#20 🍩 What the Health - Record Funds, Poo Pills, The Psychedelic Metaverse, and Brain Cells Play Pong?
Your fortnightly healthtech TL;DR roundup
Hello again,
How are we 2/3 of the way through Jan?
Today was going to be short… then there were the funding reports. Darn it. Strap yourselves in and let’s get to it!
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💰 A Glance At 2021 Global Funding
TLDR; It was a biggie. Almost everything went up. Funding, cheque sizes, valuations, and investors in the game.
There are rumours that vals and the implications might come crashing down, with the potential for a lot of M&As in the USA. But it’s yet to be seen if this is an actual bubble, just reflecting the general innovation market trends, or something else.
Reports to get you rocking
SVBs Healthcare Investments & Exits Annual 2022 report (EU&US)
Startup Health - Global Health Innovation overview
Rock Health - Digital Health overview & detailed breakdown
They pretty much report similar trends - but just different numbers 😂
SVB says in Europe & the US investment across all areas exceeded $80b in total and has been doubling every 2 years since 2017.
There are bets that in the US there will be a large focus on reinvestment, M&A and exit readiness for pre-existing companies. Whereas in younger markets - funds will likely look for reasonably valued seedlings.
Startup Healths reports off (limited) publicly available data there was US$44b in global health innovation funding, double that of 2020 (US$22b).
Rock Health reported US$29.1b for digital health alone. With some great detailed breakdowns of deal size, stage, focus areas, investors and more.
Where are Aus’s numbers at? Who on earth knows 😂
Noteworthy 🗞️
Aussie Funding Fun
🎾 Men’s Health Company Mosh enters this year with a fresh $25m to fuel their mission of breaking down health taboos
💵 Inventia Life Science, who create 3D cell cultures for research and clinical purposes, closed a $35m Series B to go global with bioprinting
And $3.2m in research grants for their new tech to regeterate deep tissue injuries
💰For Purpose Investment Partners Fund has closed their $67m
🧬 Eugene closed $3.2m to scale their genetic testing & digital health solutions
🍄 $15m of grants is going to research projects testing MDMA, DMT & psilocybin assisted treatment for anorexia, Anxiety, PTSD, Depression & Alcohol use
⛓ AustCyber backs new decentralised solution for confidential health data, eConsent for genomics
📢 LaunchVic announced its first 5 investments into women-led startups from its Alice Anderson Fund
Milkdrop: an ultra-soft breast cushion set to change the pumping experience
TalkiPlay: handheld devices bringing ordinary objects to life for kids to reinforce speech and language
Steppen: a social fitness network for Gen Z
Worth Knowing
🧠 Cortical Labs have gotten brain cells in a dish learn to play Pong faster than an AI… (SO. COOL.)
🌈 Mind Medicine Australia partnered up with Psychedelics Anonymous to create the first-ever Metaverse based 'Safe Space' for the psychedelic community
Think metaverse-based sessions with specialists, psychological support services, men’s and women’s specific support groups, and running specialised workshops regarding psychedelics, only accessible exclusively by nft holders
❌ The TGA said no to rescheduling the Medical Use of MDMA and Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression & PTSD
💩 BiomeBank is creating a poo pill… your microbiome is serious business and these guys are creating revolutionary, accessible treatments with designer gut bacteria
📺 Telehealth is finally permanent… but there’s pullbacks for rural services
🚀 LaunchVic backs the Medtech Actuator for another 3 years ft. $2.4m funding to fuel the growth of health, med & biotech
If you missed their pitch night and want to take a gander - check it out here
🏥 Austin Health is the first in APAC to connect to Cerner’s FHIR Service
🇺🇸 Celo launches its HIPAA-compliant communication app in the US
💪 MTTA is taking a stand against the crazy profit margins raked in by health insurers with profits up 93%
US & Beyond the Borders
👮🏻♂️ Theranos was (finally) found guilty of defrauding investors. Elizabeth Holmes grew the “revolutionary blood testing” into a $9b valuation before it fell apart
🧪a16z added another US$1.5b to their rebranded Bio + Health Fund
🤑Psychedelic medicine fund PsyMed Ventures announces its US$25m fund
💻 Microsoft keeps levelling up - partnering with US pharmacy giant CVS Health to “reimagine personalized care and accelerate digital transformation” & is buying gaming company, Activision Blizzard, for US$69b
🌎 Google is working with the WHO to give healthcare workers access to advanced mobile digital health solutions that work offline
🤝 Oracle buys Cerner and… makes moves into voice recognition?
📱WhatsApp India launched an Incubator program for organisations designing solutions for health
🔊 Amazon Alexa’s new eldercare service launched making a play for the market without the need for wearables
😈 Fun Fact 😈
Tweeting with nothing but thoughts? Synchron’s computer brain interface implant patient, Phillip O’Keefe took control of a twitter account for 30 min to tweet with nothing but his mind. Wild…
Startup Stuff 🚀
📚Got a health startup or looking to explore an idea?
MedTech Actuator is now taking apps for its next round of programs for those building or looking to test an idea in Medtech, Healthtech or Biotech
🔐 Need help navigating regulations for Software as Medical Sevices?
ANDHealth & the TGA have a live webinar ft Q&A and free SaMD Office Hours
😇 Want to learn how to angel invest with some of the best?
Startmate First Believers Program might be for you!
💡 Got an idea you want to test?
Launch Vic have backed “Start Now” to bring you a free preaccelerator. 9 weeks, 18 sessions, all online
💵 SME looking for grants and support to commercialise medical products?
MTPConnect’s new Clinical Translation and Commercialisation - Medtech (CTCM) program has $19.75m up for grabs from the govs MRFF fund
🚺 Female founder looking to learn the ins and outs of raising smart capital?
Scale’s FoundEd program has got you ft some of the best in the biz
♿️ Startup driving inclusion and designing solutions to unleash human potential?
Remarkables 16 week accelerator program is in the final stages of apps ft. 75k and killer support teams to get you rocking
🌏 Want to get your Startup Asia-ready?
City of Melbourne is offering early-stage startups the chance to join a 5-day interactive program focused on business opportunities in Southeast Asia
Want more FREE programs, accelerators, courses and resources?
Check out the Open Source Healthtech Resources Doc here
Events💥
Thur 20th January: AIDH 2022 Virtual Welcome Event
Thur 27th January: Startmate First Believers AMA
Tues 1st February: Designing Information Systems That Enable Patient Centred Care: A Practical Framework By Cisco and Flinders University
Tues 1st February: ANDHealth SaMD Regulation with the TGA
Thur 3rd February: Talking HealthTech Summer Summit
Thur 10th February: Founder Connect: Finding Co-Founders
21st - 22nd February: Digital Health Institute Summit 2022 Melbourne
Consumable Content 💎
🎙 The Frontier: The Future of Longevity with Niklas Rindtorff of VitaDao
VitaDao is a community changing how longevity research is funded through the intersection of IP and NFTs
❓ Finding a good salary benchmark is a B*tch. To fix this - Mihailo Bozic has created an open-source & anonymised database of people's salaries across Australia
✨ Hot Opps
Want to make a (temporary) move to Miami?
EOIs are now open to join ANDHealth in going got ViVE 2022 in the US. You can go in person or online - Apply here
Keen for a Sextech Hackathon?
In Feb the ARC Centre for Excellence in Automated Decision, Thoughtworks & the Sextech School are bringing you a killer event in Melbourne - Info here
Looking to upskill or get some “virtual” work experience?
Forage has a host of great free courses across all industries
Hiring or know someone who is? Check this out to post your role(s) and get featured
So long for now (get it… cause it’s long)
👋 Emily
Got something to include?
Did I miss something?
Just want to say hey?
💌 emily@whatthehealth.io