Team

Marcus Whitney, a leader in healthcare innovation, was inspired to create Jumpstart Nova after reflecting on his experience as a Black healthcare venture investor, and the success his company had in both finding and investing in Black healthcare entrepreneurs.

A founding partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, an established healthcare venture platform that has supported seven funds with over 150 portfolio companies, he was the initial architect of the algorithm used to evaluate over one thousand early-stage healthcare companies for consideration by Jumpstart Foundry, the firm’s pre-seed index fund. From 2015-2018, Marcus was Founder and CEO of the Health:Further conference, where he supported the growth of Jumpstart Health Investors’ network with thousands of leaders in health innovation.

Prior to his career in venture capital, Marcus was the Director of Technology and a Partner at Emma Email Marketing, a pioneering cross-industry virtual marketing platform, which was later acquired by global technology company Campaign Monitor. Marcus also Co-Founded Clariture Health in 2013, a HIPAA compliant digital ad management platform acquired by Trilliant Health in 2017.

Marcus is the author of the Amazon #1 best-selling book “Create and Orchestrate”, about claiming your Creative Power through entrepreneurship.

Marcus is co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club, as well as a member of the board of Celtic Bank, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and Launch Tennessee.

Kathryne Cooper, MBA is a native Angeleno passionate about growing and funding early stage companies and creating a diverse ecosystem to support entrepreneurs.

As Partner, Kathryne brings to Jumpstart Nova a history of operationalizing change and making astute early stage investments in the healthcare arena. Kathryne prioritizes healthcare efficacy and business outcomes and knows how to integrate them into the investment landscape.

She founded HealthTechDEI to deliver more inclusive investment strategies and solutions that optimize financial performance and capitalize on the wealth in diversity, and authored the influential report Underinvested: Strategies for Supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Health Care Venture Investment for the California Health Care Foundation. Kathryne is an Investment Advisor at The West Coast Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics (CTIP) where from 2017-2021 she managed their $6.6M FDA-backed seed fund that invested in 150+ medical technology companies as Co-Director. Kathryne’s personal and professional journey as a Black female entrepreneur is featured in the award winning case study Kathryne Cooper and CTIP: Accelerating Diversity in Medtech, which illustrates how she transformed the accelerator’s portfolio.

Kathryne holds a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business and a Certificate in Venture Capital Finance from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She began her career in medicine, attending medical school at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine before transitioning to the business side of healthcare. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Bertran F. Cooper, M.D. Scholarship Fund via the Howard University College of Medicine; the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Venture [Capital] Association; the Board of Directors of Plug in South LA and formerly the Advisory Board of WiSTEM LA, a Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math [STEM] initiative, via the Office of the Los Angeles Mayor; in addition to serving on the boards of portfolio companies.

Kathryne nerds out connecting innovative people, products and ideas.