“My dream is to get the right care to the right patient at the right time, at an affordable cost. If we can achieve that in ways that make it easier for patients, that’s the vision of healthcare I would love to see. ”
— Tara Bishop
When you think about healthcare innovation, the image of cutting-edge technologies, AI-driven diagnostics, and robotic breakthroughs might come to mind. But is there a way to use these innovations to address the system’s biggest challenges – cost, quality, access, and sustainability?
My guest today is Dr. Tara Bishop, who is the founder and managing director of Black Opal Ventures, and she is uniquely positioned to answer this question.
As a fourth-generation physician turned venture capitalist, Tara teamed up with deep-tech veteran Eileen Tanghal to create a fund focused on bridging healthcare and technology. Together, they bring decades of expertise in medicine, policy, startups, and deep tech to build a brilliant tomorrow in healthcare.
Black Opal’s mission is to uncover and support the rarest gems in healthcare innovation – companies that redefine care delivery, improve access, and make a measurable impact while delivering competitive returns.
With $63M under management and a portfolio spanning robotic IVF, wearable AI diagnostics, and next-gen obesity care platforms, Black Opal proves that you don’t have to choose between impact and profitability.
In this interview, Tara talks about inefficiencies in the healthcare system and how they inspired her to dive into healthcare innovation. She also shares her investment strategy and explains how Black Opal balances impact and profitability.
Curious to learn more about how venture capital is turning the biggest healthcare challenges into opportunities to drive meaningful change and financial returns? Tune in to hear how this unique fund is bridging technology and medical expertise to deliver smarter, more accessible, and impactful solutions.
Let’s dive in!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Connect with Tara: LinkedIn
- Black Opal Ventures website
SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Introduction
[02:50] Tara Bishop’s background and early career path
[20:40] Transition to venture capital
[35:00] Co-founding Black Opal Ventures with Eileen Tanghal
[42:37] Black Opal’s mission and theory of change
[01:02:18] Investment strategy, process, and portfolio
[01:14:03] Portfolio highlights: Conceivable Life Sciences, Empatica, Violet
[01:22:34] Challenges of integrating technology into healthcare
[01:27:10] Impact measurement
[01:32:20] How diversity drives better and faster healthcare solutions
[01:42:34] The public sector’s role in advancing health tech innovation
[01:45:30] Future of health tech and AI
[01:48:14] Rapid fire questions
MORE TARA BISHOP QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW:
“Black Opal invests in what we call the collision of healthcare and technology. We focus on companies that are either applying or developing highly innovative technologies for healthcare and life sciences, and we invest in all the frontier technologies that have applicability in this industry. ”
— Tara Bishop
“Generating revenue in healthcare is a big opportunity, but it’s a really complicated industry to do so. At Black Opal, that’s probably where we spend most of our time with our companies – helping them commercialize. ”
— Tara Bishop
