Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered from cardiac arrest after he was hit in the chest during a game in 2023, is backing a recently launched venture capital fund that is targeting personalized and preventative healthcare startups. Former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis, like Hamlin, is on the board of the One Eight Capital fund, which is looking to raise $100 million by the end of the year.
One Eight Capital founder and managing partner Alex Bussenger, who himself survived a near fatal heart incident (aortic dissection) last year, said his and Hamlin’s stories “brought us together.”
“We’ve both had a new perspective on life around what’s important to us,” Bussenger said. “It’s venture capital, obviously we want to make a lot of money, but we’re also literally saving and extending the lives of the companies that we invest in.”
Bussenger, who previously served as a senior vice president at Bank of America Private Bank, stepped down from his role to begin his entrepreneur journey following his Jan. 8, 2024, incident, which hints the name of the fund. Launched last fall, One Eight Capital has already raised $50 million with roughly $5 million deployed across three companies: Nucleus Genomics, healthcare service Sollis Health and fitness company VitalSpark AI.
One Eight Capital looks to invest in roughly 50 early-stage companies once it closes, and plans to reserve cash to make additional investments in startups that are gaining market traction. Bussenger wants to capitalize on the recent declining cost of genomics sequencing , which is in large part due to technological advances. The former bank executive also touts the preventive healthcare market, which is expected to experience significant growth over the next decade, according to multiple projections.
One Eight Capital is also targeting startups in athlete wellness and injury recovery. The fund, which has other unnamed pro athlete investors, envisions itself potentially investing in companies that work with pro sports teams, especially direct-to-consumer brands.
“Athletes carry so much influence with people that if Steph Curry tries something out and they like it, we’re going to instantly reach tens of millions of consumers,” Bussenger said.
Hamlin has been involved in health care in a variety of ways since he recovered and returned to play later in 2023. The George Halas Award winner has since partnered with the Abbott, American Heart Association and Zoll Medical. Lewis, meanwhile, has previously said that he wants to change a billion lives through his investments and philanthropic work. They’re joined on the board of directors by Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who played a key role in developing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’re looking for companies that we have complete conviction in,” Bussenger said.
