Not many people are aware that venture capital (VC) provides early support and investment to start-up companies that have a technological and competitive advantage. The entrepreneurs who personally identify these opportunities are called venture capitalists (VCs). For doctors who are typically expected to work in a hospital after completing medical school, this is all uncharted territory. But there is one doctor who is forging an unlikely partnership between venture capital and medicine. Moon Yeo-jung, OB&GYN specialist, Investment Division Director at Intervest, is the first medical doctor to enter the venture capital industry in Korea.

An ordinary doctor who dreamed of being a “research professor”
Like many other doctors, Moon graduated from medical school, finished her training, and became an “ordinary” obstetrician who treated patients in a hospital. She dreamed of becoming a “research professor.” After two years as a fellow, she spent another three years in the laboratory to earn her doctorate. Ironically, her horizons were widened by the realities of the medical profession, where a professorship is a near unachievable ideal. While working with the Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) and waiting for a professor position to open up, Moon’s career took a different path due to her increasing interest in digital healthcare.

“As a mother of three, I started to wonder what kind of future they would have. I began reading books about the future of medicine, and I discovered that the world was changing more rapidly than I thought. It was my future that was changing, not my children’s.”

At that time, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was seeking start-up ideas for reducing maternal mortality rates. Moon came up with the idea of developing simple prenatal testing equipment for listening to a fetus’ heart, and then deploying it in Africa. As she considered starting a business, Moon sought advice from people who could actually make it happen. However, the more people she met, the more limited she felt. Ultimately, Apple beat her to the punch. In September 2015, Apple launched an application that allowed people to use a remote sensing function (Sens4Baby) with an Apple Watch.

“I met people who built devices, and I listened to their stories. I thought about how I might do it, but I couldn’t pull it off. I felt like entrepreneurs and doctors had different DNA. Entrepreneurs are aggressive and adventurous, but doctors tend to do as they are told. I really felt like I didn’t have entrepreneurial DNA. And then the Apple Watch launched, and AirStrip Technologies had already implemented my idea. So I set aside my dream for starting a business. ”

A new way of starting a business
Despite this initial “frustration,” the time she spent dreaming of starting a business presented Moon another opportunity. She learned that many venture companies face limitations when it comes to product development because they have no clinical expertise. She provided them with honest advice about what she felt as a clinician. That’s when she learned that an “accelerator” is a profession that plans start-up businesses.

“I learned that unless a physician with good business sense participates in the initial product development, the business may not succeed even with good technology. It was also fun to take direction and give advice. I thought I could make a living as a business accelerator. So, I met someone who was doing just that, but he told me that a person who doesn’t have startup experience of her own doesn’t have the ability to help others with their businesses. However, since I was interested in the topic, he suggested that I look into venture capitalism.”

Immediately after receiving this advice, Moon began meeting with venture capitalists. She was convinced that she could make a career as a clinician while investing in a promising venture company. And just like that, she stepped into the venture capital industry. In March 2016, the obstetrician who dreamed of being a ‘research professor’ completely changed careers and became the first physician venture capitalist in Korea. Now at Intervest, a company dedicated to digital healthcare and bio-investment, Moon’s schedule is completely packed. She gets called to eat lunch two or three times a day.

Doctor and venture capitalist, Yeojung Moon

It has only been about 10 months since she became a venture capitalist, but more and more companies are looking to work exclusively with Moon. They may not need additional investment, but if Moon wants in, they are willing to accept her expertise. After Moon joined Intervest, she committed nearly 37 billion KRW (32 million USD) to investment projects. Why are so many businesses interested in this “newborn” venture capitalist?

“Ordinarily it takes 1 to 2 years to make an investment decision. I did it in 6 months. The investments were significant in terms of size and quantity. Even start-ups that decline investment proposals from other venture capitals accept my proposal, because I link them with the “key man” they need in addition to financial resources. I tell them exactly where we can get the information we require for the product we are developing.”

The criteria for determining investments are clear. In healthcare, decisions are not based on whether the business can replace a doctor, but whether the business will help the doctor in the course of patient treatment. Moon explains that her decision to invest is based on whether she would use the product as a clinical doctor. In the biotech industry, scientific evidence is supremely important. “When you hear the explanation of the development process, it is important to apply scientific logic. It is surprising how many of them are filled with holes.”

Moon says that the time spent in the lab working towards her dream of becoming a “research professor” was a great asset for finding loopholes in logic. Since she was a doctor and a researcher, she has a trained eye to distinguish between ‘real’ and ‘fake’.

“If I had only graduated from medical school and then jumped into venture capital, it would have been harder. If I had only treated patients as a specialist, things would have been different as well. Because I have clinical experience along with lab-based research, I was able to quickly understand the development process for new drugs. Now, I feel like I didn’t become a professor because I was meant to take this path.”

Stating that her experience as a researcher and a clinical physician laid the groundwork for becoming a venture capitalist, Moon adds, “Now that I look at it, an accelerator is no different from a doctor who serves the patient. I am satisfied with it since this is a job that fits a doctor’s sense of duty, rather than just another way of making money.”

Moon would like more doctors to enter into venture capital. If a doctor likes meeting people and has a broad perspective, it’s worth undertaking new challenges. If they have research and clinical experience like Moon, then they’re golden.

The fact that more and more doctors are following Moon’s example is just part of her success. In time, Moon’s investments may change the future of medicine.

soo331@docdocdoc.co.kr

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