Acrew Capital

Overview

• Stage focus: Seed/Series A (early stage fund: $1-15M checks) + Series B/C (inflection stage fund: $10-20M checks)
• Check size: $1-15M early, $10-20M growth
• AUM: $700M+ raised across funds (as of Oct 2024)
• Founded: 2019, San Francisco
• Healthcare thesis: Dedicated "Health" sector — one of three pillars alongside Data & Security and Fintech. Believes now is the best time to build software/automation in health powered by data and AI. Seeks companies that improve the healthcare system as enterprise data companies, B2B applications, or consumer applications/services.
• Key people: Violetta Ostafin (Venture Advisor, Health), founding partners lead each sector

Key Contact: Violetta Ostafin

Current Role

• Title: Venture Advisor, Acrew Capital Management
• Location: Miami-Fort Lauderdale area (LinkedIn) / SF-based firm
• Email: *@acrewcapital.com (per ZoomInfo)
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/violetta-ostafin

Career Timeline (Reverse Chronological)

Education

• BS Economics — Cornell University ('99)
• MA International Studies — University of Pennsylvania
• MBA (Corporate Development) — The Wharton School

Why She Matters for DaisyAI

1. Deep healthcare operating experience — Led strategy at CVS Health ($300B+ company), ran Aon's entire global health solutions business, BCG healthcare consulting partner. She understands healthcare operations, payer/provider dynamics, and utilization review at a systems level.
2. CVS Health = Aetna — CVS owns Aetna. Ostafin was Chief Strategy Officer at the parent company of one of the largest health insurers. She has direct experience with the payer side of UR.
3. Consumer-driven healthcare champion — At CVS, her stated mission was making healthcare "more accessible, more convenient, and more personalized" — aligns directly with DaisyAI's pitch.
4. Acrew's health thesis aligns — Acrew explicitly targets B2B healthcare software, AI-powered health applications, administrative cost reduction. DaisyAI is squarely in their sweet spot.
5. Not a traditional VC — She's an operator-turned-advisor. Will evaluate from an operational lens: does this product actually work? Do nurses want this? Will health plans buy it?

What She Cares About (Inferred from Public Statements)

• Execution over vision: "Without execution, strategy is just an idea" (Weill Cornell talk)
• Understanding the business deeply: Consistent methodology of "understanding a business, how it works, your external environment, the different drivers"
• Consumer experience in healthcare: Repeatedly focused on how consumers experience care — access, convenience, personalization
• Aging populations / Medicare: Noted that "thousands enter Medicare daily" as a major opportunity area
• Business model evolution: Deep experience across business model transformation in healthcare
• Operational effectiveness: Not a hype investor — focused on things that actually work at scale
• Care access: CVS strategy was about primary care, provider enablement, health at home

Investment Style (Inferred)

• Operator's lens: Will ask "how does this actually work in a clinical workflow?" not just "what's the TAM?"
• Thesis-driven through Acrew: The firm has a formal health thesis — she's not doing random deals
• Strategy + execution: Expects founders to articulate both the vision AND the operational plan
• Healthcare-native: Won't need healthcare 101 — can go deep immediately on UR, payer dynamics, clinical workflows
• Likely asks tough operational questions: Given BCG background, expect structured thinking about market sizing, competitive positioning, go-to-market

Acrew Capital Healthcare Portfolio

Notable: Medallion (provider credentialing) and Solv (care access) are the most relevant comparables to DaisyAI's space — all three are B2B healthcare workflow tools.

Public Content & Appearances

• Weill Cornell "Luminaries in Healthcare Leadership" (2024) — Fireside chat with Dr. Rainu Kaushal. Discussed career journey, healthcare strategy, leadership philosophy.
• "On Aon" Podcast Episode 20 — Shared 2022 forecasts for health solutions and employee benefits (while at Aon).
• Chain Drug Review profile (Jan 2023) — "Ostafin helps deliver a 'new health care experience'" — detailed her CVS Health strategy.
• CVS Health press coverage (2022-2023) — Covered in Healthcare Dive, Becker's, HealthLeaders, Bloomberg, etc.
• No active Twitter/X presence found — She appears to be a LinkedIn-primary professional. Low public social media footprint.

Relationship History

Status

• Current stage: Call scheduled
• Next step: Prep and execute call
• Temperature: Warm — she engaged quickly and proactively asked for the deck

Outreach Strategy Notes

• Angle: DaisyAI is exactly what Acrew's health thesis describes — B2B healthcare software using AI to reduce administrative overhead (utilization review). She will immediately understand the problem space given CVS/Aetna experience.
• Potential warm paths: Check if any network contacts connect to Acrew or Violetta's Cornell/Wharton networks
• What to lead with: The operational problem (nurse workflow in UR is broken), not the tech. She's an operator — she'll want to hear about the clinical workflow first.
• What to avoid: Don't oversell AI — she'll want to see how it actually works in practice. She's seen enough vaporware at CVS scale.

Materials Sent

• Deck (Feb 11)
• Two-pager
• Product brief

Notes

• Acrew has 16 unicorns in portfolio (Chime, WRITER, Silverfort, Bilt Rewards, Marqeta)
• Firm raised $700M in Oct 2024 — actively deploying, fresh capital
• Health is a NEW dedicated sector for Acrew (announced late 2024) — they're actively building the health portfolio
• Violetta is not listed on Acrew's public team page — she's an advisor, not a partner. This means she likely sources deals and provides diligence expertise but may not lead investments independently.