Hi friends,
This week: A bumper week for womenโs health, money isnโt always the answer, and can (should) AI guestimate your date of death?
News Bites ๐ฅช
๐ฑ A big month for energy, but fintech and healthtech lose their shine: Decemberโs seed wrapup โ December was a time of festive cheer, goodwill, and of course PRESENTS. But clearly healthtech Santa (by which we mean the VC community) wasnโt feeling generous, as health was knocked off the top spot for seed funding amid an overall (to-be-expected) decline in funding across all sectors.
๐ธ Q&A: Is over investment killing digital health? โ We pump billions into digital health every year, but funding raised isnโt always an indicator of a successful healthtech solution. This Q&A with BluBrix CEO Shameem Hameed goes for the industryโs jugular with an important question about the relationship between investment and impactโฆ..even if the proposed solution is conveniently to buy BluBrixโs product.
๐ฃ๏ธ Regulatory Roadmap points the way ahead for new measures to support safe access to medical technology including AI and diagnostics โ Another year, another exciting roadmap toward a bold new framework for medical device regulation. Ultimately, the roadmap is a welcome (and probably quite ambitious) timeline of all the things that have to happen before regulations can come into force in 2025. But you know what they sayโฆโ.The best laid plans of mice and regulatorsโฆโ
๐ค Cramer says today's market is more interested in AI technology for advertising, not health-care solution โ Pigeon canโt not be excited that hyperactive financial commentator Jim Cramer is featured in this weekโs newsletter, but in many ways itโs also a sad moment: dashing the hopes of those wondering if digital health investment could go stratospheric on the public markets, Jim claims โright now, analyzing data more efficiently for targeted ads is worth more than analyzing the data to figure out how to get people to live longer, healthier lives.โ Is he right?
๐ This women's smart health ring uses AI to analyze menstrual and sleep data โ The Evie Ring is far from the first solution that allows you to track your menstrual cycle and plot it against other key biomarkers. But could its AI set it apart from others by helping you take steps to improve your mood and wellbeing?
๐ฉธQvinโs Q-Pad Makes History with First FDA Approval for Menstrual Blood Health Testing โ The Q-Pad will support monitoring and tracking of a huge range of biomarkers around anemia, fertility, and menopause โ bringing with itย huge potential to improve early detection and overall health outcomes.
๐ซ West Yorkshire runs at-home chronic kidney disease test trial โ Proof, if ever it was needed, that Yorkshire is a hotbed of health innovation: for the second week in a row, weโre featuring hot healthtech solutions helping to drive healthcare forward.ย
๐งฎ (ยฃ)Could an AI โdeath calculatorโ actually be a good thing? - Pigeonโs immediate gut reaction to this question was โnoโ. On further reflection, itโs still โno.โ
What to listen to ๐
๐ฆ The Healthtech Pigeon Podcast โ Join James, Jessica and Huw as they take a deep dive into the weekโs healthtech news and views.
๐ The Healthtech Podcast #333 Unlocking VC Funding: Secrets and strategies from entrepreneur and investor Gian Seehra โ James is joined by Gian Seehra. A former biotech entrepreneur where he raised $16m and investor at Octopus Ventures in the health team. Gian now helps tech founders raise venture capital by helping them building fundraising operating systems
๐ Brand new Dr. with Rolake Ojo - Redefining Patient Care in the Digital Age with Dr James Somauroo โ James joins the Brand new Dr. podcast to share his journey from medicine to health tech innovator.
๐ The Capital of Health Narayanaโs Dr Nitin Manjunath: We need to dissociate affluence with access to quality health care โ UCLโs Global Business School for Health speaks to Dr Nitin Manjunath, the Facility Director at Narayana Health City, about funding preventative care and strategic use off data in health.
Events ๐
Mastering the Art of Bid Writing in Healthcare: Expert Tips & Tricks
๐ฃ 6 February
๐ Online
London Biotechnology Show
๐ฃ 20 February
๐ Olympia West, London
HETT North
๐ฃ 28 February - Free to attend!
๐ Manchester
HealthTechX Summit 2024
๐ฃ 28 February - Use HTX24SMITH for 30% off your ticket
๐ The Hurlingham Club, London
The Healthtech Podcast LIVE
๐ฃ 29 February - Use COOCOO40 for a special Pigeon discount.
๐ BFI Southbank, London
Digital Health Rewired
๐ฃ 12-13 March
๐ The NEC, Birmingham
Life Sciences Access Academy Annual NHS Conference
๐ฃ 16 April
๐ The Kings Fund, Cavendish Square, London
LSX World Congress
๐ฃ 29 April
๐ Business Design Centre, London
Opportunities ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
Category Manager - Digital Health, Guyโs and St Thomasโ NHS Foundation Trust โ Help bring healthtech into the NHS by sourcing new technology and implementing effective procurement. If youโre a procurement specialist with experience in healthcare and tech, this is for you.
Head of Engineering, Vira Health โ An engineerign superstar with a passion for improving long-term womenโs health outcomes. Vira Health is hiring!
Digital Healthcare Fellowship, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust โ An exciting role that will see the successful candidate support an Torbay Hospitalโs innovation team to develop a pipeline of digital health solutions and implement them naturally within patient pathways.
Senior User Experience (UX/Product) Designer, Proximie โ Want to play a role in transforming how surgeonโs prepare and collaborate? One of the worldโs fastest growing surgery tech startup is looking for a UX designer. Apply now!
Got news, jobs or events you think is worth coo-ing over? Let us know! Email us: news@healthtechpigeon.com
SomX is a communications and creative agency for healthcare. We are clinicians, scientists, creatives and communicators dedicated to serving our healthtech, biotech, pharma and public sector clients with services across strategy, content, PR, design, events and media production. Get in touch to learn more.