Ep. 13: Gurdane Bhutani of MBX Capital Invests Private Dollars to Catalyze Public Health Innovation

Show Notes:Thousands of venture firms invest in biotech and healthcare startups, but very few have an investment thesis around public health. Chronic underfunding by the government and the private sector has left populations suffering poor health outcomes largely determined by factors upstream of a doctor’s office.Today’s guest Gurdane Bhutani, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MBX Capital invests in emerging companies creating sustainable solutions for improving population-level health. MBX catalyzes opportunities to address public health challenges such as chemical exposure, social isolation, and food insecurity.The firm’s commitment to making contrarian investments in public health innovation—an area traditionally neglected by the venture ecosystem—has proved lucrative. MBX’s first and second funds performed in the top 5% and 25% of benchmarks, respectively.Today’s episode covers taking a root cause approach toward human health, environmental factors fueling chronic disease, and how MBX has pioneered a framework for investing private capital to improve public health.Timestamps:1:14: Gurdane’s Background + Inspiration for MBX Capital3:44: Creating a framework for public health investing7:36: Being mindful of incentives11:37: How MBX assesses prospective portfolio companies13:35: Aligning ROI and social impact15:30: Pursuing public health challenges with a root cause approach18:09: Advocacy is step one19:03: MBX’s investment into Forum21:27: Environmental factors that drive metabolic dysfunction24:44: Social determinants of health26:59: Building a network of public health domain expertsResources Discussed:* HealthyNYC* UniteUs* ForumSubscribe to Healthy Returns and Share with a Friend Today! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nolanshah.substack.com