TOP 100 MAGAZINE

Maria Forero

​

 

Maria Forero has never been one to follow the beaten path. From a small village in Spain to the financial epicenters of London and New York, and now to the innovation hub of Miami, her career has been a masterclass in reinvention. A scientist by training, an investor by choice, and a visionary by nature, Maria has spent more than 25 years shaping the future of healthcare through strategic investment and leadership. As a founding partner of MF7 Ventures and a key advisor at Accelmed Partners, she is bringing game-changing technologies to market—while also embracing her most rewarding role yet: motherhood.

​

Maria's story begins in the labs of London, where she pursued a degree in human genetics, driven by a passion to push the boundaries of medicine. But early on, she realized that scientific breakthroughs took years—sometimes decades—to translate into real-world impact. Frustrated by the slow pace, she pivoted to enter the world of finance. With a stint at PwC as a CPA and later as a VP of healthcare investment banking at Morgan Stanley in London, Maria gained an insider’s view of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, helping companies secure funding and scale their innovations.

​

But the moment that truly defined her mission came with personal tragedy. When an infant in her family succumbed to meningococcal meningitis—a disease that could have been prevented with a vaccine—Maria made a promise. She left banking to join a biotech company working on meningococcal vaccines, which was later acquired by Novartis. Over the next decade, she took on leadership roles, including head of sales and marketing for Sandoz Latin America and CEO/GM of Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics in Spain and Portugal. She operated in 63 countries, launching life-saving vaccines and building new divisions from the ground up.

​

However, Maria was not done charting new territory. In 2014, she took another leap—this time, on her own terms. With her own savings, she founded MF7 Ventures, a healthcare-focused seed fund that invests in digital therapeutics, women’s health, and precision medicine. Unlike traditional VCs, Maria doesn’t just write checks; she rolls up her sleeves. Whether stepping in as an interim chief business officer or acting as a strategic advisor, she is deeply embedded in the growth of the companies she backs. Among her early bets? Click Therapeutics—one of the first to prove that digital therapeutics could be a powerful new frontier in medicine.

​

In 2022, Maria joined Accelmed Partners, a $400 million private equity fund focused on commercial-stage MedTech companies, further solidifying her role as a transformative force in the healthcare investment landscape. Yet, for all of her professional achievements, Maria’s proudest moment came outside the boardroom. While building her fund, she also built her family—adopting a little boy and embracing the journey of motherhood with the same determination that fueled her career.

​

Knowing that a life of adventure and growth does not come without setbacks—both big and small—nor without sacrifices, missteps, and moments of deep introspection, Maria has embraced all of her experiences as opportunities to transcend challenges, extract key insights, and cultivate the self-awareness, consciousness, and intuition that guide her next steps on the journey of life.

​

 

Maria Forero
Advisor: Accelmed Partners
Founding Partner: MF7 Ventures
Website: https://mf7ventures.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-forero-mph-cpa-3a35a54/