Founders Everywhere: Jennifer Fried
Jennifer Fried is the co-founder & CEO of Flow Medical, a medtech company creating the new standard of care for interventional pulmonary embolism treatment.
Welcome to Founders Everywhere, where we highlight the incredible people behind the companies we’ve backed at Everywhere Ventures, a global pre-seed fund supported by a community of 500 founders and operators.
A pulmonary embolism (PE) is a sudden blockage in one of the arteries in the lungs, usually caused by a blood clot that travels from the legs or other parts of the body. It can reduce blood flow to the lungs, strain the heart, and, if severe, be life-threatening. They’re surprisingly common, with over a million people in the US experiencing venous blood clots each year, however it doesn’t get the same public attention of strokes or heart attacks.
Flow Medical, a medtech startup, is addressing this gap with a data-driven, user-centered approach to interventional PE treatment. They’ve created a smart, all-in-one catheter that makes treating blood clots in the lungs faster, safer, and more precise. It allows doctors to deliver medication directly to the clot while tracking its progress in real time, so they know exactly when the treatment is complete. This technology not only makes procedures simpler and more efficient but also helps improve patient outcomes and sets a new standard for pulmonary embolism care.
Co-founder and CEO Jennifer Fried brings a strong foundation in venture capital along with a successful exit from her previous medtech company. She was introduced to her future co-founders, Osman Ahmed and Jonathan Paul, by Dr. Steve Gould, an investor in her last company and a vascular surgeon deeply involved in life sciences at the University of Chicago. Shortly after her last exit, Steve encouraged her to take a closer look at Flow Medical. Initially hesitant, Jennifer felt compelled to dive deeper after her father received a diagnosis that heightened her awareness of the risks posed by blood clots. What began as an advisory role quickly grew into something more, and she stepped in as CEO in late 2023 to lead the company forward.
Why Flow Medical and why now?
This is my second medtech startup, and I’ve always been passionate about healthcare and improving outcomes for patients. I started my career in healthcare venture capital, then left to found my first company, which we exited after five years. Despite telling myself I wouldn’t go through another startup, the opportunity at Flow Medical, especially after connecting with my co-founders, was too compelling to resist. It felt like something I had to do.
What’s Flow Medical’s North Star?
Our North Star is patient care. Every time I think about what we’re building, I imagine my parent or best friend as the patient. I want every decision, whether about product, care experience, or outcome, to be one I’d be proud to offer a family member. I believe every person we reach deserves that same standard.
What makes Flow Medical a must-have versus a nice-to-have?
Our product is the first precision medicine catheter for pulmonary embolism (PE) treatment that provides real-time pressure feedback. Our product allows for truly personalized drug dosing, unlike legacy devices that offer little guidance and aren’t tailored for veins. We are delivering a more targeted, safer, and effective therapy for a life-or-death diagnosis.
Tell us about some recent milestones that Flow Medical crushed.
We’ve completed 40 robust preclinical studies using large animal models and are gearing up for formalized bench testing and the animal testing required by regulators before moving into human studies. We’re not on the market yet, but our focus on strong scientific and clinical evidence will pave the way for future commercialization.
How has your background influenced you as a founder?
I started as a healthcare VC, which gave me perspective on building strong financial partnerships and understanding the investor mindset. Ultimately, being a founder is about belief. There are always a thousand reasons something shouldn’t work, but you dig deep and persist because of what’s possible if it does.
Fun Fact:
I’m a certified yoga instructor and once spent a month living at an ashram training for my certification. Although I don’t teach these days, yoga is still a part of my life.
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