A1 Health Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
A1 Health Ventures invests in early-stage technology and tech-enabled services that solve health systems' most pressing operational and clinical challenges. The firm was jointly developed by Abundant Venture Partners and First Trust Capital Partners, and its limited partner base is built directly from the provider ecosystem: national health systems, senior health-system executives, and institutional investors whose combined organizations serve 15M+ patients annually, generate $64B+ in annual net patient revenue, operate 110+ U.S. hospitals, and employ 285K+ community members. That LP structure gives A1 direct distribution and validation channels inside the health systems its portfolio companies sell to, which the firm treats as a core part of its value proposition to founders.
Sector Focus
A1 organizes its thesis around three named pillars: Care Redesign, Workforce Optimization, and Health Equity. In practice this spans specialty-care navigation and referral automation (Switchboard Health), value-based musculoskeletal and kidney care delivery (Livara Health, Duo Health), digital behavioral health (Precise Behavioral), perioperative/surgical optimization (Pip Care), ambient clinical documentation (Playback Health), laboratory data and analytics (hc1), post-acute virtual care (Third Eye Health), healthcare workforce technology (Prolucent), and strategic advisory for health system leaders (AVIA). AI and automation are recurring technical themes across the portfolio rather than a standalone thesis.
Stage Focus
A1 focuses on early-stage companies and, based on its disclosed rounds, appears to concentrate primarily on Series A and Series B financings rather than pre-seed or seed.
Check Size
Disclosed round participation ranges from a $4M investment (Prolucent) to leading a $15M Series B (Livara Health), with several rounds in the $5M-$6.25M range. This suggests a working check size in the low single digits to mid-teens of millions, though A1's specific allocation within larger syndicated rounds is not always disclosed.
Lead Tendency
A1 has led or co-led the majority of its publicly announced deals, including Pip Care's $5M Series A (October 2024), Livara Health's $15M Series B (May 2024), and Precise Behavioral's $14.2M venture round (July 2026). It also participates alongside other investors, as with hc1's $6.25M round led by Health Cloud Capital (January 2025).
Recent Activity
A1 has been active through mid-2026. In its most notable recent event, portfolio company Switchboard Health acquired fellow portfolio company Livara Health in August 2026, integrating Livara's value-based MSK program into Switchboard's care-navigation platform; A1 participated in the accompanying $5M funding round alongside First Trust Capital Partners, Route 66 Ventures, Allumia Ventures, and Martin Ventures. This marks a clear "portfolio synergy" pattern: A1 appears willing to broker and back combinations between its own portfolio companies.
Portfolio Highlights
Ten portfolio companies are listed on A1's site, spanning active investments (AVIA, hc1, Pip Care, Playback Health, Third Eye Health, Prolucent), new additions (Switchboard Health, Duo Health, Precise Behavioral), and one exit via intra-portfolio acquisition (Livara Health, acquired by Switchboard Health in 2026). Co-investors across these rounds include UPMC Enterprises, Polaris Partners, Providence Ventures, Martin Ventures, Ziegler Link-Age Fund, Converge Capital Partners, Granite Financial Holdings (a Blue Cross of Idaho affiliate), First Trust Capital Partners, Route 66 Ventures, and Allumia Ventures — a mix of health-system-adjacent strategics and healthcare-focused financial investors.
Team
- Eric Langshur, Managing Director
- Jon Phillips, Managing Director
- Karim Botros, Managing Director — quoted publicly on the Precise Behavioral investment, describing the company's growth to profitability and national clinical footprint
- Rachel Kern, Managing Director
- Connor McDermott, Vice President
- Jake Louiselle, Analyst
- Matt Hallgren, Chief Financial Officer
- Lee Miller, Chief Compliance Officer
Joe Greskoviak, former CEO of Press Ganey and a partner at co-founding firm Abundant Venture Partners, joined Prolucent's board as part of A1's $4M investment in that company (October 2023), indicating the firm uses board seats and operating-executive relationships as an active part of its involvement model.
Decision Process
With four Managing Directors and no single named "founder" or solo GP, A1 appears to operate as a partnership-style decision process typical of a multi-partner healthcare-focused fund.
Founder Preferences
A1's investments consistently favor tech-enabled healthcare services companies with existing health-system commercial traction or partnerships (e.g., Precise Behavioral's relationships with CommonSpirit and Prime Healthcare; Pip Care's origin inside UPMC Enterprises/Redesign Health), rather than pure point-solution software plays without provider validation.
Geographic Focus
A1 is headquartered in Chicago, IL, and invests in U.S.-based healthcare companies; portfolio companies are geographically dispersed (e.g., Precise Behavioral in Westlake Village, CA), consistent with a national health-system-LP-driven sourcing model rather than a regional focus.