For first-time founders, especially those building mission-driven companies, venture capital often carries a stigma. But after raising $28 million for Yuvo Health, CEO Cesar Herrera discovered that the right investors can be powerful allies in creating impact.
In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Cesar shared insights that challenge conventional wisdom about fundraising for healthcare startups serving underserved communities.
The Necessary Evil That Became a Strategic Asset
“Fundraising is a necessary evil,” Cesar admits frankly. For many mission-driven founders, this sentiment might ring familiar. But his experience reveals a more nuanced reality about institutional capital.
“It is incredibly important in order for us to scale quickly,” he explains, “because it’s incredibly critical capital that otherwise I would never have been able to leverage that amount of capital as quickly to support our growth.”
Breaking Down Preconceptions
As a first-time founder, Cesar approached venture capital with hesitation. “I certainly had, since I’m not a serial entrepreneur and this was my first ever entree into fundraising, especially as it relates to institutional investors, I had my own preconceived notions of venture capital and venture capital investors.”
However, his experience challenged these initial assumptions.
The Mission-Alignment Discovery
What Cesar found upended his expectations about institutional investors. “You can find your people anywhere, and there is the opportunity anywhere, even in venture, to find investors that are aligned with you, not just from your business model, but your mission.”
This revelation offers important lessons for founders:
- Mission alignment isn’t limited to impact investors
- Venture capitalists can share your values
- The right investors contribute more than just capital
Building a Supportive Cap Table
The result of this approach to fundraising? “I’m just so thankful and proud of my cap table and the investors that I have working side by side with me,” Cesar shares.
This satisfaction with his investor base stems from finding partners who understand and support both:
- Yuvo Health’s business model of enabling community health centers
- Their mission of expanding healthcare access to underserved communities
Key Lessons for Healthcare Founders
Cesar’s fundraising journey offers several insights for healthcare founders:
- Capital as Growth Enabler
- Recognize when external funding can accelerate your impact
- Understand how capital can unlock rapid scaling
- Looking Beyond Stereotypes
- Don’t let preconceptions limit your funding options
- Evaluate investors based on actual alignment, not category
- Mission and Money
- Mission-driven companies can attract institutional capital
- The right investors strengthen rather than compromise your mission
The Bigger Picture
Yuvo Health’s fundraising success—$28 million raised—has enabled them to grow from serving 3,000 patients to 40,000 in just two and a half years. This growth demonstrates how the right capital partners can accelerate both business success and social impact.
For healthcare founders, particularly those serving underserved communities, Cesar’s experience offers an important lesson: with the right approach, venture capital can be a powerful tool for scaling impact, not just returns.
Beyond Traditional Fundraising Advice
While much fundraising advice focuses on pitch decks and valuation negotiations, Cesar’s insights highlight a more fundamental aspect: the importance of finding investors who truly understand and support your mission.
This alignment has allowed Yuvo Health to:
- Scale their impact rapidly
- Maintain their focus on community health centers
- Build toward serving 20 million additional Americans
- Execute their state-by-state expansion strategy
For founders navigating their own fundraising journeys, Cesar’s experience suggests that the goal isn’t just to raise capital—it’s to find partners who will support both your business model and your mission for the long term.
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