Rex Health Ventures

Managing Directors Anita Watkins and John Perez lead the investment team. They are supported by Investment Associate Evan Bernath and Portfolio Manager Austin Brooks. An executive advisory committee that includes UNC Health's CFO, UNC REX's president and COO, and clinical chiefs provides strategic oversight and links portfolio companies to the health system's operational leadership.

RHV does not raise third-party limited-partner funds. The firm invests capital from the UNC Health System balance sheet, functioning as a single-LP corporate venture vehicle. That structure frees it from traditional fund-life constraints and aligns its investment horizon with the system's clinical and strategic priorities rather than with a fixed exit timetable.

RHV operates exclusively through direct equity investments in early-stage healthcare companies, including seed, start-up, and expansion-stage rounds. There is no public record of the firm making commitments to outside venture funds as a limited partner; it concentrates on direct company positions where the UNC Health system can serve as a potential pilot partner and clinical reference account.

The firm targets early-stage companies — spanning seed, start-up, and expansion or late-stage venture rounds — in which a health-system strategic partner can accelerate product validation and clinical adoption. Recent syndicated rounds illustrate the range: RHV joined a $14 million Series B for resuscitation-device company 410 Medical in March 2025 and a $18.25 million Series B1 for clinical-data AI company Carta Healthcare in May 2025.

RHV concentrates on companies that advance healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Its active portfolio spans diagnostic platforms (Baebies), biotherapeutics (Arrivo BioVentures, Bio 54), AI-driven hospital data tools (Pryon, Carta Healthcare), medical devices (410 Medical, Phononic), and specialty pharma services (Leiters). Prior exits include digital-health and specialty-pharma names such as Gauss Surgical, Target PharmaSolutions, and Midnight Pharma.

Rex Health Ventures was founded by UNC REX Healthcare in 2012 and has since been adopted as the early-stage investment fund for the entire UNC Health System. It operates as a strategic venture arm rather than a legally separate management company raising third-party capital. UNC Health provides the investment capital, clinical domain expertise, and governance through an advisory committee of senior system executives.

RHV routinely participates in syndicated rounds led by outside venture firms, functioning as a strategic co-investor rather than a lead investor. Observed co-investors include Hatteras Venture Partners (410 Medical Series B, 2025), Deerfield Management (Reprieve Cardiovascular Series B, 2025), Orlando Health Ventures, Ballad Ventures, and OSF Healthcare. The firm does not position itself as a control or lead investor in the transactions disclosed publicly.