Mohamad Makhzoumi

Background

Mohamad Makhzoumi is Co-CEO of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the largest venture capital firms in the world ¹. He first joined NEA as an unpaid summer intern in 2000 while an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania ²³. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree with distinction in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania ⁴, he worked at Summit Partners as an Associate and at UBS Investment Bank focused on healthcare services and leveraged finance ⁴. He returned to NEA in 2005 as an Associate ³.

Makhzoumi rose steadily through NEA’s ranks: he was named Principal in 2008, promoted to Partner in 2011 and assumed leadership of the firm’s healthcare services/IT investing practice ⁴, elevated to General Partner in October 2016 ³, promoted to Managing General Partner, Healthcare in June 2021 ⁵, named Co-President in 2023, and then appointed Co-CEO alongside Tony Florence in April 2024 ¹. His entire investing career has been spent at NEA, spanning over two decades at a single platform ².

As Co-CEO, Makhzoumi oversees NEA’s operations alongside Tony Florence, while Scott Sandell serves as Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer ¹. Makhzoumi’s investment practice is focused on healthcare services and technology from early venture to late-stage growth ². He leads and oversees NEA’s global healthcare investing practice across digital health and life sciences, which typically accounts for approximately 40% of NEA’s funds ⁶. Outside of NEA, he is a board member of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health at Stanford ².

Stated Thesis

Makhzoumi publicly describes his investment focus as healthcare services and technology spanning early venture to late-stage growth ². He has stated that NEA is “financing the next generation of innovative companies that are really moving the healthcare industry forward” ⁷. His team concentrates on three primary outcomes: improving quality, increasing access, and reducing costs in healthcare ⁷.

Makhzoumi has publicly characterized his approach as focusing on “administrative waste and boring but massive healthcare infrastructure problems,” positioning himself as a champion of AI and software for the back-office operations of healthcare rather than flashy consumer apps ⁶. He has also described healthcare venture capital as having evolved from “the trailer park of venture investing” to a fundamental core tenant of the ecosystem ⁸.

He has stated his belief that “anybody that gets into healthcare is on a mission to heal people — to help people during one of their life’s most vulnerable moments. Whether you’re on the investing side, the operational side, or some place in between, I don’t think you can be good at your job without having that be a core tenet of what motivates you” ⁸.

Makhzoumi publicly advises founders to “pick the best partner, not the best term sheet” when raising capital, emphasizing the importance of selecting capital partners who understand the founder’s vision and provide meaningful guidance ².

Inferred Thesis

Based on 22 verified investments (current and past), Makhzoumi’s actual investment behavior reveals the following patterns:

Sector concentration — overwhelmingly healthcare services: All 22 verified investments (100%) are in healthcare or healthcare-adjacent companies. Within healthcare, the breakdown is: - Healthcare services and provider platforms: 12 of 22 (55%) — Radiology Partners, Strive Health, Curana Health, Everside Health, American Pathology Partners, U.S. Renal Care, DSI Renal, DaVita NephroLife, CHG Healthcare, Vantage Oncology, Comprehensive Pharmacy Services, Nova Medical Centers - Health insurance and benefits platforms: 4 of 22 (18%) — Bright Health, Collective Health, Belong Health, Bravo Health - Healthcare IT/data platforms: 3 of 22 (14%) — Aetion, Nuvolo, SCI Solutions - Digital health and care delivery: 2 of 22 (9%) — Waymark, Vori Health - Behavioral health: 1 of 22 (5%) — Elements Behavioral Health

Deep kidney/renal care specialization: 4 of 22 investments (18%) are in kidney care specifically — DSI Renal, DaVita NephroLife, U.S. Renal Care, and Strive Health — representing a sector depth unusual even among healthcare-focused investors ³⁵.

Company creation / venture studio model: At least 3 companies (Radiology Partners, Strive Health, Curana Health) were co-founded or incubated through NEA’s venture studio with Makhzoumi’s direct involvement ². This distinguishes him from typical growth-stage investors — he is willing to create companies from scratch with experienced operators.

Stage distribution — multistage with bias toward early/growth: Based on verified rounds: Seed/formation: 4 of 22 (18%); Series A: 5 of 22 (23%); Series B: 3 of 22 (14%); Growth (Series C+): 5 of 22 (23%); Buyout/acquisition: 2 of 22 (9%); Stage unknown: 3 of 22 (14%). This confirms a true multistage approach, with a slight tilt toward early stage and growth.

Check size: Signal by NFX lists a range of $2M-$50M with a target of $25M ⁹. However, given NEA’s platform and Makhzoumi’s seniority, individual deal sizes can be much larger — NEA contributed $189M to Radiology Partners across multiple rounds ¹⁰, led a $635M Series D for Bright Health ¹¹, and led a $300M equity round for Strive Health’s Series D ¹².

Founder profile: Strong preference for experienced healthcare operators as founders — repeat healthcare executives rather than first-time founders. Examples include Bob Sheehy (former CEO of UnitedHealthcare) at Bright Health ¹¹, Chris Riopelle (former CEO of NorthStar Anesthesia) and Bob Badal (former DaVita executive) at Strive Health ¹³, and Rich Whitney (NEA Venture Advisor) at Radiology Partners ¹⁰.

Geographic focus: Investments are geographically distributed across the U.S. rather than concentrated in a single market, consistent with healthcare services companies that operate nationally.

Co-investor patterns: Frequent co-investors include Bessemer Venture Partners (Bright Health), CapitalG (Strive Health), Andreessen Horowitz (Waymark), CVS Health Ventures (Strive Health), and SoftBank Vision Fund (Collective Health).

Notable gap: Despite describing his focus as spanning “digital health and life sciences,” there are no verified biopharma or life sciences investments directly attributed to Makhzoumi — his portfolio is entirely healthcare services and healthcare IT.

Portfolio

This table represents Makhzoumi’s known direct investments and board positions. Years marked with “~” indicate estimates based on the earliest press release confirming the board seat or investment. Past investments (Bravo Health, CHG Healthcare, DSI Renal, Vantage Oncology) represent exits.

In Their Own Words

“I’ve been part of the NEA family for nearly my entire career, and my abiding respect for those who founded and built this firm is matched only by my conviction that our best days are in front of us.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, NEA Co-CEO announcement, April 2024 ¹

“Within NEA, we view ourselves as stewards of an enduring legacy — one that encompasses many key technological shifts and scientific breakthroughs.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, NEA Co-CEO announcement, April 2024 ¹

“At NEA, we are financing the next generation of innovative companies that are really moving the healthcare industry forward.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Collective Health blog interview ⁷

“The key for all stakeholders in health care is figuring out how to get the most value out of every treatment. Aetion’s unique, science-driven analyses drive business decisions that deliver significant return on investment for a wide range of health care players.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Aetion Series B announcement, April 2018 ¹⁶

“Meaningful improvements in healthcare aren’t going to come from incumbents or consortiums. The healthcare industry needs a new foundation to run effectively and fill the gaping holes where proper technology doesn’t currently exist.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Collective Health Series F announcement, May 2021 ¹⁵

“We had been searching for a model we believed could transform Medicaid and transform it at scale. Waymark is that model, and has the right team to execute.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Waymark Series A announcement, January 2022 ¹⁹

“We recognize that clinician-led healthcare solutions with meaningful scale are where AI-implementations will have the most impact when it comes to improving outcomes for chronic disease management and preventive care — but those companies also happen to be exceedingly rare.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Strive Health Series D announcement, September 2025 ¹²

“When our team at NEA surveyed the landscape of value-based care providers, Strive stood out with its proven performance advancing clinical outcomes and simultaneously reducing total cost of care. Since we first invested in Strive at its founding five years ago, Chris and the team have pushed the envelope for innovation in kidney care.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Strive Health Series C announcement, May 2023 ²⁴

“I remain awestruck by the achievements that Bright Health has made since the Company’s Series A financing in 2016. Bright Health is the entrant with the best chance of upsetting the staid status quo of the managed care industry.” — Mohamad Makhzoumi, Bright Health Series D announcement, December 2019 ¹¹

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. While Makhzoumi has long-standing relationships with portfolio founders — notably backing Waymark co-founder Rajaie Batniji across two companies over nearly a decade, starting with Collective Health’s Series B in 2014 ¹⁹ — no direct public quotes from portfolio founders specifically commenting on their experience working with Makhzoumi were identified during research.

Sources