Nurse Capital Closes $1M Fund to Invest in Nurse-Led Startups

Nurse Capital, a venture capital firm in Chicago, has closed its inaugural $1M Fund called the Nurse Founders Fund. This fund is aimed at investing in Late Seed and Series A rounds of startups founded and led by Registered Nurses developing innovative healthcare solutions. The fund will support startups focusing on healthcare devices, technology platforms, enterprise software, patient education, and health products and services.

The venture was established by Marla J. Weston, PhD, RN, and Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN in 2022 to address the funding gap for nurse-led startups. The partners bring over 50 years of combined experience in executive leadership roles in healthcare administration, academia, and business consulting.

Nurse Capital aims to challenge stereotypes about nurses' abilities to innovate and lead businesses, and has assembled a group of limited partners, all of whom are RNs with extensive senior executive leadership experience, to provide financial resources and expertise to nurse entrepreneurs. The fund requires the top leader of the businesses it invests in to be an RN, but is not gender-focused. However, it is part of the ecosystem of women-led venture capital funds striving to increase investments in startups founded and led by women and underrepresented founders.