2019 catapulted Echo Health Ventures to one of the most active VCs in digital health. Strategic investment partner, Dusty Lieb, recently spoke with Portland Business Journal about the firm’s landmark year and successes.

Since Echo was founded three years ago, the digital health world hadn’t seen a single IPO. That changed in the summer of 2019, with four digital health IPOs in the span of a few weeks. Two of those were led by Echo’s portfolio companies, Phreesia and Livongo. In addition to breaking the digital health IPO drought, Echo added seven new investments to its portfolio.

Dusty attributes Echo’s accomplishments to the strategic alignment and strong working relationships with its parent companies. “What’s important to our health plan parents is important to us,” said Dusty. “How it’s manifested itself over the past year is any deal allowing a shift to value in the broader health care ecosystem, whether through primary care or behavioral health initiatives or more convenient delivery models.”

For more insights fueling Echo’s biggest year to date, read Portland Business Journal’s “For Cambia’s Echo Health Ventures, 2019 was a banner year.”