Healthcare matchmaking · By invitation
THE GATE
Your portfolio needs six customer conversations. Not another networking event.
The Gate is a two-day Nashville matchmaking experience. Six curated customer conversations per founder. One ecosystem dinner with Nashville's healthcare investors and operators. Fly in the morning. Fly out the next night. The buyer never wastes an hour.
This isn't another healthcare conference. It's vetted founders meeting the right executives — a conference distilled down to its value.
2
days in Nashville · fly in, fly out
6
curated customer conversations per founder
1
ecosystem dinner · investors & operators
$20K
per company · one fee, all-in
How it works
| Day 1 · morning |
Founders arrive in Nashville |
| Day 1 · daytime |
Three curated customer conversations per founder. Each meeting is opt-in on both sides, with a one-page Workflow Integration Map shared in advance. |
| Day 1 · evening |
Ecosystem dinner. Healthcare investors, operators, and advisors. The Nashville room — without booths. |
| Day 2 · daytime |
Three more curated customer conversations per founder. |
| Day 2 · evening |
Founders fly out. Six conversations and a dinner. Done. |
Why Nashville
Nashville-area companies operate more than half the privately-owned hospital beds in America. HCA — the largest hospital operator in the country — is headquartered here. The buyers your portfolio is trying to reach are inside a 30-mile radius.
The buyer field: HCA · Vanderbilt Health · Humana · Ardent · Community Health Systems · BCBS-TN · LifePoint · Surgery Partners · Nashville Health Care Council · Vanderbilt Innovation Alliance
The curation is the product
- We protect the buyer relationships first. HCA, Vanderbilt, and Humana keep showing up because we don't waste their time. One bad founder ends 15 years of trust. We say no a lot.
- Every founder qualifies on two filters. The CIO answer (EHR-native posture, integration story) and the CFO answer (quantified P&L impact, margin contribution). No answers, no entry.
- Workflow Integration Map. Every founder ships a one-page map to the buyer before the meeting. The meeting starts at "react to this," not "tell me what you do."
- Double-opt-in matching. Buyers see only the founders we've cleared. Founders meet only the buyers who opted in. Both sides agreed before the room.
- Year 15 of relationships. 155 active advisors. $198.5M in lifetime alumni revenue. 85% five-year founder survival rate vs. 50% industry standard.
What it costs · what you get
Per company
$20,000
Six curated customer conversations, ecosystem dinner, full pre-meeting prep, post-meeting follow-up.
Fund slate
$120,000
Six portfolio companies on the same dates. Branded as your fund's slate. Your GPs at the dinner.
Bespoke dinner
Custom
Upgrade the ecosystem dinner. More investors, curated participants, private setting. Adds to the per-company fee.
You can go to any conference. The EC gets you into the conference room.
Sam Davidson, CEO · Nashville Entrepreneur Center · One event in 2026 · Late October / early November.
Talk to Sam