#205 - To infinity, and beyond! 🚀
#205 - To infinity, and beyond! 🚀
The one-minute healthtech roundup
Hi friends,
This week: Are robots the answer to stroke rehab? big moves happening across the pond, and what does your saliva say about your fertility…?
Love healthtech, hate reading? 👀
Listen to the Healthtech Pigeon podcast ➡️ James and Belle from SomX breakdown the best stories from this week’s newsletter (with some help from Pogo Digital Healthcare’s Jack Francis). Available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
News Bites 🥪
🤝 Better cancer trial representation begins with speaking one's language – Hola! Guten Tag! Bonjour! Yes, Pigeon is multilingual, but sadly the US healthcare research infrastructure is not: Columbia University’s School of Nursing claims the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in cancer clinical trials is partly due to a lack of translation and interpretation services. 46% of institutions say simply can’t afford these services.
🤖 Use of socially assistive robot improves stroke rehabilitation, study finds – Offering better outcomes than computers or traditional therapy alone, socially assistive robots may be the next big thing in stroke recovery. These robots, equipped with friendly gestures and encouraging speech, allow patients to continue their treatment in a setting they perceive as non-judgmental. Do you reckon we can get a Pigeon-shaped robot made?
🇺🇸 UK’s healthtech startup ZOE bags €13.8M to improve health across the US: Here’s how – ZOE, on a mission to provide science-backed, smarter food choices, is leveraging research to offer personalised dietary guidance to our American friends. While already at an early stage in its U.S. rollout, the company plans to use this investment to further expand its activities in the Land of the Free.
📲 Digital pathway launched to improve care for stroke survivors — You’ve got robots supporting stroke rehab on one hand, and a digital pathway to assist stroke survivors on the other! This pathway offers personalised information through the Tailored Talks platform, helping patients manage their condition based on their unique symptoms and experiences.
👄 Start-up to launch saliva-based AI fertility tracker – Taking a scientific method that’s been round for nearly a century and glazing it with a dose of AI-savvy, OVUL are making it easier than ever for women to monitor their ovulation cycles. With a simple three-step process—split, drop, and check the app—OVUL is turning daily health tracking into a breeze.
💰 Flo Health raises record $200m for period tracking app and becomes Europe’s first femtech unicorn – Since the news broke this week, the hot takes haven’t stopped coming, but we’ll save those for the podcast. This $200m Series C and valuation north of $1bn becomes the biggest femtech funding round ever and earns Flo the title of Europe’s first femtech unicorn. So, what’s next for Flo? They’ll use the funds to dive into new areas like perimenopause and boost their AI-driven personalised insights. One small* step for Flo, one giant leap for tech focused on women’s health!
👩⚕️ Electronic patient record systems: Putting patient safety at the heart of implementation – Now we all know EPR systems have the potential to transform healthcare by improving treatment and efficiency, but they also pose significant safety risks. A new report from Patient Safety Learning emphasises the need to prioritise patient safety in the design and implementation of EPR systems. They've even laid out 10 key principles for safe EPR integration. Notepad and pen anyone?
💭 The NHS at 100 - time to reimagine the future? – The NHS probably had the biggest birthday celebration ever last year, far bigger than Pigeon’s that's for sure (we’re not bitter, but you could have at least sent a card). With the big 100th on the horizon, The Welsh NHS Confederation is spotlighting key areas for improvement: focusing on community care, boosting capital investment, and tackling workforce issues.
🚺 Seeding innovation: five promising trends in women’s health– With investors playing it safe, focusing on existing portfolios rather than new ventures, women's health is feeling the pinch. But the tides are changing! From expanding femtech to AI-driven personalisation and maternal health breakthroughs, the sector is gaining momentum despite funding challenges.
😬 Third of people fear AI could lead to medics missing errors — Uh oh, AI is in hot water yet again. While polls suggest that the technology could play a "significant role" in easing pressure on staff, much of the public remains unconvinced. In fact, a little bird told Pigeon that people are worried healthcare staff might blindly trust AI outputs without questioning them.
What to listen to 🔊
Events 📅
GenAI in Healthcare
🕣 Aug 7
📍 London
World Congress on Healthcare and Technologies
🕣 Aug 8-9
📍 London
Intelligent Health: Basel
🕣 Sept 11-12
📍 Basel, Switzerland
Healthtech Innovation Day
🕣 Sept 17-18
📍 Paris, France
Hardian Health Tech Summit -(tickets available to newsletter subscribers only)
🕣 Sept 19
📍 London
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 🕵️♀️
💰 KQ Labs Accelerator Program, Francis Crick Institute. – Take it from Pigeon—times are tough for early-stage, data-driven health startups. So why not take advantage of an opportunity to receive 1:1 mentoring from subject-matter experts, introductions to investors, tailored weekly workshops, £40k worth of funding, and much more! If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, apply ASAP—applications close on August 12th!
👩💻 Full stack developer , Hibi – If you have the drive to consistently deliver high-quality products, a passion for producing top-notch software, and experience with React Native, JavaScript, and AWS, then Pigeon has the perfect role for you.
📈 Clinical Product Manager, Numan – Pigeon's buddies over at Numan are on the hunt for someone who has experience in a clinical setting and a passion for using technology to enhance healthcare. So if you understand clinical workflows, healthcare regulations, and technology, and can turn that knowledge into impactful product features, they want to hear from you!
🩺 Clinical Specialist, Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Google Health – Looking for a role that will allow you to utilise your clinical expertise, knowledge of the product development life cycle and leadership skills? Well, look no further!
😭 CRO or CCO? Tell the HLTH Team about your CR-Woes… – The team at HLTH want to hear about the pain points you’ve experienced when selling into health systems. Essentially, you get a free therapy session and 20 minutes with HLTH’s own Henry Stoneley. The definition of a win-win, surely?
*“Small" is used very, very loosely here.
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.