Founding.Health Research
Overview
Founding.Health is a healthcare venture studio based in New York City, focused on the intersection of healthcare delivery, operations, and coordination. The studio is led by Vadim Gordin and positions itself as targeting the "#MightyMiddle" of healthtech — a deliberate strategic positioning in the gap that most traditional venture capital funds overlook.
Investment Thesis: The MightyMiddle
Founding.Health's core thesis centers on what it calls the #MightyMiddle of healthtech: companies targeting exits in the $20M–$120M M&A sweet spot on 3-5 year timelines, rather than the traditional VC timeline of 10-15 years. This thesis addresses a structural mismatch in the digital health funding market, where most VC fund liquidity targets require exits above $200M, yet the majority of healthcare M&A activity occurs below $100M.
The studio specifically backs companies where the exit path is a strategic M&A acquisition — by hospital systems, insurers, or larger health IT platforms — rather than IPOs or mega-exits. This makes Founding.Health well-suited for companies solving point solutions within healthcare operations, revenue cycle management, care coordination, and healthcare delivery workflow.
Focus Areas
Founding.Health invests in three primary domains:
- Healthcare Delivery — Tools and platforms improving clinical workflows, patient access, and care pathways
- Healthcare Operations — Revenue cycle, billing, administrative automation, and health system operations
- Healthcare Coordination — Care transitions, referral management, cross-site coordination, and interoperability
The studio has a stated focus on companies that serve Medicare and Medicaid populations, reflecting Vadim Gordin's personal expertise in selling into long-term care facilities, hospitals, and state-wide health agencies.
Stage & Investment Approach
Founding.Health operates as a venture studio with two modes of engagement:
- Studio incubation — Working with founders at the idea stage to build companies from scratch
- Direct investment — Investing in existing teams that have achieved early traction (>$250K ARR threshold)
As a venture studio rather than a traditional fund, Founding.Health takes a hands-on operating role in its portfolio companies, providing strategic guidance, network introductions, and operational support in addition to capital.
Check Size
Explicit check sizes are not publicly disclosed. Given the focus on pre-seed and early-seed stage companies at the MightyMiddle exit range ($20M-$120M), typical check sizes likely fall in the $100K-$500K range for initial investments, with possible follow-on reserves.
Lead Tendency
As a venture studio, Founding.Health typically leads or co-leads early investment rounds, particularly at the pre-seed stage where it incubates companies.
Team
Vadim Gordin – Managing Partner / Founder Vadim Gordin is the primary GP and managing partner of Founding.Health. He brings deep expertise in healthcare entrepreneurship and venture building:
- Associate Director of Incubation and Acceleration at New York University (NYU)
- Founding Director of NYU Future Labs A/X Venture Studio
- Founder of MarkOne Health (markone.health) — a community for digital health, medical device, and pharma founders centered around in-person events, workshops, and the annual Medicare/Medicaid Founders and Funders Dinner at 124 East 14th Street, New York
- Former healthcare founder who sold products into long-term care facilities, hospitals, and state-wide health agencies
- Techstars Mentor (2023 Mentorship All-Star)
- Venture Partner at Vaark.VC (physician-led angel syndicate focused on healthtech)
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vadimgordin/
Related Ventures
MarkOne Health (markone.health) is a separate company founded by Vadim Gordin in November 2024. It operates as a community and event organization for NYC-area digital health, medical device, and pharma founders. MarkOne Health organizes workshops to help founders build prototypes, land pilots, and achieve first revenue. It also manages an angel investment syndicate and hosts the annual Medicare/Medicaid Founders and Funders Dinner. While MarkOne Health is not a Founding.Health portfolio investment in the traditional sense, it is closely associated with the studio's deal sourcing and founder network.
Recent Activity & Fund Status
Founding.Health is described as a "new" venture studio, suggesting it is in an early stage of deployment. The studio appears to be actively building its portfolio and founder network. Vadim Gordin is active as a thought leader in digital health, having given interviews and published content on the topic of the best time to build in digital health. The MarkOne Health community events serve as a pipeline for deal sourcing, particularly for companies serving Medicare and Medicaid populations.
Geographic Focus
Founding.Health is NYC-based with a national US focus, given Vadim's network through NYU and Techstars. The Medicare/Medicaid focus implies particular attention to markets with large government healthcare program populations.
Founder Preferences
Based on the studio's positioning:
- Healthcare operators and clinicians building technology solutions
- Founders with direct experience selling into health systems
- Teams that understand the regulatory and procurement complexity of healthcare
- Builders targeting durable, recurring revenue from payers or providers in Medicare/Medicaid ecosystems
Anti-Thesis
Founding.Health implicitly avoids:
- Companies targeting IPO-scale exits (>$200M)
- Pure consumer health/wellness plays
- Biotech/pharma (drug development)
- Companies with 10+ year liquidity horizons
Summary
Founding.Health fills a specific niche in the digital health funding landscape as a venture studio purpose-built for the M&A-driven MightyMiddle. With a founder-operator in Vadim Gordin who has deep roots in the NYC healthcare entrepreneurship ecosystem (via NYU, Techstars, and MarkOne Health), the studio is well-positioned to source, build, and exit healthcare tech companies through the M&A channel in the $20M-$120M range. As a new entity, its public-facing portfolio is not yet disclosed.