GigNext Ventures

Melanie Strong is a Founding Partner of Next Ventures, where she focuses on innovative technology investments across health, wellness and sports. She is passionate about creating positive culture change through all her work. This includes contributing to the removal of the many barriers preventing communities, families, and individuals from accessing all they need to live healthy, fulfilled lives. Since co-founding Next Ventures in 2019, Mel has led investments in Oura, Momentous and Outside and supports the rest of the portfolio with go-to-market strategy, marketing, talent planning and executive leadership. Mel recently served as interim Chief Marketing Officer for Oura ring, launching the Gen 3 ring while sourcing and onboarding the company’s first full-time CMO. Prior to NV, she spent 17 years at Nike where she led several international businesses including Nike Women and Football/Soccer, and the launch of the Nike Running and Training Club apps and the Nike+ FuelBand. Mel started her career as a first grade teacher in Philadelphia, and a journalist working at both The Center for Public Integrity and Runner’s World magazine.

Felix Kim is a Principal at Next Ventures, focused on addressing access challenges by investing in technology and technology-enabled services businesses that serve patients, payors, providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Before joining Next Ventures, Felix was an investor at Longitude Capital and held various operating roles at Transcarent and Truepill. Prior to that, Felix was a Healthcare Investment Associate at GI Partners and an Investment Banking Analyst at Evercore Partners. Felix holds a BA in Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Based in San Francisco, Felix enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and french bulldog (Cashew).

Dani Kolkebeck MBA Associate Dani Kolkebeck is an MBA Associate at Next Ventures, where she supports early-stage investment research, diligence, and founder support shaping more accessible, proactive care. Prior to Next Ventures, Dani worked at Kaufman Hall, a healthcare advisory firm, in the Mergers & Acquisitions practice, advising healthcare organizations and strategic buyers on complex transactions. Dani earned her BBA from the University of Notre Dame and is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. At McCombs, Dani is a Hildebrand Scholar and is actively involved in Venture Fellows. Based in Austin, Dani enjoys exploring Austin’s food scene, CorePower yoga, and runs around Lady Bird Lake.

Jordan Pascasio is a Partner at Next Ventures, where he invests at the intersection of consumer and healthcare innovation. He is passionate about shifting engagement and access upstream to enable a more proactive and interconnected care delivery system. Since joining Next Ventures in 2021, Jordan has been responsible for investments in select companies such as Pair Team, Trial Library, BranchLab, Evergreen, Cofertility, Eternal, and Vital Bio. He also leads the content creation effort at the fund.

Lance Armstrong is a General Partner at Next Ventures, a former professional cyclist, achieved early success in endurance sports and became the Road Race World Champion at the age of 21. More recently as a cancer survivor, he founded Livestrong and helped raise $500 million, serving over 3 million people. He also created the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas through a $3 billion bond initiative and made a $50 million donation to the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, Austin. These contributions have had a significant impact on the fight against cancer. In 2019, he co-founded Next Ventures. Prior to this he was an active angel investor and LP in funds that invested in companies such as Uber, DocuSign and Active.com. Through his creation of the media platform WEDU, he hosts two chart-topping podcasts, THEMOVE and The Forward, with over 10 million annual listeners.