Scrub Capital

Scrub Capital Research Investment Thesis Scrub Capital is a pioneering venture capital firm that is fundamentally reshaping early-stage healthcare investing through a clinician-powered model. Founded in 2024 by Dr. Rebecca Mitchell, Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, and Christina Farr, the firm unites clinicians, founders, operators, and technology experts as both limited partners and active partners in fund operations. The core thesis is simple but powerful: the best healthcare solutions emerge from teams that deeply understand real-world clinical challenges. Rather than relying on traditional venture capital expertise alone, Scrub Capital embeds a community of 650+ clinicians—nurses, pharmacists, physicians, therapists, and allied health professionals—directly into deal sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support. These clinicians are not passive investors; they are experienced founders, builders, and operators who leverage their multifaceted expertise to drive strategic growth. This clinician-first approach addresses a critical gap in healthcare venture investing: many health tech companies fail because they lack authentic clinical validation and understanding of workflow realities in actual healthcare settings. Scrub Capital positions itself as a partner that can connect founders with real-world practitioners who understand the unglamorous but deeply human problems in healthcare. Investment Focus & Scope Scrub Capital writes $100K-$300K strategic checks into pre-seed, seed, and selective Series A opportunities. The firm deliberately maintains broad sector flexibility within healthcare, including health IT and digital health platforms, tech-enabled healthcare services, Class I and II medical devices, therapeutic technologies at the intersection of biology and biomechanics, pediatric healthcare solutions, and specialty care technologies. The firm explicitly avoids medications and Class III devices, maintaining focus on technology-enabled solutions rather than pharmaceutical development. Stage and Check Size Scrub Capital focuses on Pre-Seed, Seed, and selective Series A investments. The check size range is $100,000 to $300,000, with strategic checks sized to build meaningful positions while maintaining capital efficiency. SPVs run alongside fund investments when interest is high, and the firm maintains focus on early-stage participation with potential for follow-on support. Recent Investment Activity Scrub Capital closed its inaugural fund in 2024 and publicly launched on October 29, 2024, after six months of operating quietly. Throughout 2025, the firm demonstrated consistent early-stage deployment with investments in Clarity Pediatrics (December 2025, $14.5M Series A for virtual chronic care), Spark Spine (October 2025, regenerative medical device), Elion (August 2025, healthcare AI), Oshi Health (January 2025, GI-focused digital health), and RevBio (spine biologics). The firm remains actively deploying capital with a focus on founder-first diligence and clinician partnership. As of February 2026, Scrub Capital is in active fundraising and deployment mode, having invested in approximately 4-5 portfolio companies with continuous deal flow. Portfolio Companies Confirmed portfolio investments include Clarity Pediatrics (virtual chronic care platform), Spark Spine (regenerative medical device), Elion (healthcare AI), RevBio (spine biologics), Oshi Health (digital gastroenterology), Radial Health (clinic/outpatient services), and Posterity Health (healthcare services). The portfolio reflects Scrub Capital's thesis of clinically grounded companies addressing real healthcare workflow challenges. Team & Leadership Dr. Rebecca Mitchell, MD serves as Managing Partner. She is a former clinical product leader in health tech at both startup and public companies, having led products reaching tens of millions of patients worldwide with deep experience bridging clinical needs and technology implementation. Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, MD is Chief Science Officer—a practicing neurosurgeon, health system leader, and multi-time co-founder and CMO at successful digital health and device companies. Christina Farr is a prominent voice in health technology media, founder of Second Opinion media company, and early-stage advisor and investor with extensive healthcare network. The core team structure includes Managing Partners and Chief Science Officer as primary decision makers, Venture Partners and rotating Venture Fellows providing specialized expertise, and a 650+ clinician community embedded in deal sourcing and portfolio support. Decision Process & Timeline Scrub Capital uses a partnership-based decision making model with collaborative discussion among founders and supporting clinicians. The typical timeline is 2-3 weeks from serious conversation to commitment, with faster decisions possible for exceptional founders with warm introductions. Warm introductions are not required but accelerate decision timeline and improve founder fit assessment. Founder Preferences Scrub Capital explicitly seeks founders with authentic clinical understanding, obsession with solving unglamorous real-world healthcare challenges, execution rigor with clarity on unit economics, founder-operator DNA focused on long-term healthcare impact, collaborative mindset with openness to clinician feedback, and deep market insight regarding healthcare workflows and regulations. The firm explicitly avoids founders chasing AI/ML buzzwords without clinical grounding, teams ignoring clinical workflow realities, solutions solving for clinician convenience rather than patient outcomes, and founders lacking healthcare domain expertise. Geographic Focus Scrub Capital maintains primary focus on the United States with strong presence in healthcare hubs. Based in New York with Managing Partner Rebecca Mitchell in San Francisco area, the firm is open to exceptional founders nationally and maintains strong connections to healthcare centers of excellence and academic medical centers nationwide. Fund Maturity & Status As of February 2026, Scrub Capital is actively deploying capital with continuous evaluation and investment in early-stage healthcare founders. The portfolio is growing with 4-5 confirmed investments and ongoing deal flow. 2025 represented the firm's 'first full year in action' with strong community engagement and expansion from 650 to 1,000+ clinician members. The firm has received market recognition through features in Modern Healthcare, Accretive Edge listing among top healthcare VCs, and Offcall podcast coverage. Investment Conviction Scrub Capital demonstrates strong conviction around clinician-powered investing, believing clinicians add irreplaceable value in health tech diligence. The firm maintains commitment to early-stage focus where clinical insight matters most, concentration on companies solving workflow problems versus vanity tech, and long-term health outcomes versus short-term exits. The firm explicitly avoids hype-driven healthcare investing and maintains disciplined focus on clinical reality.