BOSTON & RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Outcome Capital (www.outcomecapital.com) today announced that Steven Wardell and Karl Hess have joined the firm as Senior Advisors for its rapidly growing life science and healthcare practice, bolstering the firm’s expertise in the digital health segment. As business leaders with extensive hands-on operating and entrepreneurial expertise, Messrs. Hess and Wardell will integrate their industry experience into Outcome’s strategy-led approach to merger and acquisition and private equity capital raise transactions. These additions come in light of myriad digital technologies and applications dramatically impacting both the life science and healthcare industries. Together, they will advance the firm’s knowledge of, and exposure to the healthcare IT, digital therapeutics, telemedicine, digital health benefits, and remote patient monitoring (RPM) verticals among others.
Mr. Wardell is a noted thought leader in the digital health sector and has built an extensive network of investors, company leaders, product purchasers, and corporate development executives. He is the author of The Future of Digital Health, and he hosts the DigitalHealth InvestorTalk show. On Wall Street, at Chardan Capital Markets and SVB Leerink, Mr. Wardell is noted as the first sell-side equity analyst focusing exclusively on digital health. Prior to Wall Street, Mr. Wardell worked as a marketing, business development, and finance executive at various digital health companies including as a member of the founding management team and head of marketing at Activate Networks, a data analytics company later sold to Decision Resources Group; and as head of business development at PatientKeeper, a mobile electronic medical record company that was sold to Hospital Corporation of America. Steven also serves as Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm to digital health companies focused on growth, corporate development, partnerships, and strategic alternatives.
“In the COVID era, Digital Health products are getting the credit they deserve from healthcare buyers and investors. But there’s never been a more challenging time for innovative Digital Health companies as incumbents, competitors, and consolidators turn up the heat,” said Steven. “Being innovative is what it takes to get into this game but increasingly that’s not enough to stay on top. We’re seeing employer benefit leaders say that their digital health benefits are working for them and they’ll buy more. But they’re also turning to buying established suites of products which poses a challenge to innovators. We’re seeing hospital IT buyers change their budget priorities and demand that vendors step up to new challenges. We’re seeing life science IT buyers more willing to outsource key functions to technology vendors than ever before while raising their standards. The capital is there for management teams who want to meet the new challenges and consolidate their sector but it will be harder than ever to remain on top.
Having interacted and advised hundreds of digital health companies over his career, as well as dozens of healthcare and life sciences investors, customers and partners, Karl Hess is known as a leading subject matter expert on successful digital health business models, commercialization, investment strategies and underlying technology. Spanning the digital health continuum, including medical devices, software (SaMD), digital health tools and therapeutics, health optimization, and population health management platforms, Karl has been instrumental in the design, development and commercialization of dozens of innovative products and services, representing hundreds of millions of dollars in incremental revenues and more than $20B in transactions. Karl was formerly CEO of Kalico Partners, LLC, a technology-enabled provider and population health management organization (PHMO), and Chief Digital Health Officer of Collain Healthcare, a former subsidiary of LG CNS. Prior to Collain, Karl held the role of Vice President, Corporate Development at Welltok, Inc., an award-winning consumer activation solutions company that improves people’s total wellbeing. In one of his earliest digital health endeavors, Karl was a key member of the commercial team at Welldoc, Inc., helping to bring Welldoc’s BlueStar platform to market, notably one of the world’s first, and most successful, digital therapeutics. Karl also serves as Managing Director of OnDigitalHealth Consulting, LLC, a specialized strategy consulting firm serving the burgeoning and rapidly diversifying digital health industry.
“I feel strongly that we are about to enter into a new and distinctly different evolutionary stage of the digital health segment,” said Karl, “one that is increasingly able to provide the necessary scale to make wholesale, positive impact to the objectives of the Quadruple Aim, and to the broader healthcare and life sciences industries as well. This next stage will be characterized by the ability to enable and leverage peta- and even exabyte-level data streams, ever-increasing automation via artificial intelligence and machine learning advances, and an entirely new and unprecedented level of “virtualization.” To achieve the requisite scale, successful players in the digital health space will be pressed to consolidate and verticalize, and this is why I have chosen to join the Outcome Capital team at this critical moment – to advise and strategize with Outcome’s clients to achieve that scale and to create and unlock extraordinary value across the “digital supply chain.” Outcome’s proven model and success rates – and the addition of Steven, whom I’ve known for years – made that choice an easy one. Our collective, shared vision and unparalleled expertise in the segment will help our clients achieve that next stage – and singular, lasting competitive advantage.”
Dr. Oded Ben-Joseph, Life Science Co-Founder and Managing Director at Outcome Capital commented, “As the digital health segment is maturing, we have experienced considerable interest from growth-oriented companies seeking reliable, market-aligned strategies for mergers and acquisitions, private debt and equity placement, and other strategic and corporate advisory services. Unique among investment banking firms, our strategic approach to value enhancement relies on significant corporate and operational experience, and Karl’s and Steven’s experience both complement and enhance Outcome’s highly specialized life sciences team, bolstering our collective ability to provide our clients with market-driven strategic advisory.”
About Outcome Capital
Outcome Capital is a unique advisory and investment banking firm that provides middle-market growth companies in the life sciences, healthcare services and technology markets with a value-added client-centric approach to merger, acquisition and corporate finance advisory services. The firm utilizes its proven approach to value enhancement by assisting boards and management teams in navigating both the financial and strategic markets and in implementing the best path for success. Outcome Capital’s strength stems from its unique ability to draw on its wide range of operational, strategic and private equity experience, its expertise across the value chain and its broad industry relationships. The professionals at Outcome Capital take pride in their ability to help their clients to make well-informed strategic decisions and recognize the full value created by their vision. For more information, visit: www.outcomecapital.com
