#200 - A game of 'spot the unicorn' 🦄
The one-minute healthtech roundup
Hi friends,
This week: the dawn of the microsensors? AI meets IVF, and could nudges help improve adherence?
Tired eyes? 👀 Listen to the Healthtech Pigeon podcast ➡️ James and Jessica from SomX do a post-HLTH download of all of the most exciting announcements from last week’s event in Amsterdam. Available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
News Bites 🥪
🦄 Where's Europe's next digital health unicorn? – Let’s play a little game. Sort of like Where’s Wally, but if Wally had founded a healthtech business worth $1bn+. It’s a game that’s becoming increasingly difficult to win on the continent, as Sifted’s Kai Nicol-Schwarz finds out.
🎚️ Revealed: Government has failed to ‘level up’ innovation funding – As a feathered news scavenger, Pigeon is able to enjoy the British isles unhindered by either extensive transport delays or bureaucratic restrictions on funding allocation. Sadly funding for health research programmes doesn’t seem to have the same freedom, with London and the South East still holding a firm grip on the cash flowing into these projects.
📈 Pomelo Care Secures $46M To Increase Access to Maternal Health – When maternal health outcomes for women (particularly women of color), lag behind those in similar countries, it’s reasonable to assume their are cracks in the care being provided. Pomelo has stepped into fill those gaps, with an in-between service that has scooped the company a hefty series B.
💸 London-based SAVA raises over €7.4 million to build preventative, personalised, precision health monitoring at scale – Could we be seeing a new wave of minimally-invasive microsensors to support health monitoring? With clinical trials in diabetes patients set to kick off soon, we may not have to wait long to find out.
🔟 10 of the most exciting digital health startups of 2024, according to VCs – Leaning heavily into the potential of AI and automation This year’s most hyped startups are shaking up everything from fertility treatment to eating disorders, clinical documentation to insurance claims and benefits.
🤖 Robots help put brakes on inflammatory diseases – On a mission to challenge your preconceived notions of Robots as Terminator-2-esque doom-bringers, a new study has explored the use of robots to detect a type of cell death caused by inflammation, and which could help scientists understand how inflammation can lead to serious conditions.
🐣 AI could improve IVF success rates, health experts say – The latest place AI is making its mark? IVF. By identifying high quality eggs, AI could end up improving IVF success rates significantly. (They tried it on bird eggs, and Pigeon was the result. Some could say we were too clever for our own good).
🍟 World first epilepsy device fitted in UK boy's skull – We’ve already seen the promise of neurotechnology for transforming lives, and the latest example sees a neuromodulation device implanted to control and significantly reduce an epileptic child’s seizures.
👉 Teladoc research shows AI-powered 'nudges' can improve diabetes members' engagement, health outcomes – Patient adherence and engagement with their treatments are the bane of providers’ and therapy developers’ existence. Try as they might, patients will end up dropping out or not following plans through. But chronic condition management company Teladoc claims to have developed a system of nudges and reminders that drastically improve outcomes.
What to listen to 🔊
Events 📅
SomX Comms 102: Fundraising Essentials
🕣 Jul 11
📍 Online
BIA Summer Party 2024
🕣 Jul 11
📍 London
AI in the NHS: Shaping the future of healthcare - The Health Foundation
🕣 Jul 18
📍 Online
Visit the SomX events page or subscribe to SomX’s events roundup to see all of the best upcoming healthtech, biotech and healthcare events
Opportunities 🕵️♀️
👁️ Digital Innovation Programme Manager, Moorfields Eye Hospital – Moorfields is implementing a new EPR, and they’re looking for someone who’s a dab hand at project management, has a good handle on governance issues, and knows how to get everyone involved.
💻 Interoperability Specialist for Digital Health Projects, EY – If interoperability is what you’re passion about (it takes all sorts), then this one’s for you.
📲 Head of ASO, Flo Health – If you don’t know what ASO stands for, perhaps give this one a miss. If you do, there’s an exciting role available for an app-store optimisation specialist with the expertise needed to skyrocket Flo’s user growth.
🚦 Deputy Director Horizon Scanning Demand Signalling, NHS England – Are you a healthcare leader that can see round corners, knows your IRLSS from you’re OLC? This swish role at NHS England might be worth a gander.
🧱 HealthTech Innovation Engagement and Delivery Manager - West Yorkshire – Ready to help WY’s healthtech startups scale and help build an innovation community in the region. This one’s for you.
Got news, jobs or events you think is worth coo-ing over? Let us know! Email us: news@healthtechpigeon.com
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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.