ACS BrightEdge Annual Report Highlights Early-Stage Investments and Programs to Accelerate the Fight Against Cancer
October 2025“BrightEdge represents the American Cancer Society’s commitment to pair its unparallelled scientific expertise and mission focus with market-based solutions,” said Alice Pomponio, managing director at BrightEdge. “Together, our Innovation and Impact programs work in harmony with our investment strategies to ensure that scientific discoveries have a pathway to reach patients faster, creating lasting change for patients and families facing cancer.
BrightEdge programs channel expertise and private donor capital toward solutions with the power to transform cancer care. A number of programs fall under the Innovation umbrella, all of which connect early-stage founders launching cancer-fighting innovations with funding, expert advisors, and robust healthcare networks to accelerate growth. One such initiative, the BrightEdge Entrepreneurs program, is designed to accelerate the impact of cancer research by supporting company formation and translational progress. In late 2024, the program brought together nearly 200 oncology stakeholders for the annual BEE Pitch Event, where startup teams connect with investors, health care experts, academics, and patient advocates. The 2024 BEE program cohort went on to raise $33 million of follow-on investments from leading investors.
In the past year, BrightEdge further expanded its Innovation programs by launching Project HEALTH, an accelerator program for startups addressing persistent disparities in cancer care. The program equips startups with education sessions, $50,000 via SAFE note, and tailored mentorship opportunities.
In addition to its Innovation programs, BrightEdge is shaping the broader oncology and impact investing markets through the development of novel measurement tools. Building off the success of the Cancer Impact Investment FrameworkTM, BrightEdge’s rigorous impact measurement and due-diligence framework, the organization began developing novel impact-measurement tools to align investment capital to address historic health disparities in cancer care, such as access to quality therapeutics or early diagnosis. These new tools are designed to capture how portfolio companies address health disparities and quantify the total market size innovations can be expected to serve.
These tools measure the impact of the American Cancer Society Impact Venture Fund (AIVF) portfolio, which is composed of investments in for-profit, early-stage companies developing cancer-focused therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, and technologies. Investment gains are fully reinvested in the AIVF portfolio to scale long-term impact. In 2024, BrightEdge made a new investment in Signify Bio, an innovative developer of in vivo therapeutics.
Together, BrightEdge’s investments and programmatic resources create an ecosystem for cancer innovations to traverse the “valley of death” in cancer research, bringing critical breakthroughs to market to improve outcomes for cancer patients and their families. By year end 2024, BrightEdge’s 15 active portfolio companies had the potential to impact 13.4 million patients and their families once the companies reach expected scale and maturity.
All of BrightEdge’s efforts are rooted in the belief that the fight against cancer is a shared challenge only overcome by working together. As BrightEdge’s impact grows, so does its commitment to partnering with investors, healthcare leaders, and advocates to accelerate progress against cancer. BrightEdge is actively seeking new partnerships, program sponsors, and thought leaders to amplify this work.
“BrightEdge is at the forefront of rigorous, patient-centric impact investment,” said Pomponio. “Everything we do is with cancer patients and their families in mind. Our hope is that our investment strategy and impact measurement approach will motivate others to increase their commitment to find a solution to cancer once and for all.”
About ACS BrightEdge
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. For more than 110 years, we have been improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through advocacy, research, and patient support. We are committed to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. To learn more, visit cancer.org or call our 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345. Connect with us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
