PACE Healthcare Capital

Founder Julia Monfrini Peev leads the firm's investment activity alongside Partner Jon David Willingham. Monfrini Peev previously co-led direct private equity healthcare investments for CDPQ in North America and Latin America, and her investment track record includes board-level involvement with portfolio companies. Willingham's background spans development capital, regulatory strategy, and board governance for institutional-backed businesses.

PACE targets US-headquartered digital health and healthcare technology companies that are software-, AI-, or ML-enabled. The firm explicitly excludes medical devices and life sciences. It invests $1M to $4M as an initial check, with substantial reserves for follow-on capital, and participates from late Seed through Series B rounds. PACE can lead or follow in syndicates.

Publicly known investments include Alloy Health (telehealth for menopause care), AMOpportunities (clinical-training-as-a-service, since acquired), Backpack Healthcare (pediatric mental health), Headlight (digital mental health practice), and Prenosis (sepsis diagnostic platform). The firm highlights its work with diverse, mission-driven leadership teams across each of these companies.

Operating Partner Michael Williams — a former executive at BMS, Pfizer, and Takeda — works directly with founders on customer acquisition and scaling operations. The firm's senior advisory network includes experienced practitioners such as the former founding CFO of Tempus AI and the CEO of the American Osteopathic Association, giving portfolio teams access to specialized operational, clinical, and financial expertise.

PACE is headquartered in Chicago and maintains a Midwestern identity — its website roots the firm's values in the "Heartland of America." The investment mandate covers the United States nationally, and the firm's portfolio companies serve patients and healthcare systems across multiple states and regions.

No. The firm's investment criteria state explicitly that it seeks digital health and healthcare technology solutions based on software, AI, or machine learning and does not invest in medical technology (medtech) or life sciences.

PACE operates as a private equity manager, not a single-family office. Founder Julia Monfrini Peev built the firm drawing on her institutional background at CDPQ, and the investor base has not been publicly detailed. In practice, the firm functions as a sector-specialist early-stage firm with an operating-partner model more common in growth equity.