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Jan Garfinkle

Founder & Managing Partner

Jan founded Arboretum on the premise that innovation is key to delivering value in healthcare, a principle she developed working in the medical device industry for over two decades. Her investments focus on promising medical technologies that enable meaningful healthcare system savings while maintaining great clinical outcomes. Jan has led and held board roles in more than 20 investments across six funds including notable exits with HandyLab (acquired by BD), Esperion (Nasdaq: ESPR), NxThera (acquired by Boston Scientific), CardioMEMS (acquired by St. Jude Medical), and NeuMoDx (acquired by QIAGEN).

Jan served on the National Venture Capital Association’s Board of Directors from 2015-2020 and in her last year, was the Board Chair. As chair, she prioritized industry-wide diversity initiatives and was instrumental in driving small business access to CARES Act financial assistance programs early in the COVID pandemic. In 2020 she testified at the US Senate on “Expanding American Entrepreneurship Outside Traditional Hubs”.

Jan was recently awarded the Venture Vanguard Award by the NVCA (2023).  Previous awards include: USA Top Women Dealmakers Award (2021), MichBusiness Women Leaders Hall of Fame (2020), Crain’s 100 Most Influential Women (2021, 2016), and as Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year (2015).

She earned a BS in Bioengineering from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

High resolution photo
CURRENT BOARD SEATS
PREVIOUS PORTFOLIO INVOLVEMENT
  • CardioMEMS (acquired)
  • Ebb Therapeutics (acquired)
  • EQRx (Nasdaq: EQRX)
  • Esperion Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ESPR)
  • HandyLab (acquired)
  • NeuMoDx Molecular (acquired)
  • nVision Medical (acquired)
  • NxThera (acquired)
  • Uptake Medical (acquired)
  • VasoNova (acquired)
ACTIVITIES AND AFFILIATIONS
  • Former Chair, Board of Directors, National Venture Capital Association
  • Former Chair, Michigan Venture Capital Association
  • Board Member, Trinity Health Michigan
ASSISTANT