Shirley Bergin

Shirley Bergin is the former CMO of TEDMED and a Washington DC-based solo angel writing $25k-$100k checks at pre-seed and seed in digital health and consumer wellness, with no AI flag. Her TEDMED pedigree gives her deep network access to senior healthcare innovators, clinicians, and policy figures who pass through the TEDMED ecosystem, which is valuable but operates more as introduction-and-amplification value than capital. Founders building consumer health, digital health platforms with policy or clinical-thought-leadership angles, or companies where her TEDMED network access adds meaningful value are the natural fit. She is the wrong audience for biotech, devices, B2B healthcare software, AI-heavy plays, or anything requiring deep technical-domain expertise. The small check size positions her as a network-and-signal angel rather than a primary capital investor. Outreach via LinkedIn or Twitter (@tedmedshirley) is viable given her active public presence on healthcare innovation, and tight, mission-aligned notes will outperform generic pitch decks. Warm introductions through the TEDMED alumni community, DC healthcare-policy networks, or fellow healthcare-innovation thought leaders materially help. Without a published thesis, founders should rely on her TEDMED context as the primary signal of taste. Best treated as a network-and-amplification angel rather than a primary capital target.