Ziegler Link-age Funds Research
Overview
The Ziegler Link-age Funds are a family of venture funds run by Ziegler, a privately held Chicago investment bank and capital markets firm that specializes in healthcare, senior living and education finance. The funds are a partnership between Ziegler and Link-age, a cost-containment and market-research organization that serves more than 600 senior living providers. The funds are not a typical venture firm. Their limited partners are senior living providers, health systems and strategic service companies in the United States, Canada and Australia, and the funds exist partly to connect those operators with technology and services companies built for older adults.
Investment Thesis
The funds describe themselves as growth-oriented innovation funds focused on technology, tech-enabled services and emerging care delivery models in the post-acute and aging markets. The pitch is that the US population over 65 is growing quickly (the fund overview cites a Census projection of 72 million people over 65 by 2030) and that the care system serving it is complex and changing. The funds say they invest in companies that improve the lives of older adults and the people who care for them.
Stated investment criteria:
- Leading-edge products, services and technology for the senior marketplace
- Differentiated market positioning that can be transformative under healthcare reform
- An addressable market large enough to support significant scale
- An experienced management team willing to use the funds' resources and relationships
- Sustainable competitive advantages, positioning or efficiencies
Stage Focus
The site says portfolio companies will typically have reached commercialization with a differentiated solution and prospects for growing revenue. That points to post-product, early-revenue and growth rounds rather than pre-seed. No explicit stage list is published, so stage preferences here are inferred and carry low confidence.
Check Size
No check size is published. The funds hold more than $110 million of committed capital across three funds (Link-age Longevity Fund I, Fund II and Fund III) and 28 current portfolio investments. Fund III alone has $49 million committed and listed 7 investments. That implies small to mid-sized positions, but the range is not stated and is left blank.
Lead Tendency
The funds are not described as lead investors. Partners take board seats and observer seats: Katie Schmitz sits on five boards and Jenny Poth sits on the Precise Behavioral board and observes at several others. Lead versus follow is left as unknown.
Recent Activity
- April 2023: Ziegler Link-age Fund III announced a significant investment in At Home Harmony, a home-based geriatric care company.
- September 2025: Ziegler Link-age Funds and LeadingAge CAST released the inaugural CTO Hotline benchmarking report on technology in not-for-profit senior living.
- July 2026: Second annual CTO Hotline published; the 2026 Ziegler Link-age Symposium was held at Ziegler headquarters in Chicago for fund investors and portfolio companies.
- 2026: Shauna Sweeney, founder and CEO of tendercare, named recipient of the John Hopper Impact Award.
The most recent portfolio additions on the site include Season Health, Alix, Cascala and Precise Behavioral, though investment dates are not given.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists 36 current and realized companies across healthcare IT, healthcare services and other aging and post-acute businesses. Names include Curana Health (formerly AllyAlign Health), Lifespark, CareLinx, Caremerge, K4Connect, Payactiv, ShiftKey and OnShift, True Link, Access TeleCare, BlueStar Telehealth, VyncaCare, Season Health and Precise Behavioral. The CoachCare entry notes that it acquired VitalTech. Past board exits mentioned in team bios include Ingenios (sold to Almost Family in 2015), Certify Data Systems (sold to Humana in 2012) and Auditz (sold to TransUnion in 2016).
Team
- Katie Schmitz: Managing Director and Practice Head, Managing Partner of the Link-age Funds. Based in Milwaukee. Over 10 years of operating and investing experience.
- Neil Borg: Senior Managing Director at Ziegler since 2006, head of healthcare investment banking, managing partner of the Link-age Longevity Fund. Former J.P. Morgan and Hambrecht & Quist healthcare banker.
- Scott Collins: President and CEO of Link-age, which has solutions, ventures and market research arms.
- Jenny Poth: Senior Vice President, joined Ziegler in 2016. Leads sourcing, diligence and portfolio management and authors the CTO Hotline reports.
Decision Process
A partnership of Ziegler and Link-age principals, with strategic input from the limited partner base of senior living providers. The funds emphasize that their strategic investors help portfolio companies understand and sell into senior living. Warm introductions are not required: the site has a form for companies to submit their details.
Founder Preferences
Experienced management teams that will use the funds' network of 160-plus senior living provider investors as customers, design partners and references. Companies without a path into senior living or post-acute care are unlikely to fit.
Geographic Focus
United States first, with LPs in Canada and Australia. No geographic restriction on portfolio companies is published.
Gaps
Check size, explicit stage list, current fund status and investment dates for most portfolio companies were not available from public sources. Portfolio domains were not captured from the logo wall.