#258 Don’t burst our bubble 🫧

The one-minute healthtech roundup, brought to you by SomX.

Hi friends

This week: It's been weird and wonderful in the world of healthtech with AI scientists restoring an MND patient’s cockney accent, signs that the AI bubble miiiiiight be about to pop and the Selling Sunset / healthtech crossover we never knew we needed. Strap yourself in, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Get in on the conversation with The Healthtech Pigeon podcast ➡️ SomX’s Amy Thomas, Jessica Somauroo and Tafadzwa Kahari are chatting this week. Available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

News Bites 🥪

🇸🇪 Swedish mental health startup Mindler to acquire UK healthtech firm - Money, money, money, must be… Mindler snapping up UK-based Ieso Digital Health. With a track record of successful tie-ups, having previously taken over Finnish startup Medified and UK healthcare provider the Sandbox, this latest deal opens the door to NHS contracts in both England and Scotland, widening access to mental health therapy. Does this mean mental health treatment will no longer be a case of ‘SOS’?

⚡ Wearable health tech firm Neurovalens raises £6m in new funding - Hot on the heels of a £2.1m raise just 18 months ago, Neurovalens has sparked fresh investor buzz with another tidy round. The Belfast-based neurotech’s device, which uses electrical impulses to tackle insomnia, anxiety and PTSD, is now primed for a supercharged push toward FDA approval and wider scale-up.

🤑 Healthtech firm EliseAI lands 250m Series E - Pigeon may be a Selling Sunset fan, but even it didn’t expect real estate and healthcare to become such cosy nest-fellows. EliseAI’s slick automation and conversational tools for property and healthcare organisations streamline communications and boost efficiency - clearly the Oppenheim brothers are missing a trick*. Having soared past $100 million ARR and doubled its valuation to $2.2 billion, the company has now scooped up a cool $250m in fresh funding, with plans to double its 300-strong flock.

🦵 The new technology for prosthetic legs that could reduce NHS waiting lists by 50% - Michelangelo spent more than three years chiselling the statue of David into excruciatingly detailed existence (search David’s extensor digiti minimi). Luckily, patients waiting for prosthetic limbs won’t have to endure Renaissance timelines. New software from the University of Southampton, which uses patient data and 3D imaging to personalise fittings, could slash NHS waiting times by up to 50%. It’s faster, smoother, and far less messy than traditional plaster casts — or Michelangelo’s marble blocks.

🫧 The warning signs the AI bubble is about to burst - A new MIT report claims 95% of investors in technologies like generative AI have seen zero returns, but this Pigeon isn’t entirely convinced. AI is already reshaping work, just not always through “official channels.” The report sent markets flapping, with tech stocks taking a sharp dip, however Pigeon suspects this bubble is more likely to bounce than burst. Time will tell…

🗣️ MND left her without a voice. Eight seconds of scratchy audio gave it back to her - After losing her voice to Motor Neurone Disease 25 years ago, AI has recreated Sarah Ezekiel’s dulcet tones from just eight minutes of grainy VHS audio. For people living with MND, and families longing to hear a loved one’s voice, it’s a powerful reminder that tech can create profoundly human moments. This one brought a tear to Pigeon’s eye.

🚦 AI should come with green, yellow, and red lights for mental health - It wouldn’t be an edition of Healthtech Pigeon without mentioning the R word - got to give the fans what they want. This week, experts floated the idea of a traffic-light warning system for chatbots offering therapy. Granted, it’s a step up from ChatGPT’s ‘gentle reminders’ (see ed. #256), but Pigeon thinks something more… robust is needed. Oh yes, r.e.G.u.l.a.T.i.o.N.

What to Listen to 🔊

Events 📅

World Conference on pharma industry and medical devices
⏰ Aug 23-24
📍 London

Intelligent Health, Basel
⏰ Sept 1
📍 Switzerland

The King’s Fund 10 Year Health Plan Event
⏰ Sept 9
📍 London

LSX World Congress USA
⏰ Sept 16 - 18
📍Boston

BMJ Future Health conference - Early bird discount
⏰ Nov 6-7
📍 London

Opportunities 🕵️‍♀️

🧠 Digital & Technology Director, Everyturn Mental Health - Want to shape the future of digital, data, and technology in a mission‑driven organisation? As Everyturn’s Digital and Technology Director, you’ll lead digital strategy and innovation, oversee cyber security and data governance as SIRO, and drive AI adoption to enhance impact and sustainability.

🤝 Senior Medical Partnerships Manager, Flo Health Inc - Excited about women’s health and shaping global medical collaborations at scale? If you fancy leading partnerships with Flo’s 140+ Expert Board, healthcare professionals, and medical organisations, driving credibility, science-backed content, and impactful initiatives, hit apply now!

👯‍♂️ Product Leader, Sanome - Fancy building a Human Digital Twin? What about laying the foundations of an SaMD factory? If you want to work hand-in-hand with engineers, clinicians, and leadership to shape, build, and deliver solutions that clinical teams cannot live without, you know what to do…

*Pigeon is secretly pleased because with Season 9 chalked for the Autumn (or Fall for all you Pigeons from the USA), if they’d fixed operational efficiency and communication, Netflix would be looking like a very dull. But perhaps Jason and the team might consider a healthcare real-estate crossover… hey, Producers… listen up, this Pigeon has ideas!