On the heels of the NFL draft, Flare Capital is excited to announce two new first round draft choices as we continue to expand our team. Recognizing how competitive our league is, we look to build a roster of All Stars from top to bottom. With a nod to the recent FTC non-compete ruling, we also welcome all unrestricted free agents who are excited to put on the Flare Capital uniform every day.
As we are now on the clock, the envelopes please. Presented alphabetically, please welcome our two newest team members…
Amanda DiTrolio was drafted to be our Director of Marketing and Platform. Prior to joining the firm, Amanda was the Growth and Operations Lead at Health Tech Nerds, a dedicated and passionate community of over 5k healthcare technology innovators who are obsessively focused on transforming the business of healthcare. Partnered with our good friend Kevin O’Leary, Amanda managed events, penned thought pieces, and delivered every Sunday to over 22k of us a healthcare newsletter that is required reading. Prior to HTN, Amanda spent several years at CB Insights as its Healthcare Intelligence Analyst. While at New York University – Polytechnic School of Engineering, where she earned a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, she interned with a few venture capital and social impact firms, demonstrating very early on her commitment to our sector.
As our Director of Marketing and Platform, Amanda will continue to push the firm forward on thought leadership and to build even more engaged communities around the firm. Whether it is our very successful quarterly Expert Roundtable Series (next one is June 25 @ noon ET), important thought pieces and blog posts, or more entertaining pickleball and ping pong tournaments, the best entrepreneurs have many alternatives to raise capital and we want to be the firm that helps them look around corners. Additionally, Amanda will continue to evolve our Flare Scholar program that now has nearly 400 current and former members. This has become a cornerstone asset of the firm.
We are also thrilled to welcome Jessica Radford as our Director of Investor Relations. Prior to joining Flare Capital, Jessica worked with some very innovative companies across a range of industries from strategic consulting to crypto exchanges to e-commerce platforms. With an emphasis on human capital management, what most impressed us about this draft choice was her ability to organize key stakeholders and articulate a strategy and approach that resonated with all involved. Magnetic and articulate, Jessica will deepen our engagement with our current investors and light up new relationships as we continue to scale the Flare Capital franchise. While earning her B.A. from Purdue University in Organizational Communication and Management, she also spent time in Australia studying international business.
As with our portfolio companies, raising capital and collaborating with our investors simply need to be core competencies. The strength of our firm is predicated on having long-term sophisticated investment partners, which we are deeply fortunate to have. A portion of the capital we manage is provided by nearly three dozen strategic LPs, who collectively touch nearly 25% of all healthcare spend annually. We listen carefully to the strategic issues they are solving as that often informs where we might look to invest. Jessica will play an important role in deepening these conversations and making them even more actionable. Our financial investors (endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, family offices) also are a critical set of partners as they look for exciting co-investment opportunities.
As with our entrepreneurs, our investors have a near-infinite set of investment alternatives. To stand out and earn their trust, we need to do hundreds of little things (mostly) right every day. We compete on the strength of our investment team and the value we can help drive for our entrepreneurs and investors. Ultimately, it is still all about compelling investment returns. The great fortune we enjoy investing in early-stage healthcare technology companies is that as our companies transform the business of healthcare, significant returns will be generated. These two team additions will help make that more of a reality.
Unfortunately, though, this is not a sport where everyone gets a trophy. Only the best teams win.
Welcome aboard, Amanda and Jessica…grab your helmets…
On the Flying Bridge 