Ballad Ventures is a venture capital platform focused on investing in innovative ideas which transform the health care experience, cost, access, and outcomes. As the venture capital arm of Ballad Health, the wholly-owned subsidiary seeks opportunities which drive the mission, vision, and strategic initiatives of the organization.
Care Delivery resulting in improvements with clinical experience, extension of clinical reach, or workforce challenges.
Patient Experience allowing for more personalized care and access.
Clinical improvements and delivery allowing for improved quality outcomes for the system and industry.
Cost of care with emphasis on value-based arrangements.
Care innovation allowing for opportunities to create new service lines or improved growth.
Care Delivery resulting in improvements with clinical experience, extension of clinical reach, or workforce challenges.
Patient Experience allowing for more personalized care and access.
Clinical improvements and delivery allowing for improved quality outcomes for the system and industry.
Cost of care with emphasis on value-based arrangements.
Care innovation allowing for opportunities to create new service lines or improved growth
Emphasis will be given to opportunities which address care anywhere, consumerism, and workforce. Medical devices and diagnostics will be limited to opportunities where Ballad Ventures has the unique ability to leverage its investment through direct partnership with Ballad Health.
We won’t invest in pharma, biopharma, or drug discovery.
Stage
Seed, Series A, Series B
Check Size
$500,000 to $1.5M
Strategic Value
Creates substantial, measurable strategic value to Ballad Health with broad applicability across the health care industry
Other
Ballad Ventures chooses to invest alongside strategic partners and generally does not lead rounds. Companies must be ready to partner with Ballad Health through strategic contracts (or line of sight to a contract), research and/or development opportunities, or clinical trials
Note: exceptions to investment criteria can be made due to strategic value to the organization and communities. Examples include later stage opportunities or investments greater than $1.5M. Ballad Ventures seeks to pursue investments which align with strategic priorities of Ballad Health and will not consider opportunities which do not align.
President
Bo Wilkes is a healthcare strategist with an entrepreneurial spirit. For almost 15 years, he has worked in a variety of roles within a traditional healthcare system – from strategy to operations to governance. Now, Bo is tasked with creating a culture of innovation and transformation through the Ballad Health Innovation Center. Simultaneously, he acts as an enabler of strategic value creation through Ballad Ventures.
Bo leads a diverse team within the Innovation Center consisting of lean thinkers, project managers and entrepreneurs to develop and drive an innovative culture for a 21-hospital system serving rural Appalachia in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The intent of the Innovation Center is to assess potentially disruptive technologies and clinical advancements while intentionally leveraging innovative opportunities to transform the way we deliver care.
In conjunction with the Innovation Center, Bo leads Ballad Ventures. This capital platform focuses on investing in innovation ideas which transform the healthcare experience, cost, access and outcomes. As the venture capital arm of Ballad Health, the wholly owned subsidiary seeks opportunities which drive the mission, vision and strategic initiatives of the organization.
Prior to serving in his current capacity, Bo served as Chief of Staff for the Executive Chair and President of Ballad Health. Within that role, he was responsible for providing a variety of management and professional support for the executive leadership with an emphasis on planning, performance management, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and organizational development, as well as direct oversight of the enterprise’s governance structure. Prior roles within the organization include serving as administrator of Johnson City Medical Center and Indian Path Community Hospital, as well as leading growth within the organization’s strategic planning department.
Entrepreneurial in nature, Bo has also served as an interim CEO for a pelvic floor therapy start-up operating throughout the Eastern Seaboard. The work has led him to develop an understanding of venture capital and landed him an opportunity as Executive-in-Residence with LRVHealth (Boston, Mass.). Additional past experiences include production manager responsibilities for ESPN with a base of operations throughout North America.
Bo holds a master’s degree in Public Health from East Tennessee State University and a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from Clemson University. Certificates include the Professional Innovators Program from University of Michigan’s College of Engineering.
Managing Director
John Perez is a healthcare leader with more than 10 years of experience in digital health, with a focus on strategic venture capital investments, innovation and financial consulting. Having acted as a trusted advisor for an extensive healthcare executive network in previous roles, John’s calling is to align innovative digital technologies with strategic business objectives and financial return.
As the managing director for Ballad Ventures, John is responsible for the operational leadership and management oversight of the organization’s venture capital efforts. John manages the overall investment process, from conception to execution, for Ballad Ventures, leading due diligence efforts on potential investment opportunities, monitoring industry dynamics and managing the finances and operations of portfolio companies.
John works alongside the Ballad Health Innovation Center, which interfaces with Ballad Health’s research programs and Ballad Ventures to create opportunities to capitalize on new programs that have potential in the national healthcare marketplace, link venture efforts to drive innovation within Ballad Health and leverage intellectual capital to improve the delivery of healthcare for patients and clinicians.
Prior to joining Ballad Ventures, John served as director at Abundant Venture Innovation Accelerator (AVIA) Network. He designed, launched and led AVIA’s Venture Network, a group of more than a dozen health systems – including Ballad Health – with more than $750 million in collective assets under management dedicated to investing in promising digital solutions. Alongside his responsibilities in that role, John also served as director of client engagement at AVIA, where he managed executive client relations across many of AVIA’s health system network members.
In addition, John serves as a formal and informal independent advisor and coach for early-stage companies looking to scale their businesses, secure capital and gain deeper traction in the healthcare space.
John earned his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University. Residing in Salt Lake City, John provides a west coast presence for Ballad Ventures, while also enjoying skiing, hiking, mountain biking and everything the great outdoors has to offer.
President
Bo Wilkes is a healthcare strategist with an entrepreneurial spirit. For almost 15 years, he has worked in a variety of roles within a traditional healthcare system – from strategy to operations to governance. Now, Bo is tasked with creating a culture of innovation and transformation through the Ballad Health Innovation Center. Simultaneously, he acts as an enabler of strategic value creation through Ballad Ventures.
Bo leads a diverse team within the Innovation Center consisting of lean thinkers, project managers and entrepreneurs to develop and drive an innovative culture for a 21-hospital system serving rural Appalachia in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The intent of the Innovation Center is to assess potentially disruptive technologies and clinical advancements while intentionally leveraging innovative opportunities to transform the way we deliver care.
In conjunction with the Innovation Center, Bo leads Ballad Ventures. This capital platform focuses on investing in innovation ideas which transform the healthcare experience, cost, access and outcomes. As the venture capital arm of Ballad Health, the wholly owned subsidiary seeks opportunities which drive the mission, vision and strategic initiatives of the organization.
Prior to serving in his current capacity, Bo served as Chief of Staff for the Executive Chair and President of Ballad Health. Within that role, he was responsible for providing a variety of management and professional support for the executive leadership with an emphasis on planning, performance management, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and organizational development, as well as direct oversight of the enterprise’s governance structure. Prior roles within the organization include serving as administrator of Johnson City Medical Center and Indian Path Community Hospital, as well as leading growth within the organization’s strategic planning department.
Entrepreneurial in nature, Bo has also served as an interim CEO for a pelvic floor therapy start-up operating throughout the Eastern Seaboard. The work has led him to develop an understanding of venture capital and landed him an opportunity as Executive-in-Residence with LRVHealth (Boston, Mass.). Additional past experiences include production manager responsibilities for ESPN with a base of operations throughout North America.
Bo holds a master’s degree in Public Health from East Tennessee State University and a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from Clemson University. Certificates include the Professional Innovators Program from University of Michigan’s College of Engineering.
Managing Director
John Perez is a healthcare leader with more than 10 years of experience in digital health, with a focus on strategic venture capital investments, innovation and financial consulting. Having acted as a trusted advisor for an extensive healthcare executive network in previous roles, John’s calling is to align innovative digital technologies with strategic business objectives and financial return.
As the managing director for Ballad Ventures, John is responsible for the operational leadership and management oversight of the organization’s venture capital efforts. John manages the overall investment process, from conception to execution, for Ballad Ventures, leading due diligence efforts on potential investment opportunities, monitoring industry dynamics and managing the finances and operations of portfolio companies.
John works alongside the Ballad Health Innovation Center, which interfaces with Ballad Health’s research programs and Ballad Ventures to create opportunities to capitalize on new programs that have potential in the national healthcare marketplace, link venture efforts to drive innovation within Ballad Health and leverage intellectual capital to improve the delivery of healthcare for patients and clinicians.
Prior to joining Ballad Ventures, John served as director at Abundant Venture Innovation Accelerator (AVIA) Network. He designed, launched and led AVIA’s Venture Network, a group of more than a dozen health systems – including Ballad Health – with more than $750 million in collective assets under management dedicated to investing in promising digital solutions. Alongside his responsibilities in that role, John also served as director of client engagement at AVIA, where he managed executive client relations across many of AVIA’s health system network members.
In addition, John serves as a formal and informal independent advisor and coach for early-stage companies looking to scale their businesses, secure capital and gain deeper traction in the healthcare space.
John earned his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University. Residing in Salt Lake City, John provides a west coast presence for Ballad Ventures, while also enjoying skiing, hiking, mountain biking and everything the great outdoors has to offer.
Ballad Health is an integrated community health improvement organization serving 29 counties of the Appalachian Highlands in Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina, and Southeast Kentucky.
303 MED TECH PARKWAY, SUITE 300
JOHNSON CITY, TN 37604
© COPYRIGHT BALLAD VENTURES 2022
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303 MED TECH PARKWAY, SUITE 300
JOHNSON CITY, TN 37604
Ballad Health is committed to respecting and protecting your personal information. Our web site does not collect or disclose information that can personally identify you without your permission.
Areas in which you may be asked for personal information may include:
When you submit these it gives us permission to use the data for its intended purpose.
Ballad Health and Ballad Ventures do use cookies to gather information about pages visited, the technology used, such as your browser, computer, operating system and your Internet service provider. We also collect geographical information. This information helps us improve our site.
This website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy or the content of these sites. Please review the privacy statement for each site you visit.
© COPYRIGHT BALLAD VENTURES 2022