Episode 18: "Simplifying Scientific Language for Healthcare Startup Investors" | Kris Ramadurai, Neue Fund
July 8, 2020
Kris Ramadurai is the senior associate at Neue Fund, a multi-published author, a business and science
thought leader, and a professional brainstormer.
In this episode of Health Tech Hustle Podcast with Rodney Hu, Kris shares his background working as a
scientist and his passion for combining the health and business sector. He defines his role as the senior
associate at Neue and how he works towards making sure scientists use the correct language to get
investments for their healthcare startups.
Listen in to learn what would qualify you as a healthcare tech startup for an investment to grow your
business.
“Nine out of ten startups fail. But to be the one out of ten that succeeds, you need to be the one that stays hustling refusing to die.”- Kris Ramadurai [39:45]
Who are you and what do you do at the Neue Fund? [1:09]
He describes himself as ‘super nerd’ and was originally a researcher at Harvard University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He had the best experience working there together with
prominent people even though the pay was not great. He worked with the UN and the government of
the US and wrote books that would help physicians across the globe. He loves putting science and
business together to relate these fields that are worlds apart.
Where does his job come in bridging the gap between healthcare and technology? [5:21]
His job at Neue Fund is to separate scientific facts from fiction and validate things. Healthcare systems
can be optimized to improve patients’ quality of life and save a life. The healthcare sector’s main focus is
to impacts people’s lives. As they help investors with money, they also want them to have the goal of
impacting people’s lives. He helps investors see where would be the greatest place to invest in but it is
also about cool technology.
Is there a common problem he sees with the industry or with just startups? [9:10]
Scientists are generally passionate about what they do and are needed for developing some technology
or experiment. But they do have a problem of communicating their needs to investors. That is why at
Neue Fund, they are passionate about investing in sustainable startups. Investors should have a founder
and all the other necessary things and make the science easy to get to the people is supposed to. Their
goal is to invest in startups that have cool and tangible technology. He lists all the qualities they look for
in founders- which is mostly the personality.
What separates the companies they want to work with apart from the ones they don’t want to work
with? [19:41]
They choose companies that have goals aligning with their investment objectives and look for the basic
fundamentals. He explains the step by step process they take before considering a company for
investment. He also explains the frame of time it takes before they issue the investments to whichever
startups align with them.
Do they mainly communicate with the founder or the team when a startup is pitching for money?
[28:47]
They communicate with the entire team since startups at that stage have tiny teams of 3-6 people. They
are pitched by the founders although there can be a dealbreaker if they were not pitched by the founder
themselves.
Do they prefer working with scientists, tech experts, and business people together or do they prefer
one over the others? [30:41]
Kris likes hanging with scientists like himself but he’s also professionally able to work with others. He has
to interact with founders to ask for a quarterly update especially during the COVID period to make sure
they can operate without capital raising.
What is the biggest advice he would give to founders in the healthcare tech sector? [33:42]
Validate your tech as much as you can especially in med tech by making sure your idea is totally
propriety and you get the IP on the idea. Don’t get nervous when you’re pitching and have simplicity for
scientific founders. Just make sure you’re transparent and your business model is working and effective.
Subscribe to the podcast:
Apple Podcasts
https://apple.co/2x0G3Um
Spotify
https://spoti.fi/3dVzK4X
Who are you and what do you do at the Neue Fund? [1:09]
He describes himself as ‘super nerd’ and was originally a researcher at Harvard University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He had the best experience working there together with
prominent people even though the pay was not great. He worked with the UN and the government of
the US and wrote books that would help physicians across the globe. He loves putting science and
business together to relate these fields that are worlds apart.
Where does his job come in bridging the gap between healthcare and technology? [5:21]
His job at Neue Fund is to separate scientific facts from fiction and validate things. Healthcare systems
can be optimized to improve patients’ quality of life and save a life. The healthcare sector’s main focus is
to impacts people’s lives. As they help investors with money, they also want them to have the goal of
impacting people’s lives. He helps investors see where would be the greatest place to invest in but it is
also about cool technology.
Is there a common problem he sees with the industry or with just startups? [9:10]
Scientists are generally passionate about what they do and are needed for developing some technology
or experiment. But they do have a problem of communicating their needs to investors. That is why at
Neue Fund, they are passionate about investing in sustainable startups. Investors should have a founder
and all the other necessary things and make the science easy to get to the people is supposed to. Their
goal is to invest in startups that have cool and tangible technology. He lists all the qualities they look for
in founders- which is mostly the personality.
What separates the companies they want to work with apart from the ones they don’t want to work
with? [19:41]
They choose companies that have goals aligning with their investment objectives and look for the basic
fundamentals. He explains the step by step process they take before considering a company for
investment. He also explains the frame of time it takes before they issue the investments to whichever
startups align with them.
Do they mainly communicate with the founder or the team when a startup is pitching for money?
[28:47]
They communicate with the entire team since startups at that stage have tiny teams of 3-6 people. They
are pitched by the founders although there can be a dealbreaker if they were not pitched by the founder
themselves.
Do they prefer working with scientists, tech experts, and business people together or do they prefer
one over the others? [30:41]
Kris likes hanging with scientists like himself but he’s also professionally able to work with others. He has
to interact with founders to ask for a quarterly update especially during the COVID period to make sure
they can operate without capital raising.
What is the biggest advice he would give to founders in the healthcare tech sector? [33:42]
Validate your tech as much as you can especially in med tech by making sure your idea is totally
propriety and you get the IP on the idea. Don’t get nervous when you’re pitching and have simplicity for
scientific founders. Just make sure you’re transparent and your business model is working and effective.
Subscribe to the podcast:
Apple Podcasts
https://apple.co/2x0G3Um
Spotify
https://spoti.fi/3dVzK4X
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