BACKGROUND / CHALLENGE:

Aegis Ventures is a dynamic next-generation startup and venture creation studio that partners with entrepreneurs and industry leaders to originate, launch, and scale transformative companies in health and wellness, data and automation, and health technologies.

Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider with proven expertise in clinical care. Northwell is a network of 78,000 collaborators research pioneers, entrepreneurs and educators caring for millions of patients each year and creating a brighter tomorrow.

In 2021, these two businesses announced a unique joint venture that would help solve the world’s toughest healthcare challenges by leveraging leading-edge Al capabilities and tools to create companies that will target health and care inequities and dramatically improve outcomes.

WANT Branding was selected to help create a new brand that would help support the Northwell-Aegis teams’ desire to create advanced, patient-centric healthcare solutions to as many people as possible.

SOLUTION:

First, we conducted a rapid discovery program of interviews with senior leadership from Northwell and Aegis to better understand the vision and goals for the joint venture.

Our recommended brand positioning ‘Something Greater’ helped to amplify an essential truth – that this new JV could create results that deliver something greater in healthcare. The new positioning was supported with key brand building blocks and a manifesto to create the new JV’s Brand Definition.

For the naming phase, we explored thousands of name ideas. Within healthcare, there is a vast number of companies. We observed that there was an abundant amount of simple, real dictionary words, especially with healthcare startups and health-tech companies. The final name, Ascertain, was selected due to its direct meaning back to the business ‘to find out for certain,’ which underscored the firm’s vision for discovery and creating truly effective solutions. The name was also appealing due to the letter combination ‘AI’ being part of the word.

For the identity phase, we explored a variety of design options, but one bold idea stood out above all others. The new wordmark tilts the letter ‘A’ to subtly create a ‘greater than’ sign, thus underscoring the brand’s positioning.

OUTCOME:

The new JV was launched in NYC in April 2022 to great acclaim.

During the launch, it was revealed that Ascertain would bring $100 million in seed-stage funding and permanent long-term growth capital to systematically launch healthcare AI companies at scale.

“Ascertain brings a unique structure, an innovative approach, and a compelling vision to create breakthrough healthcare AI companies that are set up for success,” said Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health. “We are all driven by the idea that everyone deserves access to high-quality, affordable healthcare. Our aim is clear: to find new, cost-efficient ways to create and accelerate companies that deliver real, equitable solutions.”