Trends Watch: Growth Stage AI-Based Software and HealthTech Ventures

EisnerAmper’s Trends Watch is a weekly entry to our Alternative Investments Intelligence blog, featuring the views and insights of executives from alternative investment firms. If you’re interested in being featured, please contact Elana Margulies-Snyderman.  

This week, Elana talks with Al Tarar, Managing Partner, Arcis Capital Partners.

What is your outlook for investing in growth-stage AI-based software and healthtech ventures?

We believe that this is an ideal time to be making growth-stage investments in AI-based software and solutions for education technology (edtech), health care technology (healthtech), financial technology (fintech), logistics and security.

The AI-based software companies are innovating and devising new solutions to some of the most pressing business, societal, and public sector challenges.  These companies are primarily relying on proven and well-established forms of AI and delivering what some of us call the “fact and evidence-based” solutions. 

Some of these companies are beginning to experiment with or adopt newer forms of AI, such as the generative AI or general AI.

The opportunities are very diverse and vast and emanate from every corner of the world.  Over the past several years we have seen hundreds of such companies, many of them have now graduated or are beginning to graduate into growth-stage companies.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities and why?

AI-based healthtech represents the greatest opportunity for us at this moment.  Health care is one of the largest sectors of the U.S. GDP and spending in this industry is generally immune to market turbulations and political headwinds. 

Some of the innovative companies in this space are helping Medicare reduce or slow down the growth of some of the fastest growing expense items, e.g., memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer’s and other chronic diseases, while improving the quality of life for patients.

Other companies are delivering on-the-spot diagnostics and therapeutics for traumatic brain injury (TBI) among children, college and professional athletes, and military personnel.

Many of these healthtech solutions are global in their reach and impact.

What are the greatest challenges you face and why?

The greatest challenges have been the speed and volume of fundraising over the past couple of years.  It has affected how fast we can invest in our existing portfolio companies and how fast we can consider additional investment opportunities.

Even under these very difficult conditions, we have been fortunate enough to achieve both legal commitments and soft-circled commitments, make eight initial investments and continue to outperform

What keeps you up at night?

Having achieved legal commitments and soft-circled commitments, I have fewer concerns that keep me up at night.  However, our next milestone goals of achieving additional legal commitments and adding two-to-four additional investments to our portfolio remain top of mind for me.  These goals sometimes literally keep me up at night, as we often speak with non-U.S. prospective investors during my late evening hours.

The views and opinions expressed above are of the interviewee only, and do not/are not intended to reflect the views of EisnerAmper.