Cross-Border Impact Ventures has completed a $58 million first close for its second women’s and children’s health-focused investment fund. The Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund II is targeting a total fund size of $125 million. Cross-Border Impact Ventures expects to complete the final close in 2027.
The Toronto-based impact venture capital firm said the new vehicle received commitments from returning and new institutional investors, reflecting continued support for its strategy of investing in healthcare technologies that address conditions affecting women and children specifically, differently or disproportionately.
Limited partners include KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Skoll Foundation with its outsourced chief investment officer Capricorn Investment Group, Ceniarth, Equality Fund with RockCreek Group as its outsourced chief investment officer, Wire Group, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Several investors from the firm’s first fund increased their commitments to Fund II.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures primarily targets Series A and Series B companies developing medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutics and AI-enabled digital health technologies.
Fund II represents an expansion of the investment thesis established through the firm’s inaugural vehicle. Cross-Border Impact Ventures has added an integrated climate lens to its investment process, strengthened its approach to measuring health impact and may invest earlier in selected companies with significant potential.
The fund is designed to generate financial returns while improving healthcare outcomes for women and children across both developed and underserved markets.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures estimates that its areas of focus represent a current market opportunity of approximately $625 billion. The firm expects that figure to reach $1.1 trillion by 2035, supported by advances in artificial intelligence, diagnostics, medical devices and precision medicine.
The firm also believes increased public policy support and institutional investor interest are creating more opportunities for companies addressing historically underfunded areas of women’s and children’s healthcare.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures launched its first fund in 2021 and ultimately raised $90.3 million.
Fund I invested in 11 healthcare technology companies across maternal and fetal health, neonatal care, cardiovascular disease, oncology, respiratory health, reproductive health and gut health.
The portfolio has reached more than 356,000 women and children across 32 countries and produced a strategic exit.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures has reviewed more than 2,000 investment opportunities since launching Fund I. The firm selected 11 companies that it believes combine differentiated technologies, commercial potential and measurable healthcare impact.
Beyond providing capital, Cross-Border Impact Ventures works with portfolio companies on commercialization, regulatory strategy, market expansion, non-dilutive financing and corporate governance.
The firm also uses active board participation and its impact platform to help portfolio companies make their technologies available in underserved healthcare markets.
This support has helped portfolio companies receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearances, attract follow-on capital, expand into more than 30 countries and scale across high-income, low-income and middle-income markets.
One of Fund I’s most notable outcomes was Sonio, an AI-powered fetal ultrasound software company acquired by Samsung Medison in 2024.
Samsung Medison is integrating Sonio’s technology into its ultrasound systems with the goal of making the platform more widely available globally.
Another portfolio company, Cardiosense, received FDA De Novo authorization for its PCWP Analysis Software.
The technology enables the non-invasive assessment of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, an important indicator of heart failure. Cross-Border Impact Ventures noted that the relevant forms of heart failure affect approximately 1.5 million women in North America.
Portfolio company mOm Incubators received FDA clearance for its neonatal incubator and has deployed devices in hospitals and humanitarian settings across several regions.
The company estimates that its technology has reached approximately 18,000 patients.
Daye, another Fund I investment, developed a patented diagnostic tampon for human papillomavirus and vaginal health screening.
The product is being piloted through the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and is expanding into North America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Daye has served more than 13,000 patients and completed peer-reviewed clinical validation work in the United Kingdom, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures said its investment and impact practices received BlueMark Platinum status in 2024. The firm also operates in compliance with Article 9 of the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and has received multiple ImpactAssets Emerging Impact Manager designations.
Fund II will continue investing in early-growth-stage health technology businesses while seeking opportunities created by increasing demand for more effective and accessible care for women and children.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures plans to use the fund to support companies commercializing technologies that can improve health outcomes while building scalable businesses across multiple countries and healthcare systems.
KEY QUOTES:
“Women’s and children’s health is one of the largest and most attractive opportunities in healthcare today. We’re seeing a convergence of scientific innovation, policy support and institutional capital that is accelerating the development of technologies with the potential to improve millions of lives.”
“This is a true blue sky opportunity, one where competition remains limited, and the potential to generate outsized returns is significant. Fund I validated our investment strategy, and Fund II allows us to build on that momentum at a time when the market is ripe for investment.”
Annie Thériault, Managing Partner at Cross-Border Impact Ventures
“Fund I reinforced what we’ve believed from the beginning: some of the most compelling investment opportunities in healthcare exist in areas that have historically received too little attention.”
“Advances in AI, diagnostics, medical devices and precision medicine are creating entirely new opportunities to improve care for women and children while building highly valuable companies. We’re seeing growing recognition from investors that financial returns and measurable health impact are mutually reinforcing.”
Donna Parr, Managing Partner at Cross-Border Impact Ventures
