November 16, 2025
In 2022, the healthcare venture capital firm secured $55 million to invest exclusively in Black-founded healthcare companies.
Jumpstart Health Investors, America’s first Black healthcare venture capital firm, continues to succeed despite anti-DEI initiatives that pressured it to cease exclusively supporting Black-owned businesses.
Founded in 2020 by Marcus Whitney and Kathryne Cooper, the company aimed to support Black-led health companies “in the wake of America’s racial reckoning.” The company’s original investment initiative, Jumpstart Nova Fund I, exceeded its $30 million target and ultimately built a portfolio of 11 companies and a database of roughly 400 Black founder-led projects.
Last year, the company found itself at a crossroads. The organization faced increasing political and legal pressure from conservative groups targeting DEI-focused programs, grants, and investment vehicles. Whitney said the company decided to move away from an explicit focus on DEI initiatives due to mounting political and legal pressure.
“Our goal is to build an institution, not to continually fend off lawsuits,” Whitney told Venture Nashville Connections.
In November 2024, the company launched Jumpstart Nova Fund II. Unlike its predecessor, it does not consider DEI outcomes in its investment decisions.
“With Jumpstart Nova Fund II, we build on our foundation and successful general partnership, now expanding our investment remit to all founders. Our performance has elevated us to now be the institutional, strategic seed fund of Jumpstart Health Investors,” the company says on its website.
However, despite its expansion, the company continues to support several Black-led organizations, including Therify, a mental health agency that mainly focuses on the Black community. Teamwork is a New York-based company that offers Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for children with autism. Time Study, founded by Kishau Rogers, conducts time studies in hospitals to help assess and improve hospital performance and patient care.
Also, part of the Jumpstart Nova group is Alerje, a Detroit-based startup that manages food allergies and aims to improve the quality of life for people with life-threatening allergies. Mae is a platform designed to meet the specific needs and cultural considerations of underserved expectant mothers.
Visit Jumpstart Health Investors’ website to learn more about Jumpstart Nova and its other initiatives.
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