Startup Speaker: Urvashi Bhatnagar, GP at The Good Science Fund
Early in her career as a clinician, Urvashi Bhatnagar, DPT, MBA (Yale SOM ’21) learned there is a great disparity in how healthcare is delivered. Her interest in equitable healthcare led her to a career in consulting where she advised clients in the private and government healthcare sector on how to stay ahead of key industry trends, and healthcare innovation focused on accessing and delivering it to communities that need it the most. It also led her to Yale, where she completed her MBA at Yale School of Management and met several would-be collaborators, including Professor Paul Anastas, the co-author of her book The Sustainability Scorecard. The book takes an industry-agnostic view at how ROI can be driven in opportunities that would return a multiple on exit in the short term, in the medium term and in the long term. This idea that a venture fund could demonstrate the ROI and become the inspiration for a meaningful movement led Urvashi to become founding partner of The Good Science Fund, a VC fund launched in January 2024 that invests at the intersection of climate and health.
Globally only 15% of the checkwriters are women, which means 85% of the population writing checks is male1. The immediate impact of having more women in venture would be transformational for spaces in the economy, such as women's health, education and healthcare.
In speaking with many students and Yale innovators as part of the Yale Ventures startup speaker series on June 18, Urvashi discussed the need for diversity in venture capital and its impact on healthcare. She shared personal experiences launching a venture fund and strategies for navigating regulatory challenges, sourcing deals, and building a strong network. She also discussed how university innovation can be the tip of the sphere for breakthrough tech.
During the process of writing this book I understood that technology that is at the cusp of commercialization, perhaps two or three years out from making it out of a lab, was a hugely untapped area. There are some trends that we always see when you look at breakthrough technology that is now living out in the world and funded by amazing, well-known individuals, and you trace it back to when that technology was just born. Very often it was compelling intellectual property born in a lab, and it was born by way of a technical co-founder that just really, really understood the science.
About the speaker: Urvashi Bhatnagar is the founder and general partner at The Good Science Fund. She is the author of the Sustainability Scorecard with Yale’s Paul Anastas. Prior to her work in the United States, she led healthcare advocacy and education initiatives related to Poliomyelitis and Tuberculosis in some of the poorest states of India and improved patient access to care, particularly in the field of orthopedics. By way of her international public health and domestic impact on population health, she recognizes that global total wellness can only occur by way of sustained, systematic and intentional investment in social and environmental determinants of health.
About the series: The Yale Ventures Startup Speaker Series is a series of dynamic virtual discussions featuring a lineup of founders, investors, and key members of the Yale innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Open to the Yale community, this series is designed to explore critical topics for aspiring and current founders, offering invaluable insights and inspiration. Sessions may explore the journeys of successful entrepreneurs, the nuances of startup investment, and the latest trends in innovation. Whether you’re a student, alumnus, or part of the Yale faculty, this series promises to be an enriching experience, fostering connections and empowering Yale founders.
Register for upcoming Startup Speaker Series events here.