Next Ventures Research
Identity and Source Note
Next Ventures is an Austin, Texas based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019. The website supplied for this task, nextventures.vc, did not load over HTTPS during research (the domain resolves to Cloudflare but returns an error). The firm's live site is nextventures.com, which links to the same LinkedIn page (nextventuresvc) and describes the same team. This research is based on nextventures.com, the Fund II press release, and public profiles. Other firms share the name (a UK fintech investor, a Samsung-related entity, and a trading-tools company) and are not covered here.
Investment Thesis
Next Ventures invests in founders defining whole-person health. Its stated view is that the future of healthcare is a proactive and interconnected ecosystem that empowers individuals, extends healthspan, and delivers care with more efficiency and intelligence. The site describes two poles: companies that empower consumers to direct their own care, and organizations that work with providers, payors, and drug manufacturers to improve population health at scale. Portfolio companies are tagged either Health (consumer, wellness, performance) or Care (care delivery, pharma, diagnostics, infrastructure). The firm cites consumers taking greater ownership of their health and AI as drivers of efficiency, intelligence, and personalization across the care continuum.
Stage Focus
The firm describes itself as early-stage. Third-party profiles place it at seed and Series A. The site does not state stage targets, so this is held at moderate confidence.
Check Size
No check size is published. Fund II closed at $60M, which together with roughly 15 to 20 expected companies implies initial checks in the low single-digit millions. This is an inference and is not stored as a structured field.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. Partners are described as having led or been responsible for specific investments (Mel Strong led Oura, Momentous, and Outside; Jordan Pascasio is responsible for Pair Team, Trial Library, BranchLab, Evergreen, Cofertility, Eternal, and Vital Bio), which suggests the firm takes board-level, hands-on roles. Lead tendency is recorded as unknown.
Recent Activity
- September 2025: closed Next Ventures II at $60M, with institutional backing from the Oregon Growth Board and a strategic partnership with Oregon Health & Science University.
- At the Fund II close, Fund II had invested in five companies: BranchLab, WTHN, Cofertility, Ramble, and a care delivery company in stealth.
- Third-party trackers list Tokaido Health (pharmacy benefit navigation) as a recent seed-stage investment in 2026 and report roughly 18 to 36 total investments depending on the source.
- The fund is judged to be actively deploying from Fund II.
Portfolio Highlights
The site lists 18 select portfolio companies across two pages:
- Care: Ephemeral Technologies, Healthier Intelligence (clinical intelligence for oncology), BranchLab (AI-native pharma commercialization), Tokaido Health, Pair Team (care delivery for the safety net), Vital (lab testing), Trial Library (precision medicine access), Mood Health, Adaptyx (continuous biomarker sensing).
- Health: Oura (smart ring), Bathhouse (social wellness), Cofertility, Outside, Evergreen (frozen breakfast), Momentous (performance supplements), WTHN (acupuncture), Ramble (campgrounds), Terra API (fitness and health data API).
Oura is the standout. No exits are listed on the site.
Team
- Lance Armstrong, General Partner: Co-founded the firm in 2019. Livestrong founder, early angel investor and LP in funds that backed Uber and DocuSign, and host of the podcasts THEMOVE and The Forward.
- Mel Strong, General Partner: Founding Partner. Former Nike executive (17 years), led Oura, Momentous, and Outside, and served as interim CMO of Oura. Focuses on health, wellness, and sports technology and on go-to-market support.
- Jordan Pascasio, Partner: Joined in 2021, based in New York. Consumer and healthcare intersection; former Deutsche Bank and MUFG debt capital markets, and founder of TRNDS Sports. Leads content at the fund.
- Felix Kim, Principal: Based in San Francisco. Former Longitude Capital investor, with operating roles at Transcarent and Truepill. Focuses on access-oriented technology and services.
- Dani Kolkebeck, MBA Associate: Austin; supports research and diligence.
Decision Process
A partnership of two general partners, a partner, and a principal. The exact process is not published. Recorded as partnership.
Founder Preferences
Founders building in consumer-directed health, care delivery, pharma and life-science infrastructure, and access to care. The firm adds value through go-to-market, marketing, talent, and executive leadership support, and publishes a Substack on the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare, which is a useful signal of what it wants to see.
Geographic Focus
US focus. Offices or partners sit in Austin, New York, and San Francisco. Fund II's Oregon Growth Board backing and OHSU partnership suggest some Pacific Northwest engagement.