Vaark Ventures

Mark your calendars for May 6! The 2025 Investor and Innovator Exchange is back—co-hosted with NYU Langone Health and NYU Technology Opportunities & Ventures. Dive into NYC’s cutting-edge life sciences scene -no NYU affiliation needed! Founders: Pitch your groundbreaking innovation for a chance at fully paid space at our site. Apply to pitch here ? https://rb.gy/p6my2n Investors & Strategics: Connect with the next big names in healthcare innovation. Request your invite ? https://lu.ma/hy1lkpzg Sponsors: Enhance your brand among industry trailblazers. Explore sponsorship ? https://rb.gy/icmtuu Expect pitch sessions, #networking and insights into the future of life sciences. Additional details can be found here ? https://rb.gy/iafl75 #usualsuspectsbionyc #lifesciences #startups #founders #investors #pitch

In my humble opinion, the best teams are those where ideas are collectively assembled by members. Each person contributes their share of the solution, building upon one another's ideas like stacking Lego pieces to create something greater. It's a harmonious symphony, a dance where teammates complement each other, focusing on the collective "us" rather than individual contributions. Together, we tackle challenges and approach situations to overcome obstacles and surpass our competitors. Throughout my career, I have experienced this synergy in high-stakes scenarios such as managing trauma patients, operating in the OR, or navigating crises like the early days of the Covid pandemic. Reflecting on these situations, a few key factors stand out: the importance of listening, observing, and understanding the problem at hand. It involves taking action, leading or following as needed, and seeking feedback to solve the issue effectively. Learning, adapting, and anticipating the next steps are crucial elements. Understanding one’s role is also important because there is nothing more unnecessary than overlapping or creating tasks that are redundant. It’s like having a basketball team with multiple coaches — the players wouldn’t know whose instruction they should be listening to. Over time, this process builds trust among peers and colleagues, fostering self-confidence. This collaborative approach, where every team member plays a vital role in the collective success, is truly impactful in achieving remarkable results.

Over the last decade, running a VC fund seemed like the dream. Raise capital. Back great founders. Earn management fees. But now? Many GPs are quietly shutting down their funds, and the reasons should make every investor (and founder) pay attention. Here’s what’s happening: ?? The fundraising drought is real. LPs are pulling back. Even well-established funds are struggling to raise. If you’re a first-time GP? Brutal. ?? Management fees don’t pay the bills. A $10 million fund might sound impressive, but 2 percent in fees require a very lean operation. Many are realizing they can make more money staying on their operator path + angel investing on the side. ? The “liquidity desert” is painful. Without IPOs or big exits, GPs aren’t seeing returns. And let’s be real, most funds take 10+ years to prove success. Many don’t have that kind of patience. Prediction: a “secondaries strategy” is going to emerge as a core approach for many funds. ??♂? So GPs are leaving. Some are returning to startup operating roles. Some are pivoting to angel investing. Some are walking away entirely. What does this mean for founders? Raising VC will only get harder. But great businesses will always get funded. The best founders aren’t waiting – they’re building now, proving traction, and running lean. What does this mean for aspiring investors? The era of “anyone can raise a fund” is over. But if you’re serious about investing, there’s still opportunity, you just need to evolve your strategy.

What’s shaping the next decade of healthcare? AI-powered workflows, next-gen diagnostics and monitoring, and value-based care continue to gain momentum. But where are the most exciting investment opportunities? Join us for 'Investing in the Future of Healthcare: Key Trends to Watch', led by Joseph Jasser and Tracy Poole, as we explore key trends in healthcare innovation and how physicians and healthcare leaders can get involved. ?? Wednesday, March 19th | 3:00 PM CT ?? Register now: https://lnkd.in/gEyzZreB

Clip of the day: Two AI agents realize they're both AI and switch to a superior language ?? Just incredible. It makes sense that computers will use a language that is more efficient than spoken English. With these types of signals, AI agents can handle much more data much faster. So the next time my AI agent calls your AI agent they'll probably be speaking in their own language ?? This demo is from a Hackathon by ElevenLabs in London.

I'm really excited to announce that Layer Health is recruiting a Director of Clinical Informatics to join our phenomenal team of machine learning engineers, software engineers, UI/UX, and product team to reimagine clinical workflows powered by LLM's. Candidates should have a MD/DO with advanced training in Clinical Informatics as well as a proven track record of leveraging machine learning in past positions. Layer Health was founded in 2023 by leading machine learning researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School. We are building an AI layer that can accurately and scalably synthesize information from medical records, with the mission to reduce friction everywhere in healthcare. Our LLM-powered platform is solving chart review once and for all, across use cases. For health systems, our first product dramatically accelerates clinical registry abstraction in areas ranging from surgery and cardiology, to oncology. Our long term vision is for our AI layer to safely transform patient care and minimize unnecessary heartbreak. Layer Health’s diverse founding team brings expertise across machine learning, UI/UX, large language models, and medicine. https://lnkd.in/e-53Hisf