Norwest Venture Partners

Specialty medicine has exploded over the past decade: this $400B market is changing the lives of people with cancer, chronic conditions, and rare diseases. But technology to support the patient journey hasn’t kept up. Courier Health is on a mission to change that by reimagining how life science manufacturers engage and support patients, and we’re thrilled to announce our investment in their Series A. Right now, 60-70% of patients prescribed a specialty medicine either never start or discontinue in the first few months. Courier Health’s comprehensive system addresses the root of that challenge by helping life sciences companies coordinate and personalize the patient journey. Its purpose-built, patient-focused CRM gives teams unprecedented visibility, control, and coordination. Customers have already achieved double-digit improvements to patient starts, time-to-start, and ongoing adherence. Norwest is incredibly fortunate to have found a leader like Courier founder and CEO Danny Sigurdson: customer-obsessed and building for where the market is going. Read more from our Principal Irem Rami and investor Suraj Shah about the team’s next step of establishing itself as a market leader in patient-focused CRM software to ensure more patients receive the breakthrough drugs they need. https://lnkd.in/gtKRi744

If your company is moving from beta customers to customer acquisition, it’s time for a GTM operator to take over sales according to CEO, and sales & marketing exec Tom Turner. Which, of course, means the founder has to take a step back. Tom writes about making the transition from founder-led sales to found-inspired sales on our blog. https://lnkd.in/g9ZjdCFP

Who will revive the unicorpse? Catch Norwest Partner Lisa Wu speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm TECH 2024 Conference on July 16 in Park City, Utah. The magic of Silicon Valley is under pressure like never before as macroeconomic changes take their toll on private markets. Two years after the IPO markets effectively closed to most venture-backed startups, we’re starting to see young companies reach the end of their runways — even as green shoots emerge. Where should entrepreneurs turn for funding? When will IPOs return? And what are founders supposed to do in the meantime? Joining Lisa Wu in the conversation will be Jill (Greenberg) Chase, partner at CapitalG, Jai Das, co-founder, president, and partner at Sapphire Ventures, Matt McIlwain, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, and Renata Quintini, co-founder and managing director at Renegade Partners. The panel will be moderated by Fortune reporter Jessica Mathews. Learn more about Fortune Brainstorm Tech and make sure to stop by this lunch discussion if you’re in town. https://lnkd.in/e9nce9p9

“Our biggest shift in how we approach the current market is that we are taking on more clinical-stage-type investments,” Norwest GP Zack Scott told Houston Business Journal. “We’ve definitely skewed more development-stage recently. We also have certain therapeutic areas we’re more focused on today, and cardiovascular peripherals have always been a very attractive area of investment.” https://lnkd.in/gJva8T4p 

How are AI leaders thinking about workforce automation? Join Norwest partner Scott Beechuk and other leaders like Aaron Levie, CEO at Box and Paige Costello, Head of AI at Asana at Qualified’s AI Workforce Summit to learn more on the future of the AI Workforce. https://bit.ly/4bVLiTC

Time and again, Norwest Talent Principal Teri McFadden has seen the value of startups evaluating the long-term impact of their equity programs from their earliest days. Tracking equity and forecasting future needs across new hire, promotion, and retention equity grants becomes critical to business planning and overall equity dilution. Teri shared her thoughts with Morgan Stanley and Business Insider on the value of equity management for growing companies: https://lnkd.in/gQhWcitN

Pop your headphones in and listen to the latest episode of the Sand Hill Road podcast where Norwest Partner Scott Beechuk chats with host Scott McGrew about our new $3B fund, our diversified investment approach, and practical tips for startup success in today's AI-driven economy. Bonus: You'll also get the scoop on how Scott's music production gigs for Disney and Oliver Stone gave him a unique perspective in the business world. 🎶🎬 Tune in: https://lnkd.in/guvdD8vZ 

Our healthcare team’s north star is investing in companies that realize better patient outcomes at lower costs. We’re proud to continue that momentum with our investment in VenoStent, Inc.’s Series A. VenoStent is seeking to improve the lives of more than 500,000 U.S. patients who receive life-saving dialysis to treat end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or kidney failure each year. The preferred access method (and current standard of care) for dialysis is creating an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) – a surgical connection between an artery and vein. But AVFs are rife with medical challenges, and a significant proportion of patients ultimately can’t use them for dialysis. In fact, only 40 percent of AVFs remain operational within one year after their creation. VenoStent, Inc. aims to dramatically improve outcomes for AVF patients with its bioabsorbable perivascular wrap, SelfWrap. SelfWrap’s early human studies have demonstrated the potential to significantly improve the AVF process and allow AVFs to remain functional longer. Once SelfWrap receives FDA approval, it could increase access to life-saving dialysis for ESRD patients. In short, we’re excited about VenoStent because:  ◼ They’re addressing a serious unmet need in a large patient population that has no other options ◼ The SelfWrap procedure is safe, fast, and easy to perform. Its first-in-human trial demonstrated compelling, first-of-a-kind results ◼ Their top-tier management team, board of directors, and team of advisors has extensive experience in medical device development and approval Read more from our General Partner Zack Scott and Investor Ehi Akhirome: https://lnkd.in/gAmkJU7V

📧  Get guidance from Norwest’s venture investors and operators in our Navigate newsletter. In this edition: ◼️ How Ritual built customer loyalty into obsession with President Elizabeth Reifsnyder ◼️ The do’s and don'ts of venture debt financing from Norwest’s Head of M&A and Capital Markets, Laura Boyd  ◼️ The 10 winning attributes of health & wellness startups from Norwest Partner Lisa Wu, and investor Gabrielle Rush Read: https://lnkd.in/geGJH5JZ  Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/giGZsYfq

🎶🎉 Happy World Music Day! 🎉🎶 Our team loves to groove — we even have a former musician on our investment team who thinks Gen AI has the power to unlock musical innovation. Norwest Partner Scott Beechuk sees a future where AI-generated music artists and performers go on tour. He strongly believes gen AI is a tool (not a replacement) for musicians. “When synthesizers emerged in the 1970s, many traditional acoustic instrument-playing musicians wrote them off as non-musical. In the ’80s, samplers were similarly criticized for supposedly “copying” music and not creating it. We now know that these electronic music devices turned out to be some of the most powerful creative tools ever invented, unlocking entire genres of music like hip hop and EDM. They were ultimately accepted and embraced, expanding the creative possibilities for musicians.” Read more from Scott in Fast Company: https://lnkd.in/gzuHkapM