#239 - Take a seat at the winners' table 🏆
The one-minute healthtech roundup, brought to you by SomX.
Hi friends,
This week: Tech-assisted peer therapy, digital health leading the way in gender diversity and a roundup of the big deals in Q1!
Your friends all listen to podcasts. Feel like you’re in on the conversation by listening to the Healthtech Pigeon podcast ➡️ Huw, Taffy and Adama from SomX break down the best stories from this week’s newsletter. Available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
News Bites 🥪
💰 Digital health startups raise $3B in Q1 as market faces near-term uncertainty – Q1 2025 was anything but boring for the digital health space. On one side, early-stage startups took the lead with a surge in both deal count and deal sizes. On the other, big players made strategic moves with acquisitions, tech upgrades, and even joining forces with former competitors. It's all happening, people!
🏆 A startup space where women’s representation is growing: digital health – Women now make up 44% of founders in the space (in Australia) — well ahead of the startup average. Take that, fintech! The not-so-great news? Female founders are still getting shortchanged, pulling in about a third less funding than their male peers.
🔎 DHSC announces creation of £600m Health Data Research Service – The UK government and the Wellcome Trust are teaming up to put £600 million towards a new Health Data Research Service. Think of it as a one-stop shop for all NHS data. Set to launch in late 2026, the service promises to cut through the red tape, speed up clinical trials and make it easier for researchers to access the info they need.
📝 AI as a medical device – What are the regulatory considerations? – Don’t let Pigeon’s bad bird bravado fool you—we’re sticklers for the rules over here. Integrating AI into medical devices comes with complex regulatory challenges, and it’s crucial to stay on top of all the requirements so The Man doesn’t come knocking on your door. Key frameworks like the EU AI Act, the UK AI Roadmap, and IEC 62304 are just a few you need to know to ensure your device is both regulated and innovative at the same time.
🤝 Digital health company launches Prevention Innovation Fund to support NHS ICSs – We’re all about preventive care, so you can imagine Pigeon’s delight to see that Holly Health has launched a £320,000 Prevention Innovation Fund to implement its digital health coaching service to ICSs. The goal is to support large-scale prevention initiatives in line with the UK’s healthcare strategy shift towards prevention and digital care.
🧑⚕️ Wes Streeting pledges to retain digital workforce amid NHS reforms – Although the body known as NHS England isn’t long for this world, Wes Streeting promises the digital workforce (and the body’s essential digitisation functions) will survive. He emphasised the importance of having the right skills to drive digital transformation and breakthroughs in life sciences. Pigeon could’ve told him that, but we digress.
📲 Tech-assisted peer therapy effective for perinatal depression in lower income countries – A study in rural Pakistan by the University of Liverpool found that tech-assisted peer therapy is as effective as traditional CBT for perinatal depression. The innovative approach pairs local mothers with an app that guides therapy using avatars and storytelling. It’s affordable, culturally sensitive, and a potential lifesaver for low-resource areas struggling with mental health care shortages. What’s not to love?
💤“You Can’t Scale Your Company if You’re Running on Empty” – Burnout is a common challenge many founders face on their journeys. Oli Johnson, a serial entrepreneur who went through his own experience with it, founded PrescribeLife.ai to help other high performers steer clear of the same fate. The platform leverages AI to analyse biomarkers and DNA, creating personalised resilience plans with real-time data and strategies to prevent mental and physical exhaustion.
What to listen to 🔊
Events 📅
LBS Healthcare Conference — Get a 25% discount on your ticket using this link
🕣 April 14 - 15
📍 London
BioTech Startups, Investors, Innovators & Professionals Networking Event
🕣 April 17
📍 London
Neuroscience and Neurotech Networking Event
🕣 April 24
📍 London
National Health-Tech Innovation Conference
⏰ April 23-24
📍 Vancouver, Canada
LSX World Congress
⏰ April 28-30
📍 London
Future of Women's Health Innovation, Research + AI - Expert Panel + Networking
⏰ May 2
📍 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 🕵️♀️
🤖 Artificial Intelligence Manager, The Royal College of Radiologists – Do you have an even keener interest in AI than Pigeon? If so, the RCR is looking for someone to work with key stakeholders to develop the College’s AI strategy, securing its place as a leading organisation in the healthcare AI space. If this sounds like a challenge you’re up for, apply today!
🩺 Clinical Content Lead, headspace –If you have deep expertise in mental health, psychology, or behavioral science, and a passion for content development and digital health innovation, why not apply for this role as a Clinical Content Lead? You’ll have the opportunity to develop content that translates evidence-based mental health tools into engaging, accessible, and impactful experiences.
🧪 Clinical Science Internship, Synchron – Apply today to gain firsthand experience at an industry-leading brain-computer interface company. As an intern at Synchron, you’ll work on impactful projects aligned with your professional interests and Synchron’s mission. Don’t miss out!
💊 Pharmacist Prescriber, HeliosX Group– If you have excellent attention to detail, communication skills, and the ability to establish and review pharmacy procedures to ensure compliance and best practices, why not apply for the Pharmacist Prescriber role? Don’t let your skills go to waste!
Got news, jobs or events you think is worth coo-ing over? Let us know! Email us: news@healthtechpigeon.com
Healthtech Pigeon is curated and produced by SomX, the 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.