LifePoint Health is teaming up with venture studio 25madison and Apollo Global Management to launch a startup incubator for health tech in Nashville, according to a news release Tuesday.

Dubbed 25m Health, the new venture will kick off with $20 million in seed funding. The companies hope combining LifePoint’s healthcare knowledge with 25madison’s startup experience will help spawn a wave of innovative companies, products and services to improve healthcare quality, access and patient outcomes and lower costs at the same time.

LifePoint previously invested in other digital health companies, including Cadence, Eon and Loyal Health. But 25m Health will allow the healthcare giant to invest in building new businesses, products and services, especially those that solve the problems facing LifePoint and other rural providers.

“These solutions will be tailormade for our communities by listening to our caregivers, solving their pain points,” LifePoint Health CEO David Dill said.

In recent years, health systems have partnered with experienced venture capitalists to help get new startups up and running. For instance, New York’s Northwell Health recently announced a joint venture with Aegis to build and launch artificial intelligence-enabled healthcare startups. They’re hoping to cash in on the growing digital health market and develop new products and services to streamline operations as the healthcare delivery system slowly modernizes.

Venture capitalists invested a record-breaking $23 billion in digital health during the first nine months of 2021, according to data from Digital Health Business & Technology. That’s a 118% increase compared to the same period last year. More than 2,100 investors poured money into digital health through the first three quarters of the year, a notable increase over the roughly 1,500 investors that did so during the first nine months of 2020.

Source: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/finance/lifepoint-health-launching-health-tech-incubator