Medical Center, City of Hope, Keck Hospital of USC, SCAN, Amgen, and many more, plus world-class universities including Caltech, UCLA and USC.

Yet for decades, the city was missing a venture capital fund dedicated to investing in and supporting entrepreneurs that were solving some of the most important problems confronting the US healthcare industry.

Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health (Wavemaker 360) stepped up nine years ago to answer that call. Today, the venture fund is one of the leading investors in early-stage health-tech companies in the US, and on a global scale.

To date, Wavemaker 360 has invested in more than sixty startups that are ambitiously solving some of the biggest problems that patients, clinicians, and key stakeholders of the healthcare industry face, across the continuum of care.

All of us will be customers of the US healthcare system at some point in our lives. The industry currently represents 20% of the US GDP. And because of the baby boomer generation phenomenon, demand for healthcare is increasing (as more and more people turn 65 every day), exacerbated by the fact that Gen X is less healthy at the same age compared to the older generation. And at the same time, the supply of healthcare labor is decreasing, due to burn-out and retirement of healthcare workers.

Healthcare technology is no longer a nice-to have. The industry is in dire need of technology that will enable its workforce to be more productive – similar to what other industries have successfully done over the past three decades.

Wavemaker 360 exists to find, fund, and support innovative health-tech companies that are solving this problem.

Wavemaker 360’s SUPER-POWER

The hallmark of Wavemaker 360 is its strategy to attract Limited Partners (investors) that are healthcare industry insiders. Today, Wavemaker has more than 400 investors, and the majority of these companies, individuals, and family offices are part of the healthcare industry.

This gives Wavemaker 360 a unique muscle when it comes to discovering investible startups, conducting diligence, and most importantly, providing commercial support to its portfolio companies post-investment. And Wavemaker 360 isn’t afraid to flex this muscle!

Since launching in 2017 (with a team of 2½), Wavemaker 360 has grown to a team of more than 15 with offices in Los Angeles (its headquarters) and New York. The investment team is truly cross-functional, with expertise and experience coming together from healthcare executives within roles at providers and payers, as well as clinicians, FDA professionals, technologists, investors, and experienced entrepreneurs.

The firm currently manages three funds (Fund I is a 2018 vintage; Fund II is a 2020 vintage; Fund III is a 2025 vintage).

The HOW

Wavemaker 360 invests into startups that are generally doing one or more of the following:

• Improving the patient experience
• Lowering costs and/or improving access
• Improving the experience of clinicians
• Improving the financial performance of healthcare organizations
• Producing better clinical outcomes for patients

The fund calls this the Quintuple Aim.

Wavemaker 360 focuses on software companies, tech enabled service providers, AI, and medical devices. They have invested in many LA-based and California-based startups, but also great companies all over the country and across the world, including Singapore, Canada, and Western Europe. Generally, the companies Wavemaker 360 invests in are somewhere between angel-funded and invested in by the big Bay Area and Boston-based funds, stage-wise.

And what does this actually look like? If you want to live in a world that has fewer children developing food allergies, or a “smart” walker to help seniors get around better, or a robot dog that improves the quality of life for seniors with dementia, or a software system that enables hospitals to provide better care to prematurely born babies, the funding of these world-class innovations, starts with Wavemaker 360. All of these were born right here in Los Angeles, with the financial backing of Wavemaker 360.

Jay Goss is one of the General Partners of Wavemaker 360 and founded the firm in 2017.
“Yes… a true LA native, having lived here my whole life. I logged 19 years at all three “big schools” in LA (LAUSD K-12, UCLA with a BA in Economics/Business and USC Marshall School of Business with an MBA and concentration in Entrepreneurship) and worked for traditional and corporate startups across Southern California before launching Wavemaker 360. I raised my family in Sherman Oaks where I reside today. I learned the venture capital ropes somewhat organically, having been on the other side of the table raising (and attempting to raise) capital from VCs all over California on behalf of many startups. It has been truly rewarding to work with so many incredible and inspiring entrepreneurs… each and every one of whom is putting a real dent in the healthcare universe.”