On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Brom Rector, Founder of Empath Ventures.

Empath Ventures is a venture capital fund that invests in psychedelic medicine startups. They specifically focus on pre-seed and seed-stage psychedelic startups that are doing novel psychedelic molecule development and pick-and-shovel plays in the psychedelics industry. To date, Empath has invested in Mycrodose Therapeutics, Mindstate Design, Quantified Citizen, Wavepaths, and Beond. 

Prior to founding Empath, Brom spent 7 years as a portfolio manager and quant researcher – most recently managing a global macro portfolio for Crabel Capital Management – a Los Angeles-based hedge fund with $8B AUM. Prior to Brom’s time at Crabel, he was the first hire at startup hedge fund Turning Wheel Capital and helped grow the firm from $1M AUM to $75M in 18 months.

Brom is also the host of “The Integration Conversation” – a top podcast and YouTube channel about the nascent psychedelics industry. The reach of this podcast gives Empath access to unique deal flow in the psychedelics space. Brom’s unique media-driven deal flow and hedge-fund pedigree provide Empath Ventures’ LPs with a rare blend of psychedelics industry access and institutional financial discipline.

Growing up in a military family, Brom saw the mental health struggles of service members and how those mental health issues impacted families. Seeing this firsthand gave him an even deeper appreciation for the healing power of psychedelics, especially as it relates to PTSD and depression. 

Personally, Brom has been using psychedelics for most of his adult life and has found them extremely beneficial for purposes of mental hygiene, internal exploration, and perspective-shifting. 

Brom is a CFA charterholder and holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science with an emphasis on machine learning from Georgia Tech. 

Brom discusses the evolution of the psychedelic industry and some of the challenges startups and investors face. He also describes his investment thesis.

You can visit Empath Ventures at www.empath.vc, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/empath-ventures, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/EmpathVentures.  

Brom can be contacted via email at hello@empath.vc, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bromrector/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/therealbrom.  

For a full transcript, click here.

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Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.