Eyal Lifschitz is a visionary and investor in global healthcare innovation. He is the co-founder and general managing partner at Peregrine Ventures, one of Israel’s leading healthcare investment firms, with a global portfolio spanning medical devices, biopharma, and digital health. A former entrepreneur himself, Lifschitz brings a hands-on approach to Peregrine, based on his experience building and scaling five companies, four of which were successfully acquired.
Recognizing Eyal Lifschitz’s transformative role in the global healthcare venture capital market, this exclusive feature documents his rare insights on what it takes to build category-defining health-tech. Lifschitz shares his perspective on responsible investing, the power of true innovation which is inclusive, improves patient mortality and quality of life, and deals with the fundamental question which every founder must ask: Will anyone want to buy this product?
Building What Matters, Not Just What’s New
I started my journey in the early ’90s as a serial entrepreneur. Together with my brother, I co-founded five healthcare companies. One of them had received FDA approval and was actively preparing for an IPO when it was acquired mid-roadshow by a major pharmaceutical company. Such experiences and interaction with various market stakeholders don’t just shape you; they give you clarity. It’s what led us to launch Peregrine Ventures in 2001- to build innovative ground breaking healthcare companies that matter.
Today, Peregrine invests across all stages, pre-seed, seed, and growth. On the pre-seed side, we operate our own incubator, where we invest alongside our incubator partners - Bristol-Myers Squibb, Becton Dickinson, and top academic medical centers. This unique partnership with major, strategic stakeholders allows us to cherry-pick unique, first in class technologies based on due diligence across both clinical and commercial disciplines. We then follow companies through their lifecycle, and remain deeply involved as they scale, build strong foundations, and lead them from inception to exit.
But my philosophy remains constant. I’m not interested in being the tenth IV pump or another mitral valve solution. I want to build what’s genuinely new, what creates medical value at scale and has a market.
Questions That Define Every Investment
Every time I evaluate a new venture, I ask three questions: Does it address a large and meaningful global market? Is it truly innovative, not just incremental? And can it be affordable enough to be inclusive and transform patient access?
Take our mitral valve repair technology, for example. We turned a highly complex and expensive surgery into a catheter-based procedure. That’s not just innovation - it's impact, it's democratizing healthcare, by reducing complications, cutting costs, enabling treatment beyond high- end hospitals, enabling access to treatment for more people and in more locations.
This approach guides all our investments, whether in oncology, cardiovascular, autoimmune, or neurological diseases. Our technologies must solve real problems that drive measurable, system-wide change and really affect patient care and quality of life.
Leading from the Front
I have always believed in being close to the action. When a company I’ve backed is doing its first human implant, I don’t read the report; I’m in the operating room or the catheterization lab. I’ve seen stents collapse. I’ve seen prototypes fail in real time. That’s when your presence as an investor matters most.
Because I’ve been a founder myself, I understand what they go through. The pressure, the pivot points, the unexpected. That empathy helps me be the kind of partner I wish I had when I was in their shoes.
Investing in Tools That Multiply Impact
We focus heavily on enabling technologies that simplify advanced care, improve safety, and expand access. Whether it’s AI in diagnostics or robotics in surgery, I’m less interested in the hype and more in the outcomes and ensuring that the technology will really affect patient care. These aren’t just tech layers, they’re tools for transformation.
We’ve also invested in miniaturization, material science, catheter-based delivery, and minimally invasive procedures. The common thread is this: every tool we back must enable better outcomes, faster recovery, and lower cost. That’s how you not only improve patient experience, quality of life, and mortality, but also help build a sustainable healthcare system.
Advice to Founders: Solve for the Endgame
To every founder I meet, I say this: Make sure someone wants what you’re building. At the outset, talk to key opinion leaders, clinicians, and regulatory advisors and build a valid reimbursement strategy. Importantly, seek the strategic acquirers like Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. Understand what they’ll want to acquire five years from now.
If your solution doesn’t fit a future product line, rethink it. Don’t build because you can. Build because someone will need it and pay for it. That clarity will save you years of effort and bring you closer to success.
