Steve Kraus

Partner

Cambridge

Roadmaps

Steve Kraus is a partner at Bessemer in the Cambridge office and a world-renowned healthcare investor. He is the author of Bessemer’s 10 Laws of Healthcare, Benchmarks for Growing Health tech Businesses, and co-host of the podcast Heart of Healthcare. Steve currently sits on the boards of Bright Health Group, Headspace Health, Groups, Qventus, AspenRx, HouseRx, Oshi Health, Folx Health, Mural Health, and Alcresta.

Prior to joining Bessemer, Steve worked for a growth-stage, private equity firm and as a management consultant at Bain & Company. He has also worked on several different political campaigns throughout his career.

He serves as an Observer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an advisor to Boston Children’s Hospital and the Harvard Business School’s Center for Entrepreneurship, and on the investment committees of BCBS Massachusetts and Rock Health.

Steve graduated from summa cum laude from Yale University and earned his MBA from Harvard, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Portfolio Highlights

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Getting to know Steve

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Steve’s path to venture capital has been far from linear. Originally, he pursued journalism in college and wrote for several publications, and through those experiences, he honed his interview and due diligence skills. At Bain & Company, Steve was a consultant for a number of healthcare companies and fell in love with this industry where you could “do well by doing good”. He took this passion for making a difference into public service, taking on various roles — including speechwriter — on several political campaigns. During one such campaign, Stevemet long time Bessemer partner, Chris Gabrieli, who recruited him to work at the firm.

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Steve feels most energized when discussing, learning, or writing about healthcare — whether it’s in conversation with a founder, researching a new idea or innovation, or behind the mic sharing thoughts on the industry (as he does as co-host for the Heart of Healthcare podcast). Investing in healthcare has given Steve the chance to help improve clinical outcomes and people’s health and wellbeing more broadly.

Over the past two decades of investing in healthcare, Steve has become a steadfast partner that founders and CEOs can rely on through the highs and lows of building a company. To best support his companies, Steve brings optimism, rational candor, a calm, grounded presence, and a long-term perspective. While Steve takes his work seriously, he’s also able to find fun and gratitude every step of the way.

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Steve first met Jeff De Flavio, the founder of Groups Recover Together, after Jeff had dropped out of medical school in order to help people with opioid addiction. Steve spent hours visiting one of the first Groups locations, talking with the counselors and their initial members. Fast forward 10 years, the Groups team has helped tens of thousands of members across 125 different locations nationwide receive outcomes-based care. Though the scale and clinical results of Groups are unmatched, what resonates most deeply with Steve are the members’ personal stories on how Groups has positively transformed their lives.

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Steve’s role model has always been his late mom, Eileen Kraus, who was the first woman to lead a major financial institution in the country. Her career, fueled by hard work and a unique blend of emotional and intellectual savvy, influenced Steve’s views and the way he overcomes challenges, champions diversity, and gives back to others.

Portfolio Companies

Indicates Enduring

Abridge

AI & ML Healthcare

Abridge

Abridge records the details of your care and helps you stay on top of your health, one conversation at a time.

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Investors

Steve Kraus Sameer Dholakia

Founded

2008

Partnered

2021

Roadmaps

AI & ML Healthcare

Articles

2020 Healthcare Predictions

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Direct-to-clinician—How product-led growth is changing healthcare and life sciences

2023 Healthcare and Life Sciences Predictions

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Abridge, Canva, and Zapier share insights on AI innovation to SaaS leaders

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State of Health Tech 2023

State of the Cloud 2024

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Roadmap: Healthcare AI

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AI’s race to value: A conversation with Abridge, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Scale AI

Part IV: Ten principles for building strong vertical AI businesses

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The Healthcare AI Adoption Index

Acceleron

NASDAQ: XLRN

Biotech Healthcare

Acceleron

Acceleron is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel biotherapeutics. Acceleron went public in September 2013 (NASDAQ: XLRN).

NASDAQ: XLRN

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