Morgan DeBaun Pledges $100K to Boost Early Health Startups

Morgan DeBaun, CEO of Blavity Inc, is publicly investing $100,000 in four early-stage health startups. This marks a more vocal phase in her investment career.

Making Her Investment Public

DeBaun has historically been a private angel investor, making small investments without announcements. However, she recently declared her change in strategy through a Substack post, emphasizing the need to be more open about her involvement.

A Personal Shift

Turning 36 and managing family responsibilities have influenced DeBaun's decision. Her experiences with healthcare access highlighted the common problem of balancing time for personal care with other commitments.

Opportunities in Health Tech

DeBaun sees promise in technology that addresses real-world health needs. She believes current systems focus too much on crises rather than comprehensive care and prevention, noting artificial intelligence's potential to aid patient understanding and reduce administrative tasks.

Her journey through AfroTech, which expanded significantly over the years, introduced her to numerous health tech innovators facing challenges in securing early funding due to regulatory and timeline issues.

A Call to Support Early-Stage Innovators

DeBaun expressed frustration with the lack of interest from partners and firms in startups that lack immediate profitability but hold potential. She aims to support these founders by funding new digital health and technology initiatives.

The initiatives she plans to fund include digital health apps, AI-driven tools, telehealth platforms, nutrition-focused solutions, health data analytics, and consumer health innovations aimed at closing existing gaps in healthcare accessibility.