The mHealth Summit Venture+ Forum, an event linked to the Dec. 8-11 HIMSS Media mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C., is poised to highlight, and help connect, two trends: the growth of mobile venture capital and the anticipated boom in mHealth technology.

 

[See also: mHealth brings, 'Can you heal me now?'.]

 

"The Venture+ Forum, which is focused on bringing the newest, most promising innovations to light, is the perfect way to start off the Summit," said Rich Scarfo, vice president of events for HIMSS Media and director of the mHealth Summit, in a Nov. 12 news release. The Venture+ Forum takes place on Sunday, Dec. 8, with an agenda featuring presentations and panel discussion with a variety of mHealth innovators and industry investors.

 

Qualcomm Life Fund director Jack Young will keynote the event, and he promises to shed light on the strategy of one of the largest venture funds. Young has guided the $100 million Life Fund, with particular interests in self-monitoring, aging in place, transitional care and clinical trials, as part of Qualcomm Ventures, a firm broadly investing in mobile and wireless technology. Young is excited about this year's Forum, because he sees digital health at a crossroads.

 

[See also: mHealth enters consumer Golden Age.]

 

"Institutional and corporate investors have built up portfolios, while incubators and accelerators around the world are churning out more companies, and crowdfunding sources are enamored with personal health devices - but is this sustainable?," asked Young in the news release. Young is an electrical engineer and former EVP for the ZTE Corporation, the world’s fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer.

 

Young said he intends to explore that question during his keynote, and address the viability of today's boom in mHealth funding while assessing where investment dollars might trend over the next few years.

 

Also central to the Venture+ Forum is a "Judges Panel" that will review presentations from 11 mHealth startup firms. Scarfo said the presentations would highlight new mobile-clinical integration platforms, personal genomics and clinical research technologies. Entrepreneurs will try to impress industry insiders and Forum "judges" like Andrew Farquharson, managing director of InCube Ventures; Valeria Gaydos, president of Capital Growth; and Amy Millman, president of Springboard Enterprises.

 

Also scheduled to appear at the Venture+ Forum are Eric Koester, COO of the small business IT firm Data Collateral; Elliot Menschik, MD, managing partner of DreamIt Ventures; Lorren Pettit, market research VP at HIMSS Analytics; Patricia Salber, MD, CEO of Health Tech Hatch; Amita Shukla, CEO of Vitamita; Lisa Suennen, managing member of the Psilos Group; and Christopher Wasden, managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 

This story first appeared in Healthcare Finance News here.