Understanding Strategic Investments with Cleveland Clinic Innovations' JD Friedland

This is part of our executive insights series where Elion CEO Bobby Guelich speaks with healthcare leaders about their tech priorities and learnings. For more, become a member and sign up for our email list.

Role: Executive Director, Innovations Investments and Ventures

Organization: Cleveland Clinic Innovations

To start off, can you share a bit about your background and how the Ventures team at Cleveland Clinic Innovations fits into the broader organization?

My career breaks into three chapters. I started in investment banking, spending two decades helping venture-stage companies raise capital, navigate M&A, and find strategic exits. From there, I joined Henry Schein, a Fortune 200 healthcare company, to lead business development for their $2.5 billion medical division, and while there, launched an internal venture arm. Later, I joined a healthcare-focused private equity firm as an operating partner to effectively serve as their in-house investment banker. 

I came to Cleveland Clinic four years ago to lead our medical device investment efforts, and shortly thereafter took over the Ventures team within Cleveland Clinic Innovations. We’re not a traditional venture fund, most of our investments involve licensing Cleveland Clinic intellectual property, and we aim to bring more than capital to the table. That could mean clinical know-how, research data, access to a world-class brand, or support from our subject matter experts.

What are your top priorities today—particularly in digital health or AI?

A few areas we’re particularly focused on now:

• Ambient documentation: One of our most recent and visible collaborations is with Ambience Healthcare. We piloted five different ambient documentation solutions before selecting them, not just because the product fit our needs, but because their collaborative approach aligned well with Cleveland Clinic.
  

• Supply chain optimization: This is an increasingly important area, especially as hospitals look to improve operational resilience and reduce costs. We’re exploring both internal innovations and external partners in this space.
  

• Leveraging data as a strategic asset: We’re increasingly thinking about how clinical and research data can be part of what we bring to a partnership. That might mean contributing data to a consortium or working with a strategic partner in a way that not only benefits Cleveland Clinic, but helps us fulfill our mission as a not-for-profit healthcare institution that is committed to delivering the best care to the most patients and providing the best experience for our caregivers.

You mentioned that the Ventures model at Cleveland Clinic is unique among strategic investors, can you say more about that?

Unlike some strategic investors, we don’t require that we be a customer—or even intend to be a customer—before we invest. But there has to be a strategic rationale beyond financial return.

We look for partnerships where we bring differentiated assets: intellectual property, world-class clinical expertise, or proprietary data. The capital we invest should be the “cherry on top,” not the whole sundae.

That approach aligns with our mission. We’re looking for ways to improve care, optimize operations, or enhance patient experience. If we can do all of those, even better.

Are there specific areas where Cleveland Clinic is particularly well-suited to partner?

Yes—on the clinical side, we have world-class programs in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, neurology, digestive diseases, sports medicine, ophthalmology, and oncology. So, companies working in those areas will often find engaged clinical champions and robust infrastructure to support collaboration.

That said, we’re also a strong partner for companies building digital health solutions, especially in areas like revenue cycle management. Our procedures tend to be higher acuity and more complex, which means we can be a great stress test environment for solutions that need to handle edge cases.

Any advice for companies looking to work with Cleveland Clinic Innovations?

Yes—find your clinical champion early. If you’re a clinician or patient-facing company and you come to us already working with one of our experts, that gets our attention. I’ll call that person and ask them directly: “Is this something we should spend time on?"

Another path is through licensing Cleveland Clinic intellectual property. We have a large, searchable body of licensable technology. If you think something may align with your roadmap, reach out. We’re happy to connect you with our licensing team.

Also, come visit the Innovations team at Cleveland Clinic! We always enjoy getting to show potential collaborators and partners everything Cleveland Clinic has to offer. There is a lot happening here—including major new research and clinical facilities coming online, such as a state-of-the-art Neurological Institute under construction now.

Any final lessons learned from your evaluation of ambient documentation tools?

A few takeaways:

• Listen to everyone: Clinicians, IT, the startup team, and your internal stakeholders. Each brings a critical perspective, so make sure you’re surfacing them early.
  

• Get a 360° view, but don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Eventually, you have to make a decision.
  

• Don’t undervalue the pilot: It’s not just about whether the product works—it’s about how the company responds when things go sideways. That tells you a lot about the long-term fit.