Carrie Hurwitz Williams joins as Principal and Irem Mertol as Director to further mission of partnering with exceptional healthcare entrepreneurs
SAN FRANCISCO – September 27, 2017 – McKesson Ventures, the venture capital arm of McKesson Corporation, today announced that Carrie Hurwitz Williams will join as Principal, and Irem Mertol as Director. Williams will play a key role in promoting McKesson Ventures as a strategic investment partner for innovative companies focused on retail transformation, consumerism and channel development. Mertol will be responsible for sourcing potential investments, developing investment theses and supporting portfolio management.
“We are pleased to welcome both Carrie and Irem to the McKesson Ventures team,” said Tom Rodgers, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at McKesson Ventures. “Carrie’s lengthy experience throughout the healthcare ecosystem provides us with a diverse array of perspectives ‘from the inside’ to deliver strategic and valuable investment guidance to pioneering companies. Irem’s well-respected background as an investor and entrepreneur across healthcare services and technology companies will help us continue to advance our portfolio.”
Williams has nearly 15 years of healthcare experience from several vantage points within the industry. Most recently, Williams served as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development for San Francisco-based digital therapeutics pioneer Omada Health, where she led a team dedicated to driving and supporting commercial growth. Prior to Omada, Williams spent time in McKesson’s U.S. Pharmaceutical division as part of the Corporate Strategy and Business Development team, working to advance strategies aimed at innovation within hospital pharmacy and clinical trial patient recruitment. She began her career in drug development, where she managed oncology clinical trials in both large pharmaceutical and biotech settings. Williams holds a Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Mertol brings to McKesson Ventures experience as an investor, operator and investment banker in healthcare services and technology. Most recently, she was responsible for developing and implementing network management, pharmacy benefit management and wellness products for self-insured organizations at Burd Health. Prior to Burd Health, Mertol held strategy and business development roles with healthcare startups such as Omada Health and Caremerge. Mertol also brings venture and growth equity investment experience from Andreessen Horowitz, Canvas Ventures, StartUp Health and Madison Dearborn Partners. Mertol holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned her undergraduate degree in economics and biomedical engineering from Duke University.
“Both of these talented individuals will help us translate innovation trends into insights that inform growth strategies,” said Dave Schulte, Managing Director at McKesson Ventures. “Their prior experience in leading healthcare startup companies further strengthens McKesson Ventures’ mission to partner with exceptional healthcare entrepreneurs in building better healthcare together.”
Since launching in 2014, McKesson Ventures has built a portfolio of more than 15 companies to address the future needs of all stakeholders in the pharmaceutical value chain. Recent portfolio investments include Augmedix, a technology-enabled documentation service for health systems and doctors; GRAIL, a life sciences company that detects cancer early; Aledade, a new model of primary care aimed at improving outcomes and profitability and forming risk-based contracts with payors; and Truveris, a healthcare technology company that brings transparency to the prescription drug ecosystem through data-driven innovations, among others. All McKesson Ventures portfolio companies are working to positively change the global healthcare landscape.
About McKesson Ventures
McKesson Ventures is a strategic venture firm backed by McKesson Corporation focusing on early and growth stage companies. McKesson Ventures targets companies that both catalyze and benefit from the key changes taking place in the U.S. health care landscape. McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 5th on the FORTUNE 500, is a health care services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of health care run better. We work with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies, and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that help deliver better care to patients in every setting. Visit www.McKessonventures.com to learn more.