Get your firstcustomer, client, believer, advisor, and investor.
A community for founders building in healthcare, backed by 30 years of connections. We introduce you to the advisors, customers and peers who move a company forward.
What founders say
“What I particularly value about Darius is his ability to connect people, ideas, and opportunities. He understands that clinicians have far more to contribute than their clinical expertise alone.”
Founders transforming healthcare, and beyond.
Where we can help.
We are clear about what we do, so you know what to expect from day one.
Advisor connections
Advisors who give actionable feedback and open doors, not just opinions.
First clients & pilots
Introductions to practices, operators and buyers who can say yes.
Event support
A seat at the dinners, roundtables and pitch nights we organize or co-host.
Regulatory & FDA approvals
Experts who know the approval path, so you lose quarters less often.
Marketing
Go-to-market and visibility help from teams who know healthcare buyers.
Technology
Product and engineering guidance from founders who have shipped in healthcare.
- Peer founders at your stage and in your industry, connecting for integrations and mastermind sharing
- An ecosystem for accessing data, alongside resources and education
- Advisors tagged by what they do best: connector, feedback, sales
We are not a concierge service and we don’t promise investment. Every introduction is opt-in on both sides, and we check before we connect.
Backed by people who have built.
The rightintroductionchangeseverything.
Three decades of relationships across what was once called dentistry, now oral healthcare, and into broader healthcare and venture-backed collaborations. The people who started here now invest, advise and buy, and they make time for founders we vouch for.
Being a DDS advisor should mean something: feedback a founder can act on, and an introduction that leads somewhere.
Meet the co-founders.
Darius Somekhian
- Co-founder, DDS Connects
- Fund Manager, oral-health VC
Thirty years in healthcare — from selling supplies in South Central LA to scaling Cloud Dentistry and running an oral-health-focused venture fund. Founder of Pair Dental and DDS Matchmaker, now DDS Connects.
Shivam Bhatia
- Co-founder, DDS Connects
- Founder & CEO, Clinsight.ai
Founder of Clinsight.ai, building AI for healthcare growth, hiring, and retention. Previously built and scaled venture-backed startups across healthcare, fintech, and recruiting.
Meet the advisors.
Brian Passell, Ph.D.
- Principal, Aligned Dental Search
- Associate Partner Recruiter, DDS Connects
Twenty years across dental practice consulting, talent management, and organizational development. Founder of Aligned Dental Search — a rigorous, fit-focused process pairing multi-location groups and entrepreneurial practices with associates who stay, produce, and fit the culture long-term.
Pitch to the right people. Leave with a reel.
Most founders don’t have a recording of their pitch. We run the night end to end, so you walk away with new connections and content you can keep using.
- A professionally recorded pitch and founder interview by Axel Production
- An edited pitch reel plus short cuts for social media
- A pipeline of stakeholders to connect with for pitching your goal, drawn from our ambassador network
- A spot at events we already host in Los Angeles
No founder builds alone.
Dinners, roundtables and pitch nights with founders, clinicians, advisors and investors.
