Nick Rolfes
Vice President
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- Full Name
- Nick Rolfes
- Title
- Senior Director, Venture Capital
- Firm
- DaVita Venture Group
- Firm Type
- Corporate venture capital / venture capital and private equity principals
- Investment Stage
- Stage agnostic; early-stage healthcare companies are specifically referenced in his LinkedIn profile
- Check Size
- Up to $10 million
- Target Company Profile
- Healthcare innovators building products, services, technologies, or business models that improve care for patients with kidney disease and related conditions
- Sector Focus
- Care models, digital health, new service lines, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, value-based care, home treatments, data and artificial intelligence for care delivery
- Location
- Denver, Colorado
Background
Nick Rolfes is Senior Director, Venture Capital at DaVita Venture Group, where DaVita says he leads the company’s venture investing strategy. DaVita Venture Group is DaVita’s innovation and investment arm, focused on venture investments, corporate development, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and incubating new care models and technologies for kidney disease and related conditions.
Before DaVita Venture Group, Rolfes was a healthcare private equity investor at Charlesbank Capital Partners. Third-party public profiles also associate him with board service at MB2 Dental Solutions PLLC beginning in 2021, tied to his Charlesbank period. Earlier in his career, he worked as a strategy consultant at Oliver Wyman and was on the founding team of Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood, a venture incubator in New York for entrepreneurs building technology products for low-income communities.
Rolfes earned a BA, magna cum laude, in Mathematics, Engineering Sciences, and Economics from Dartmouth College. He later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where DaVita says he was a Palmer Scholar. His public LinkedIn location and DaVita Venture Group’s headquarters are both Denver, Colorado.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- DaVita Venture Group states its thesis as: “We build with innovators and provide strategic capital to improve the lives of patients with kidney disease.”
- The group’s venture capability is explicitly “Invest up to $10M, stage agnostic.”
- Priority areas are care models, including tech-enabled services, home treatments, and value-based care; digital health, including data and AI to improve care delivery; new service lines adjacent to DaVita’s clinical expertise; and life sciences, including pharma, devices, and diagnostics that improve outcomes and reduce costs.
- Rolfes’ LinkedIn summary says he invests in early-stage companies seeking to transform healthcare and improve the lives of patients, consistent with DaVita Venture Group’s kidney-care mandate.
- Because DaVita Venture Group is strategic capital, the strongest fit appears to be companies where DaVita can be more than a passive investor: care delivery partnerships, pilots, co-development, clinical insight, or scale through DaVita’s kidney-care footprint.
Notable Investments
- R1 Therapeutics - Clinical-stage biotech developing AP306 for hyperphosphatemia in chronic kidney disease; launched March 17, 2026 with a $77.5 million Series A co-led by Abingworth, F-Prime, and DaVita Venture Group.
- Greater Good Health - Value-based primary care company focused on nurse-practitioner-led care for Medicare and underserved markets; announced March 5, 2026 a $20.5 million Series B plus up to $12.5 million in venture debt, with DaVita Venture Group participating as a new investor.
- Pathalys Pharma - Late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for end-stage kidney disease; DaVita Venture Group was a founding investor and participated in the August 20, 2024 $105 million Series B.
- Xeltis - Clinical-stage medical device company developing restorative cardiovascular implants; DaVita Venture Group is listed in DaVita’s active portfolio.
- eGenesis - Biotechnology company developing engineered organs for transplant; listed in DaVita Venture Group’s active portfolio.
- Vynca - Technology and clinical care provider for high-quality whole-person serious illness care; DaVita Venture Group announced an investment/expanded partnership in 2022 and lists Vynca as active.
- Dock Health - Healthcare task-management and workflow platform; raised $5 million in 2023 with participation from DaVita Venture Group and is listed by DaVita as exited.
- SameSky Health - Multicultural patient engagement company; DaVita lists it as exited, and SameSky merged with GroundGame.Health on April 30, 2024.
- Wellth - Digital health company using behavioral economics to improve adherence in chronic disease populations; listed in DaVita Venture Group’s active portfolio.
- MedSleuth - Transplant software company; listed in DaVita Venture Group’s active portfolio.
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