American Heart Association Ventures

🎙️ Selling What No One Is Ready to Buy: A conversation with Brent Lang In Stories of the Relentless, Season 4, Brent D. Lang, former CEO of Vocera Communications, shares what it takes to launch products the market doesn’t yet know how to buy. He explains why category creation in health care demands patience, resilience and deep empathy for end users. Stories of the Relentless Season 4 explores what it really takes to build in health care when the path forward is anything but clear. Powered by the American Heart Association, the series is hosted by Lee Shapiro, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Board, and Lisa Suennen, Managing Partner at American Heart Association Ventures. 🎧 Listen here: http://spr.ly/6042B8Tf0k

Scaling specialty care requires care models that expand capacity without overburdening clinicians. This perspective guided Studio Red’s follow on investment in Auxira Health to support the national expansion of a virtual cardiology care model already delivering results with leading health systems like St. Luke’s University Health Network. At St. Luke’s, Auxira embeds precision matched virtual clinical pods — advanced practice providers, medical assistants and registered nurses — directly into cardiology practices. The approach improves access for patients while enabling cardiologists to focus on new and higher acuity cases, supported by teams built to manage day to day care needs. Early results demonstrate the impact: a 79% improvement in patient message response times and lower readmission rates for heart failure patients, alongside smoother care coordination and reduced strain on clinical teams. 👉 Read how St. Luke’s is expanding cardiology capacity and access with Auxira. http://spr.ly/6043BB7d2J

How can we shape the future of health for women? Throughout the Inflection Point Summit, one theme kept emerging: the future of women’s heart and brain health will be shaped by the choices we make today. In this short video, Jessica Mega shares a compelling vision for the power of prevention in protecting heart and brain health for women.

Two Social Impact Funds portfolio companies — Culina Health and CareMessage — have been named to TIME’s 2026 list of the 100 Most Influential Companies. 👉 Learn how these companies are closing access gaps in health care.

Millions live with nutrition linked chronic conditions, which makes access to nutrition care essential. Culina Health, a Social Impact Funds portfolio company, is expanding access to evidence-based, affordable nutrition care that improves health outcomes. TIME has named Culina Health to its 2026 list of the 100 Most Influential Companies, recognizing the company for bringing registered dietitians directly to patients — no referrals required, and in network coverage with most major insurance plans. Three quarters of patients pay nothing out of pocket, and the $33 average insurance copay is ~60% less than competitors. Patients are reported to show 50% greater reductions in diabetes markers, weight and LDL cholesterol than published clinical benchmarks. These results are driven in part by Culina’s employee registered-dietitian model and deep clinical experience. Congratulations to the Culina Health team for demonstrating that clinically rigorous, accessible nutrition care can deliver measurable outcomes at scale. 👉 http://spr.ly/6049BBxpD3

Calling all West Virginia changemakers! The American Heart Association Social Impact Funds are now accepting funding applications for local solutions that improve health care access and quality, support food security and strengthen economic vitality. If you’re building a solution that can drive lasting change, now’s the time to apply. Deadline: May 31! http://spr.ly/6040B6WLs2

Why is cardiometabolic health in midlife/menopause an important focus of health for women? At the Inflection Point Summit, we dug into three conditions that profoundly shape women’s heart and brain health — including cardiometabolic changes during midlife and menopause. In this short video, Nicole Ansani breaks down why this stage of life is so pivotal — from the sharp rise in cardiovascular risk to the opportunities for early intervention that can change a woman’s long term health trajectory. 🎥 Tune in.

Engaging patients in low-income communities is hard, and most health care technology is not designed for the realities providers must navigate. That is one of the reasons the Social Impact Funds support CareMessage. TIME has named CareMessage to its 2026 list of the 100 Most Influential Companies as the sole Impact in Equality Awardee. We are proud that our support has contributed to 22 million people reached, 60+ languages supported, nearly 500 safety net partners and a Stanford led randomized trial validating the model, along with a growing body of real world data. Congratulations to the CareMessage team. http://spr.ly/6046BBjxCr

🎙️ Turning market skepticism into a diagnostic breakthrough — with Julia Cheek Stories of the Relentless returns with Season 4, spotlighting leaders building at the intersection of health care and technology, where progress often starts with doubt. 🎧 Episode 1 features Julia Cheek, Founder & CEO of Everlywell, who shares how lived experience with the cost and complexity of traditional health care led to a direct‑to‑consumer, actionable at‑home lab testing model and ultimately helped create a new diagnostic category. Powered by the American Heart Association, this season of Stories of the Relentless is hosted by Lee Shapiro, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Board, and Lisa Suennen, Managing Partner at American Heart Association Ventures. 👉 Tune in + read episode highlights

2025 was a year of expansion for the Social Impact Funds. We have now reached more than 12 million people through our funding. Our portfolio companies continue to deliver significant gains in access to quality care, improvements in food security and nutrition and increased economic opportunity. Learn how we turn purposeful funding into positive impact. Read the 2025 Report.