Top 50 Emerging Leaders 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Jessica Zeaske, partner of strategic investment, Echo Health Ventures
Jessica Zeaske is partner of strategic investment at Echo Health Ventures, the US-based corporate venturing vehicle for care provider Cambia Health Solutions and health insurer Blue Cross North Carolina.
Rob Coppedge, chief executive of Echo Health Ventures, said of Zeaske: “Since joining Echo in 2019, Jessica has transformed how we cultivate our investment theses and execute our mission. She has led investments for Echo across multiple sectors and has been critical to our evolution and success as a firm.
“Jessica is a seasoned investor whose contributions have advanced the Echo strategic investing model while creating value across the entire portfolio.”
Zeaske sources and backs early and growth-stage companies for the unit, and currently sits on the boards of companies including Avalon Healthcare Services, Genome Medical, Vericred and Wildflower Health, and is a board observer at Abacus Insights.
She had been director of healthcare investments at GE Ventures, an investment unit of industrial and power technology provider General Electric, for a year and a half from mid-2017, where she focused on precision health companies.
Before that, Zeaske worked at healthcare-focused venture capital firm Lemhi Ventures as a principal for over eight years from 2009. Her role included serving on Lemhi’s investment committee and sitting on the boards of portfolio companies including PokitDok, PlanSource and OneHealth.
Previously, she held stints at University of Minnesota and Oregon Health & Science University where she helped form and spin out medical technology and life sciences companies that leverage university intellectual property.
