Oncology Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Oncology Ventures is a specialized venture capital fund singularly focused on improving cancer care through data-driven technology. Founded by Ben Freeberg, a Stage IIIA testicular cancer survivor, the firm's mission is deeply personal: to fund technologies that address the fragmented, expensive, and evidence-resistant U.S. oncology system.
The fund's core thesis is that the biggest opportunity in oncology is not drug discovery — it's the infrastructure, data systems, and navigation tools that turn what we already know into lives saved. With $210B in annual U.S. cancer spend growing at 12% per year and 1.9M new diagnoses annually, Oncology Ventures targets the white space between research breakthroughs and patient outcomes.
Specifically, the firm invests in healthcare data companies that address:
- Early detection — expanding access to screening for high-risk patients
- Care navigation — reducing fragmentation and ensuring guideline-based care
- AI-powered treatment optimization — decision support for oncologists
- Survivorship and supportive care — managing side effects, mental health, and the patient journey beyond treatment
- Digital infrastructure — clinical data pipelines, workflow automation, and research data platforms
Stage Focus
Oncology Ventures is an early-stage seed fund. Virtually all investments are at the seed stage or pre-seed, typically when companies have a working product and early clinical partnerships but before significant revenue scale. The TechCrunch announcement of Fund I confirmed seven seed-stage investments at close.
Check Size
Oncology Ventures writes checks ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million, as confirmed by TechCrunch. This is characteristic of a $30M seed fund with a diversified portfolio strategy. The firm aims to back 15–20 companies from Fund I.
Fund Status
Fund I closed in August 2024 at $30 million — oversubscribed in just 16 months. This was a debut fund for an emerging manager, a notable achievement in a challenging fundraising environment. The fund attracted institutional LPs including Cardinal Health, City of Hope, and Moffitt Cancer Center — all major oncology ecosystem players. Ben Freeberg is a solo GP who has expressed intent to bring on an additional partner.
Portfolio
As of fund close, Oncology Ventures had backed 14 companies across the cancer care continuum, organized into four thematic buckets:
Early Detection
- Gabbi (gabbi.com) — AI-powered breast cancer risk assessment and screening navigation
- mPATH — Bridges patients to lung cancer screening regardless of geography (lung cancer is #1 cancer killer in U.S.); 90% of eligible Americans miss screenings
- SpotDoc — Dermatology AI helping detect early-stage melanoma
Treatment Phase
- Daymark Health (daymarkhealth.com) — Patient-empowering cancer care experience platform
- Reimagine Care (reimaginecare.com) — Virtual-first cancer and recovery care; resolved 95% of symptom management interactions without ER visits
Survivorship
- OncoveryCare (oncoverycare.com) — Teleclinic for cancer survivorship; measurably reduces depression scores
Supportive Care
- Tono (tonohealth.com) — Helps 15,000+ patients receive specialty care and stay on treatment by managing side effects
Additional Portfolio (AI, Data, Infrastructure)
- Lumonus (lumonus.com) — Radiation oncology workflow automation (100 NPS, reduces administrative errors, cuts turnaround time)
- Risa Labs (risalabs.ai) — AI-powered oncology care efficiency platform
- Health Universe (healthuniverse.com) — Healthcare app development platform for clinical AI
- Concr (concr.co) — Farrsight AI platform; seminal study showed median survival improving from 1.5 to 9.7 years
- FidoCure (fidocure.com) — Precision oncology for dogs (canine cancer model for human drug development)
- Biomakers (biomakers.net) — Genomic data platform for cancer research and drug development
- IgniteData (ignitedata.com) — Clinical data platform for life sciences; saves 70 hours per patient in research coordination, reduces lab queries 90%
Team
Ben Freeberg — Founder, Managing Partner Ben is uniquely positioned as someone who has invested in, built, and lived through cancer. Prior to founding Oncology Ventures, he was VP at Optum Ventures (UnitedHealth's VC arm) and was the first employee at Alpha Partners. He also held health plan and operations roles at Thyme Care (backed by a16z and Bessemer). He is six years cancer-free following Stage IIIA testicular cancer diagnosed at age 24. Duke B.Sc. in Economics.
Nandita Kotwani — Venture Associate Former digital product development lead at Memorial Sloan Kettering, previously at Flatiron Health advising community oncology practices, and started career at City of Hope. Columbia MHA.
Jay Freeberg, CPA, CFP, MBA — CFO Partner emeritus at NY accounting firm for 24 years; financial planning and investment management since 1986 via Onyx Bridge Wealth Group.
Sebastian Rositano, MBBS MPH — Venture Partner Medical doctor from Australia, former WHO public health consultant in Geneva, Fulbright Scholar at Columbia (finance), advises life sciences and digital health startups.
Ethan Zohn — Venture Partner Cancer survivor (CD20+ Hodgkin's Lymphoma, twice), CBS Survivor winner, humanitarian, co-founder of Grassroot Soccer (18M+ youth in 60+ countries).
Advisory Board
The firm has assembled an extraordinarily strong advisory committee:
- Lee Newcomer, M.D. — Former CMO of UnitedHealth Group for 11 years; built first commercial cancer database
- Carolyn Starrett — CEO of Flatiron Health (acquired by Roche for ~$2B)
- Emily Melton — Co-founder of Threshold Ventures; NVCA Chairperson
- Jeff Patton, M.D. — CEO of OneOncology
LP Advisory Committee includes executives from City of Hope, Cardinal Health (Navista), Moffitt Cancer Center, Atlantic Health, and Northwell Health Cancer Institute.
Decision Process
Ben Freeberg is a solo GP, meaning final investment decisions rest with him alone. He has stated his intention to eventually bring on another partner. The firm's small team means faster decision-making.
Founder Preferences
Oncology Ventures backs founders building at the intersection of healthcare data and oncology. Given Freeberg's personal journey, they have a strong preference for mission-driven founders. Several portfolio CEOs have noted that Freeberg "tears up" in meetings and brings genuine emotional investment. The firm goes beyond capital — connecting founders with strategic partners, oncology practice networks, and institutional buyers.
Geographic Focus
Primarily U.S.-based investments. One international investment: Biomakers (biomakers.net) appears to be a European company (based on .net domain and CEO Nicolas Kirchuk's language about 'global' impact). FidoCure operates in the U.S. The fund's LP base (Cardinal Health, City of Hope, Moffitt) creates a strong U.S. oncology network.
Anti-Thesis
Oncology Ventures explicitly does not invest in drug discovery. This differentiates them from Reed Jobs' Yosemite ($200M debut fund focused on therapeutics). They focus on digital infrastructure, data, and care navigation — the non-drug side of oncology.