Dr Joseph Mocanu, PhD - Investing In Novel Health Tech In Emerging Markets - Verge HealthTech Fund

Dr. Joseph D. Mocanu, Ph.D. (https://www.vergehc.com/team) is the Managing Partner of the Verge HealthTech Fund, focusing on early stage healthcare technology companies relevant to emerging markets. Dr. Mocanu started his career as a scientist, developing new cancer therapies during his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. He co-founded a medical device startup during his studies which brought him into the world of business and his first interactions with VCs. Dr. Mocanu first learned about active investing during his time at DM Capital in Shenzhen, helping launch their first fund, Harmony. He then joined Oliver Wyman’s health and life sciences practice to understand and develop strategies towards addressing key business and market needs for his global healthcare clients, and did so for over 75 projects, and across 20+ markets. During this time he also assisted several funds and conglomerates with their healthcare investment strategies. Seeing the need for more early stage investment for healthcare founders, and the opportunity for technology to make a real difference, Dr. Mocanu began angel investing in health tech companies in 2014, eventually reaching a personal portfolio of 9 companies by 2018. It was at that point that he realized that he needed to do this full time and that there weren't any funds that were focused on seed stage, health tech, and massive solving global problems, which is when he decided to launch Verge HealthTech later that year. Dr. Mocanu has a Ph.D. in medical biophysics from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University, specializing in the Health Sector and Entrepreneurship.