McKesson Ventures, the venture capital arm of McKesson Corporation, has appointed Carrie Hurwitz Williams as Principal, and Irem Mertol as Director.
Williams will play a key role in promoting McKesson Ventures as a strategic investment partner for innovative companies focused on retail transformation, consumerism and channel development. Mertol will be responsible for sourcing potential investments, developing investment theses and supporting portfolio management.
“We are pleased to welcome both Carrie and Irem to the McKesson Ventures team,” says Tom Rodgers, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at McKesson Ventures. “Carrie’s lengthy experience throughout the healthcare ecosystem provides us with a diverse array of perspectives ‘from the inside’ to deliver strategic and valuable investment guidance to pioneering companies. Irem’s well-respected background as an investor and entrepreneur across healthcare services and technology companies will help us continue to advance our portfolio.”
Williams has nearly 15 years of healthcare experience from several vantage points within the industry. Most recently, Williams served as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development for San Francisco-based digital therapeutics pioneer Omada Health, where she led a team dedicated to driving and supporting commercial growth. Prior to Omada, Williams spent time in McKesson’s U.S. Pharmaceutical division as part of the Corporate Strategy and Business Development team, working to advance strategies aimed at innovation within hospital pharmacy and clinical trial patient recruitment. She began her career in drug development, where she managed oncology clinical trials in both large pharmaceutical and biotech settings. Williams holds a Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Mertol brings to McKesson Ventures experience as an investor, operator and investment banker in healthcare services and technology. Most recently, she was responsible for developing and implementing network management, pharmacy benefit management and wellness products for self-insured organizations at Burd Health. Prior to Burd Health, Mertol held strategy and business development roles with healthcare startups such as Omada Health and Caremerge. Mertol also brings venture and growth equity investment experience from Andreessen Horowitz, Canvas Ventures, StartUp Health and Madison Dearborn Partners. Mertol holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned her undergraduate degree in economics and biomedical engineering from Duke University.
“Both of these talented individuals will help us translate innovation trends into insights that inform growth strategies,” says Dave Schulte, Managing Director at McKesson Ventures. “Their prior experience in leading healthcare startup companies further strengthens McKesson Ventures’ mission to partner with exceptional healthcare entrepreneurs in building better healthcare together.”
