Hola friends,

I don’t know about you, but my brain and immune system seem to be in the toilet. Tis the season.

If you’re like me and in the southern hemisphere - congrats! We survived the shortest, (and hopefully coldest) day of the year.

It’s all uphill from here… right?

We should celebrate. Melbourne, Sydney (& just maybe… QLD 😉 ) stay tuned

In things you definitely don’t care about…

Thanks to NZ Trade & Enterprise, I got to join the badass NZ Prime Minister (OMG) 😍 and a few cool NZ health & tech cats at dinner this week. Grateful 💜

Noteworthy 🗞️

A word upfront…

Things are looking a little uncertain in tech & innovation right now, with companies, markets, funding and valuations taking hits. Including a few layoffs and closures.

Jared Schwitzke @JaredSchwitzke

no one: absolutely no one: not a single soul: 25 yr old VCs: Navigating a downturn can be tough. Here are my 7 tips for founders in 2022 and beyond.

May 25th 2022

342 Retweets5,662 Likes

It’s times like these when lots of hidden things come to light. And CEOs often have to step up and make the incredibly tough calls as leaders to look after their companies, and people.

But, there’s been a few people talking trash, seemingly enjoying kicking people, and companies, while they’re down. Not that I reckon any of you would (cause you’re all legends), but please lord don’t.

Sure, there are always lessons to be learnt. But it’s bloody hard. And by tearing others down in tough times, no one wins. It’s a time for the community to support each other.

And, I still believe the future of health tech & innovation, in particular, is bright. The one thing that’s for sure, is we’re all going to need healthcare. It isn’t going anywhere.

It can be hard, but pretty darn rewarding too.

For anyone who has been laid off:

Earlywork & AfterWork joined forces to create a killer initiative, Between Work, to get freshly laid-off legends into new roles

👉 Check out Between Work here

Aussie (& NZ) Funding Fun

👩‍⚕️ Telecare, who are building ‘Aus’s leading virtual clinic’ bagged $2.2m led by Medical Angels

🌱 Lumi Interactive a female-founded gaming startup that built wellness app Kinder World snagged a US$6.75m for their studio

🕷 A UQ spinout using funnel-web venom to create potential life-saving drugs for heart attacks scores $23m ft Australian Unity's Future of Healthcare Fund

💰 Breakthrough Victoria announced it’s putting another $100m into commercializing research in Vic Unis, helping them build preseed funds then matching funding through the University Innovation Platform

📉 Pfizer knocked off $53m of its initial $100m offer for ResApp Health after a study showed its COVID cough detection tech might not be as effective as thought

🕵️‍♂️ Advisory firms reckon biotech investors need a research ombudsman, as investors might be being left in the dark about the quality of research coming through…

Especially after QLD had $3.4m in grants given back after accusations of research misconduct and reports taken to QLDs Crime and Corruption

💪 UK-based Tyson & Blake is backing StrongRoom AI again

📝 Orthocell, the Aus-listed biotech bagged a 25-year licensing deal worth $23.1m with one of the top five medical companies in the world for one of its devices

Worth Knowing

🦴An Aussie app claims it can identify osteoarthritis, rheumatoid & psoriatic arthritis in patients’ hands with accuracy similar to rheumatologists in less than three minutes

🌈 A $100m Metaverse R&D centre is being built in Melbourne

❌ Telehealth is being seriously cut, with the government confirming more than 70 different telehealth-related consultations will no longer be available

Prevention & Diagnostics as a Service is a space to watch

🥇Aus now offers self-testing cervical cancer kits nationally in a world first

✅ NZ’s Altimetry got FDA clearance for its wearable device for diagnosing gastric disorders

One of my fav topics is the gut microbiome - with hoards of research showing there’s a huge connection to aging, chronic illness and mental health conditions…

🤑 Now, the billionaire who sent robots to the moon reckons we’re onto something and is working with Paris Hilton on Viome

🤖 DHCRC, Peter Mac & Swinburne Uni are developing a new AI-powered clinical guidance platform for genetic services, GENIE

🎵 A high schooler and his trainee doctor cousin co-authored a paper ft. overwhelming positive evidence for the impact of music on surgery recovery

🥝 The NZ gov is on a mission to create a world-leading ecosystem of digital health innovation

🏥 Bupa is teaming up with financial services company EonX to launch a branded loyalty and rewards platform, and partnered with Cabrini

☀️ QLD gov is injecting a record $23.6bn into its health system with its latest budget

🤝 The gov is finally trying to get public servants, politicians and the tech industry on the same page giving the Tech Policy Design Kit workshop a test run

US & Beyond the Borders

🌡 The Apple Watch Series 8 will supposedly come with a body temperature sensor that can tell whether you’re running a fever

😴 Fitbit announced a new premium feature“Sleep Profile” offering users a new longitudinal analysis of sleep patterns

🫁 MIT researchers designed a sensor that can tell between viral and bacterial pneumonia

📱 Sidekick Health & Pfizer have a new Digital therapeutic for eczema

🧬 You can now get your genome for just $100! And the company doing it just raised $600m from VCs to make that even cheaper

🔐 Healthtech companies are scrambling to close data privacy gaps after the Roe Vs Wade abortion ruling, with unsealed medical records potentially putting people at risk

🎉 America’s first CRISPR trial is still nearly 100% effective 3 years on

💸 Illumina For Startups announced the close of Time Boost Capital, a £30M fund focused on backing breakthrough applications of genomics to improve health

A new study published in the JMIR confirms that so many of us knew…
Many VC-backed digital health startups aren't clinically robust *shock*

Ie - they have no no clinical studies or regulatory approvals. Rock Health has a solid report Assessing the clinical robustness of digital health startups

Want to Come to The Innovate Health Conference… For Free!? 🎫

Innovate Health is back July 26- 27th, in Melbourne.
And they’re giving one lucky WTH reader a free ticket (RRP $2095)!

Ft. 20+ industry-leading speakers, the conference explores remote patient monitoring and the commercialisation of digital health innovations making the home the centre of care. There’s also a PitchFest for startups you may want to check out

Find out more here!

Want to snag the free ticket?
Share the link to this post on Linkedin and tag What the Health to go in the running 🙌 😊💃

Startup Stuff 🚀 

Want to chat with some of the best VCs and angels in the ecosystem?

Rampersands Giant warm intro is back! Where you can ask for advice, test your pitch, create connections, or find out about the fundraising in 1:1 sessions - More here

YC Launched… YC Launch

A directory and resource hub of all things YC for founders, developers, investors and job seekers profiling all the different Y Combinator companies and opportunities

Want to get into Product Management?

Startmate announced their new Product Management 101 fellowship to help you land a Product Manager role - More here

Going global and keen for some funds?

Round two of the Export Market Development Grant applications have just opened for SMEs to help them go global - More here

Vic-based women founder looking to learn the ins and outs of capital raising?

LaunchVic & Scale Investors is offering 10 scholarships for EmpowerEd, a 10-week program to help female founders raise capital - More here

In Sydney and want to get some airtime for your idea/company/research?

Apply to share your 90-second pitch at the next mixer on July 21st

Keen to invest in healthtech, but need to know more before you do?

MTPConnect’s REDIinitiative is holding a series of three Investor Workshops to demystify investing in Healthtech - More here

Calling all Vic Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs and Researchers!

Nominations are open for the Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation awards and the Victoria Fellowships - celebrating the achievements of scientists, innovators entrepreneurs and researchers in Life and Physical Sciences - more here

Any other great programs that should be here? Let me know!

Events💥

Fri 12th July: Pitch Your Startup Idea to Australian/NZ Investors & Experts Online (Virtual)

13th - 14th July: 2022 Mobilizing Computable Biomedical Knowledge Meeting: Going Global! (Virtual)

Thur 14th July: AWS Builders Online Series (Virtual)

Mon 18th July: Clue up on Capital Raising (Melbourne)

Wed 20th July: 2022 Remarkable Accelerator Demo Day (Virtual)

Thur 21st July: Telstra: Brilliant Connected Women in Digital Health Networking Event (Sydney/Melbourne/Virtual)

Thur 21st July: Research + MedTech + HealthTech Mixer (Sydney)

Thur 21st July: Lunch & Learn: Sell on Amazon, Sell to the World (Sydney)

26th - 27th July: InformaConnect - Innovate Health 2022 (Melbourne) (Virtual)

Fri 5th Aug: Digital Health Institute Summit (Perth)

Cool Content 💎

📚 Benjamin Schwartz wrote a guide for Breaking Into Health Tech: A Guide for Clinicians (Version 1.0)… It’s American based but still super relevant

Second Opinion

Diagnostics-as-a-service may be one of the most important opportunities in digital health

Though often underappreciated, lab tests inform 70% of today’s medical decisions. In fact, they’re some of the best tools available to identify health risks, pinpoint diagnoses, plan treatments, and monitor conditions over time. Compared to many other segments of healthcare, however, the lab testing industrial complex has received disproportionately less…

Read more

2 months ago · 26 likes · Marissa Moore, CFA

💼 Healthcare might be resistant to change, but the reality is jobs will
The Medical Futurist did a thing on Healthcare Jobs in 2040: From Organ Designers To Telesurgery VR Planners

❓Is it a good or bad time for a health-tech company to raise? Chrissy far from Omers Ventures & HTN surveyed 150 US investors, founders & operators on the 'New Normal' - here are the results

Epic Opps ✨

Woman in Medtech keen for a mentor or mentee?

The MTAA Mentoring Program aims to facilitate relationships between experienced mentors who can share advice, knowledge and experience with female mentees to assist in their professional and career development - More here

Woman in STEM looking to level up?

The WILD Program Australia’s premier STEM leadership program, providing STEM women leaders with qualifications, skills, confidence and networks to attain and succeed in leadership and board roles - More info here or rego interest

In healthcare and interested in learning about AI?

intelliHQ have 3 new great programs are available:
- Clinicians and Researchers Training
- Executive Masterclasses
- A Medical Datathon

Jobs 💼

Health Tech & Innovation Jobs Here!

Want to get your role and company featured in front of >2300 health tech-loving legends? Add your job to the board

Have I missed something? Just want to say hi?

• 🐦 Find me on the Twitters

• 💬 Holler on Linkedin

• 💌 Email

Have a fab weekend

👋 Emily

Didn’t hate it? Know someone else who might like it? Pretty please give us a share!
Thats how we grow and get more great people in our epic crew 🙌 😊

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