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Stage: Seed
Raised: $4.5M
Lead: XYZ Venture Capital
Founded: 2021
HQ: San Francisco / Berlin

Levy Health

Seed Round Diligence Plan

Clinical decision support software that reduces fertility diagnosis from years to weeks, analyzing 110 potential conditions through patient questionnaires, biomarkers, and lab work.

The Core Investment Question
Does this team have the clinical credibility and go-to-market clarity to own the diagnostic layer in fertility before incumbents wake up?
How the Workstreams Connect
Founder
References
→
Clinical
Validation
→
Customer
Calls
→
Defensibility
Assessment
Diligence Workstreams
01
Founder & Team
Leadership, conviction, and the Berlin-to-US bridge
+
Key Questions
  • How do Caroline, Silvia, and Dr. Vilsmaier divide responsibilities across product, clinical, and commercial?
  • What is the US expansion rationale, and how deep is their clinical network in American reproductive endocrinology?
  • How does Caroline show up as a leader under pressure, and would early employees back her again?
Diligence Moves
  • Backchannel through 1st and 2nd-degree connections for candid founder references
  • Leverage healthcare operating experience to connect with other founders building in the space
  • Pressure-test reputation and surface challenges specific to healthcare company building
What We Need to Believe
Does this team have the rare combination of clinical credibility and commercial instinct to win in a regulated market?
02
Clinical Validation & Technical Depth
Is the science real, and is the regulatory path clear?
+
Key Questions
  • How does fertility diagnosis actually work today, and where exactly does Levy intervene in that workflow?
  • Is the stated 50% reduction in time to diagnosis a defensible clinical claim?
  • Does the platform fall under the FDA's clinical decision support exemption, or does it require a longer regulatory pathway?
Diligence Moves
  • Connect with physicians and PhDs in reproductive endocrinology to validate the technical approach
  • Use these conversations to surface the right technical questions to press founders on
  • Review clinical data and published studies on diagnostic accuracy
What We Need to Believe
Can we confirm this is technically possible and that the clinical claims hold up to scrutiny?
03
Market & Customer Diligence
Validating the pain point and sizing the opportunity
+
Key Questions
  • Is diagnostic speed the real bottleneck constraining clinic throughput, or is it lab capacity, insurance authorization, or patient volume?
  • Is the initial product a wedge into broader revenue streams?
  • What tailwinds and headwinds are moving this market?
Diligence Moves
  • Customer calls are the most critical workstream: interview clinic administrators and REIs
  • Build out a bottoms-up TAM to confirm this is venture-backable
  • Map potential product expansion paths beyond diagnostic support
What We Need to Believe
Do customers pull this product, or does it need to be pushed? And is the addressable market large enough to justify a seed investment?
04
Defensibility
What is the moat when SaaS alone is not enough?
+
Key Questions
  • What is the actual edge: GTM motion, the Progyny relationship, proprietary clinical data, or something else?
  • Could a better-capitalized competitor replicate the product and take share?
  • Does the 110-diagnosis algorithm create durable differentiation?
Diligence Moves
  • Analyze Alife Health and adjacent competitors to map the landscape
  • Assess whether this is a standalone category or a feature EMR platforms could absorb
  • Evaluate whether clinical data compounds into a network effect over time
What We Need to Believe
Early hypothesis: clinical data compounds into a moat over time, but customer calls and technical diligence must confirm that.

This diligence plan was prepared for the XYZ Venture Capital Investment Associate application. It reflects how I would approach evaluating Levy Health at the seed stage, informed by my experience in healthcare operating roles and early-stage venture investing.