An interview with Melanie Brensinger, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Anagenesis Capital Partners

Melanie Brensinger is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Anagenesis Capital Partners, a Florida-based private credit investment firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Melanie has spent the past 16 years exclusively focused on investing in healthcare. She feels it is crucial to be solely focused on the healthcare industry to be able to dissect the complexities of the system and stay ahead of the trends as it is a constantly evolving sector.

Melanie has a particular interest in companies that provide delivery of quality care to patients in underserved markets, provide services to patients in their homes and preventative care. Melanie is passionate about the healthcare industry because she believes that it has the potential to make a real difference in people’s lives. She is energized by the innovation that is happening and tech enabled services being established to further enhance the reach to patients in rural markets.

“With that, I wanted to make sure that we focused really on that lower middle market segment, and we provided flexible capital to the end borrower, and then obviously, deliver really good returns for our investors,” she told Opus Connect in a recent Zoom interview.

Melanie is a firm believer in the power of private capital to make a positive impact on society. She is proud of the work that her portfolio companies are doing to improve access to care and deliver quality care to patients. In her opinion, this is what makes private capital a valuable tool for making the world a better place.

“I love going to board meetings and hearing patient success stories, whether it’s our behavioral health platform that’s providing mental care facilities/services to residents in rural Louisiana, or our podiatry platform that’s doing some really creative, innovative surgeries to allow people to walk again after significant foot deformities.  For me, that pushes me each day to focus on the underlying patient population as they are someone’s mother, father, brother or sister,” she said.

Melanie co-founded Anagenesis Capital Partners in 2015 when there were few, if any, other credit funds focused exclusively on healthcare. She saw an opportunity to fill a niche in the market and provide much-needed flexible capital to lower middle market healthcare companies. Most capital providers offer company’s capital solutions that try to force the company into their “sweat spot”.  I wanted to flip that upside down and understand what a company needs and provide a capital structure that supports the success of the business. She raised a $274 million fund, and the company has been actively deploying capital since that time.

“I can look at a business fairly quickly and understand which direction it’s going,” she said, explaining why expertise in a sector such as healthcare is so important.

“Some people might look at a company and say, wow, it has 50% EBITDA margin. I’d love to invest in this business. But anybody who knows healthcare is always very gun shy of anything that has outsized margins because if it has reimbursement exposure, that probably means there’ll be a cut along the way…Intuitively, you think high margins are always better, and in healthcare, that’s not always the case,” she added.

Melanie says that what makes her unique is the focus on partnership rather than a pure investment return perspective when it comes to working with portfolio companies. “As a founder and entrepreneur, myself, I understand the challenges of starting a business and managing it in good times and challenging times. The challenging times are where character is really displayed.”

“I’m a long-term relationship player,” she said, “I would rather forego a deal or forego an opportunity to either gain a long-term partnership or maintain a long-term relationship. And I’ve always been that way.”

She says often times generalists seek her advice on a particular healthcare subsector where they may not have as much expertise, and she’s always happy to provide her thoughts even if it does not automatically lead to a deal.

“All of those phone calls and time that people would say is a waste of time because it may not be related to a direct immediate deal are what enhances relationships and partnerships over the years,” she says. “I have dozens of relationships that are span over decades. That only happens when you create meaningful connections with people,” she adds.