Generalist investors are those private or institutional investors that either have a broad investment mandate, meaning that could invest in any relevant sector or theme, or that do not have a mandate at all. In the survey, almost 70% of the investors investing in Nordic Health Tech fall into the category of generalist investors. Examples of these investors include for example
Alliance Venture in Norway,
Spintop Ventures in Sweden, and
Frumtak Ventures in Iceland.
Thematic investors are those investors that have a more narrow scope or focus for their investments, and that tend to focus on a few sectors, themes, or technologies to invest in. As the Venture Ecosystem evolves and new players come in, private and institutional investors choose to narrow their focus, from generalist investors to thematic investors, to win a competitive advantage and to dedicate time and resources to the sectors more relevant to them. In the survey, almost 15% of the investors fell into the category of Thematic investors with a focus on Health. Examples of these investors include for example
People Ventures in Denmark,
Innovestor in Finland or
Farvatn Family Office in Norway.
Finally,
Specialist investors are those investors with a higher expertise, knowledge, or specialization of one or few specific fields, and are in those areas where they focus the majority of their investments. In particular, Specialist Health investors are those investors, private and institutional, that solely invest in Health and its adjacent sub-sectors. Specialist Health investors can choose to invest broadly in Healthcare, investing in everything from Digital Health software to Med Tech hardware, or focus on one or more of the Health Tech sub-sectors, for example, investing only in Life Science. In the survey, a bit less than 20% of the investors fell into the category of Specialist Health investors. Examples of these investors include
Hadean Ventures in Norway and
Novo Nordisk in Denmark.
It is both surprising and encouraging to witness such a high turnout of generalist investors actively investing and involved in Nordic Health Tech. This observation underscores the fact that the health sector, often perceived as niche, actually possesses a broader appeal. Such active participation of generalist investors suggests that the Health Tech sector's potential is increasingly being recognized beyond specialized circles, hinting at its growing significance in the larger investment ecosystem.
The distinction between generalist investors, thematic with Health, and specialists in health, will be used in the report to assess better the different investor perspectives in Nordic Health, to understand better the different investment patterns between generalist and specialist investors investing in Health, and to identify concrete actions to support generalist investors increase their investments, knowledge, and exposure into Nordic Health Tech companies.
Even though specialist and thematic investors represent a small portion of the investors interviewed (over 30% of the survey respondents taken together), we consider that their perspectives provide great insights to a better understanding of investor practices in Nordic Health Tech and we estimate a data sample of 20–25 health tech focused investors to be sufficient and representative of the current Health tech investor landscape investing in Nordic Health Tech.
Investor background in Health
Lack of health education or expertise is believed to be one of the main barriers for investors to invest in Health Tech. Furthermore, there exists a general belief in the Nordic Health Tech ecosystem that there is a lack of specialized investors in health tech. In order to start addressing some of these assumptions, we wanted to understand first if investors investing in the field had any background related to health.
Overall, the results of the survey show that over 80% of the investors that are currently investing in health, 64 out of the 80 investors with at least one investment in Nordic Health Tech, have some sort of background in Health. Either by completing a degree in a Health-related domain or by having previously worked in the field.
Education background in Health. More concretely, the data shows that over half of the investors investing in Nordic Health tech have a formal education in health tech-related disciplines like Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, and Nutrition. Among those however, only a small fraction of the fraction has advanced degrees such as a Doctorate Degree or Post Doc (6% and 2% of the total, respectively).
Educational background in health does differ between generalist and specialist investors. Specialist investors are by nature more likely to have an educational background in health compared to generalist investors (60% of the specialists, compared to 50% of the generalists). Furthermore, specialist investors are also much more likely to have advanced degree levels in the field, such as Ph.D. and post-doc. (20% of specialists compared to 5% of generalists). Such a distinction implies that when it comes to accessing the top end of domain-specific knowledge, especially in nuanced scientific areas, specialist investors hold a distinct advantage over other health tech sector investors. This could also explain why specialist investors are more likely to invest in health tech companies with science-driven products or services (see section 5.1.3).
Professional Experience in Health. When it comes to prior professional work experience in health-related fields, overall, most investors investing in Nordic Health Tech have some sort of previous professional experience related to health (almost 70%). Among these investors, the most likely professional prior experiences are: 1) Working as a Health Tech investor (30% of respondents), 2) Working as a corporate manager in the field of Health (28% of respondents) 3) Working as a founder or employee in a Health startup (24% of respondents).
Professional experience does not differ that much between generalist and specialist investors. Specialist investors are equally likely to have prior professional experience in health, and this experience tends to also be related to working as health investors, as managers in a Health corporation, or as employees in Health startups. The only main difference is that specialist investors investing in Nordic Health Tech are more likely to also have prior experience from working in academic settings in the field of health or from working as medical doctors or clinical professionals (30% of specialist investors indicated an academic or medical professional background, compared to 10% of the generalist investors)
The fact that investors in Nordic Health Tech come from various educational backgrounds and career experiences shows that there are many different paths a typical investor in Nordic Health Tech could take before entering the world of health tech investment. Interestingly, no matter their background, it appears that at least in the Nordic Venture Ecosystem, investors' real-world experience in the healthcare field often is more relevant than their formal education in health-related subjects. This could mean that more corporate or startup employees in the field of Health could aspire to become angels and Venture Capitalists in Nordic Health Tech. Or that many more generalist investors can become Health Tech investors with the right training, practice and support.
Furthermore, the survey findings might also indicate that the Nordics could benefit from a stronger connection between the Health Tech ecosystem and the academic institutions and professional healthcare organizations. As Health innovation evolves, specifically in the fields of life science and biotech, there will be an increased need of deeply specialised health tech investors. And therefore, more scientific graduates, academics, and medical professionals could be incentivized to enter the investment landscape and become specialized health investors.
Investment activity and preferences
The next thing this report wants to understand is how active these investors are when investing in Nordic Health, where are they investing, and what are their preferences and main patterns when investing in Nordic Health Tech.