Sarah Hassan

Sarah was a founding partner of IM HealthScience (IMH), a privately held healthcare company located in Boca Raton, FL. As a founding partner, CFO and member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team, Sarah oversaw the formation and rapid growth of the company where she worked for 10 years. After experiencing significant growth, the company was acquired by Nestlé HealthScience in 2020.

Under Sarah’s leadership, four non-prescription products were successfully launched in a three-year period, while a fourth product was acquired and relaunched as a turnaround brand. Three of these products were in the gastrointestinal market, and the fourth brand was in the non-prescription sleep market. Sarah helped build and oversee all aspects of the company including finance, human resources, operations, product development, manufacturing, and sales and marketing activities. She was part of the R&D team that developed IMH’s first and flagship product, IBgard, and is a co-inventor on several key patents.

Sarah successfully negotiated manufacturing contracts that brought IBgard costs down 80%, effectively making it a viable, marketable product. With careful consideration to quality and consistent supply, Sarah helped negotiate contracts and build strong business partnerships with key suppliers, essential to the rapid growth of the company. In her role as CFO, Sarah balanced brand investments to grow the five top line, while closely monitoring expenses to turn the portfolio profitable within five years of full commercial launch.

Sarah was deeply involved in the development and implementation of a highly successful “go to market” strategy that relied on a mix of medical marketing, retail and consumer driven activities, supported by a foundation of science and proprietary clinical support for each brand. She was instrumental in the creation, recruitment and development of the IMH medical professional sales force. This sales force consisted of outside sales representatives calling on office-based gastroenterologists and primary care physicians establishing an enduring base of physician recommendations that ultimately led to #1 doctor recommended promotional claims for all four brands. These brands amassed a staged and thoughtful retail distribution rollout to approximately 50,000 retail doors.

In 2017, under Sarah’s leadership, the company acquired Fiber Choice, a distressed line of fiber supplements which had been in decline for several years. Once acquired, she oversaw a dramatic turnaround of the product lines she personally called on Walmart to get them to reverse a pre-transaction decision to drop Fiber Choice. Through consistent investment in a combination of medical and consumer marketing programs, including a concerted effort to grow sales on Amazon, Fiber Choice came back from the brink. Fiber Choice is now a leading fiber supplement in the marketplace, after almost dying as a brand under its previous owners.

Sarah worked hard to establish and oversee the quality and compliance capabilities of the company. There were no product recalls or adverse actions by any authority during the 10 years of the company.

The company’s gross annual sales were in the $44 million range and were growing 40% in 2020, when it was acquired by Nestle HealthScience in September, 2020. As a member of the company’s leadership team, Sarah was involved in the successful negotiations with Nestle to acquire the company.

Sarah was a Partner at Caerus Ventures, a boutique venture capital firm, from 2014-2019. There, Sarah served as a member of the deal team in all sectors, but with a specialty focus in healthcare.

Sarah has been the Fund Manager of Dynagrow Capital, a $25 million dollar fund, since 2010. At Dynagrow Capital, she has invested cross sector in both long and short vehicles, producing attractive return on investment, while diversifying for risk.

Sarah went to Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she studied both business and science. She graduated Cum Laude with her BS in Entrepreneurial Studies in 2008 and Magna Cum Laude with her MBA in Finance and Pharmaceutical Management in 2010 at the age of 20. During her time in college, she worked in summer internships at Goldman Sachs, Publicis Health, Merrill Lynch and Wyeth.

Sarah has a passion for charitable causes focused on individuals with special needs and served on the board of the Unicorn Children’s Foundation (UCF), including some time as Vice President, from 2010-2014. During this time, she brought a financially disciplined approach to assist in efforts that led to the opening of Unicorn Village Academy, a school that specializes in programming for children that are not able to succeed in a typical school setting. She remains on several committees for UCF today.