Uma (Veerappan) Nuggehalli

Uma is a Vice President at Flare Capital Partners. Uma supports Flare Capital’s investments in Daffodil Health, Elektra Health, Greater Good Health, knownwell, Oui Therapeutics, and Visana Health.

In addition, she led the firm’s Flare Scholar Ventures investment in Budgie Health, Pear Suite, Semaphor, Vivo, Zeal and supports our Flare Scholar Ventures investment in Narrable Health.

Uma began her career as a Fulbright Teaching Grantee in South Korea. After returning to the US, she was a Strategy Consultant at EY, where she advised C-Suite executives in healthcare and technology on launching next-generation products, improving the customer experience, and creating go-to-market strategies for recently acquired startups. She explored areas including surgical skills assessment and artificial intelligence.

Uma gained exposure to healthcare startup operations through her work with Hazel Health, a pediatric telemedicine startup, and Care+Wear, a healthcare apparel startup. These experiences have given her perspective on hospital sales cycles, clinical workflow integration strategies, and payor engagement. In her subsequent project at Intuitive, she highlighted the most promising opportunities for digital health in the robotic surgery market, incorporating key considerations related to data sharing, artificial intelligence applications, and clinical decision support. Uma’s prior experience in healthcare-focused venture capital includes her roles at BBG Ventures and Portfolia. At both firms, she recognized the importance of investing in underrepresented founders and markets.

Uma has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Educational Studies from Emory University, where she was a Woodruff Dean’s Achievement Scholar. She earned her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While completing her MBA, Uma was a Flare Capital Scholar.