# CareFirst

> CareFirst is a VC fund in Baltimore backing Health Care and Medical. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Baltimore, United States
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Dec 2022
- Lead investor: 33%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/carefirst-bluecross-blueshield
- Website: https://individual.carefirst.com

CareFirst is a not-for-profit, non-stock health services company.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for CareFirst. Shizune tracks 9 team members at CareFirst. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/carefirst?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health Care | 4 | 67% |
| Medical | 2 | 33% |
| Baby | 1 | 17% |
| SaaS | 1 | 17% |
| Family | 1 | 17% |

12 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 2 | 33% |
| Grant | 2 | 33% |
| Series A | 1 | 17% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Doba Parushev | Venture Capital | 10 | — |
| Kurt Small | President and CEO | 1 | — |
| Brian Pieninck | President & CEO | 0 | — |
| Chet Burrell | President and Chief Executive Officer | 1 | — |
| Dwayne Price | SR. Technical Project Manager | 0 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| West Cecil Health Center | West Cecil Health Center provides healthcare services for the communities. Their services include family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, outreach, enrollment, lab work, dental, pharmacy, primary care, women’s health, and gynecology services. | $375K | Grant | Dec 06, 2022 |  |
| BabyLiveAdvice | BabyLiveAdvice provides technology-driven services that support and guide mothers and families throughout the maternal journey, from preconception to early childhood, complementing hospital and providers capacity, thus closing care gaps. At its core BLA utilizes a SaaS-based telehealth platform that includes a unique custom-built EMR &telemonitoring dashboard with connectivity to multiple devices . We support health systems and providers by increasing touch points and monitoring patients escalating emergencies early, which reduce medical emergencies and provide significant risk reduction and cost savings while improving outcomes. By educating our clients we are the much-needed support and empowerment throughout the parenting journey | $1.1M | Seed | Sep 13, 2022 |  |
| Ryse Health | Ryse Health is a care platform that helps individuals and families with chronic disease. Its platform provides therapeutics and technology, day-to-day support, coaching, and analytics related to diabetes, thereby enabling patients to have easy in-person and virtual access to an endocrinologist and full care team. It aims to create a world that isfree of the burden of chronic disease. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. | $3.4M | Seed | Apr 08, 2022 |  |
| Loyola University Maryland | Loyola University Maryland is a Jesuit, Catholic university committed to the educational and spiritual traditions of the Society of Jesus and the development of the whole person. Accordingly, the University inspires students to learn, lead, and serve in a diverse and changing world.At Loyola, this means that the curriculum is rigorous andfaculty expectations are high. With majors and minors in more than 40 academic fields, Loyola offers an undergraduate program grounded in the liberal arts, focused primarily on developing undergraduate students as well-rounded scholars and leaders who are distinctly prepared to succeed in every aspect of their lives.Our students come from diverse geographic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, which adds to the rich and varied experiences of our community. In addition, Loyola offers a variety of study abroad programs, exchanges, and affiliations in countries such as Spain, New Zealand, Thailand, and Australia. Loyola also has a strong community service program, Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, and athletic program. Loyola competes in the Patriot League, fielding teams in seven men's and nine women's sports.Graduate degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels are also available in a wide range of programs and areas of study. The University is comprised of the School of Education, the Sellinger School of Business and Management, and Loyola College—the University’s college of arts and sciences. Loyola also operates Clinical Centers in Baltimore and has two graduate centers in Timonium, Md., and Columbia, Md.In addition to academic coursework, Loyola’s Jesuit mission is carried out through a variety of programs and events sponsored by various University departments, including Campus Ministry and the Center for Community Service and Justice. | $50K | Grant | Sep 15, 2021 |  |
| BabyLiveAdvice | BabyLiveAdvice provides technology-driven services that support and guide mothers and families throughout the maternal journey, from preconception to early childhood, complementing hospital and providers capacity, thus closing care gaps. At its core BLA utilizes a SaaS-based telehealth platform that includes a unique custom-built EMR &telemonitoring dashboard with connectivity to multiple devices . We support health systems and providers by increasing touch points and monitoring patients escalating emergencies early, which reduce medical emergencies and provide significant risk reduction and cost savings while improving outcomes. By educating our clients we are the much-needed support and empowerment throughout the parenting journey | $525K | Seed | Apr 04, 2021 |  |
| Socially Determined | Socially Determined identifies social risks and provides insights to prevent workplace social determinants of health (SDOH) with their software.Through Socialy Determined's software, theyr social risk intelligence platform informs the clients' organization's intervention strategies to identify the social risk drivers affecting theworkplace.Socially Determined was established on January 22, 2017 by Trenor Williams, and Ryan Bosch in Washington, DC. | $11.1M | Series A | Oct 28, 2019 |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- Healthworx — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- LifeBridge Health — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- Venn Ventures — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [3M](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/3m) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Blue Shield of California — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Boston Children's Hospital — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does CareFirst invest in?

CareFirst invests primarily in Health Care, Medical and Baby startups, most often at Seed and Grant stage. Most of the 6 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact CareFirst?

Public channels for CareFirst include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at CareFirst?

The team at CareFirst includes Doba Parushev (Venture Capital), Kurt Small (President and CEO) and Brian Pieninck (President & CEO), among 9 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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