#27 🍩 What the Health - We made "The List: Australia's Top 100 Innovators"?!
What is the world coming to... 😭 💜🙏
Guys, WTH…
Somehow, we made “The List: Top 100 Innovators for 2022’ by The Australian 😭
What is the world coming to? Shocked is an understatement. But, we’re beyond honoured. And, it just goes to show the power of content, community & connection.
A HUGE thank you to each and every one of you 💜
There’s no doubt we’d be here without you. So grateful to get to be a part of this incredible crew. And, to get to write dumb things on the internet and talk to cool people for fun.
PS - We’re actually at 2541 legends now 😉 🙌
Big congratulations to our other health friends who were also recognised for their epic work…
To celebrate… Melbourne, we’re having a lil drinks 🍷
Jokes, its actually just been a hot minute
📅 Wednesday 10th August
⏰ 5.30pm - 8pm
Drop your deets here to save your spot!
If you can’t make it, don’t worry - we have more coming soon…
Noteworthy 🗞️
So, it’s been yet another interesting… *cough* chaotic year.
With VC, Tech & public markets seemingly having minor freakouts. Or, resets?
Though funds have slowed, they’re still there. And our friends at Cut Through Venture made some pretty images ft those who snagged some so far this year.
And, random fact, in the UK - seed funding for health overtook that of fintech (💪 take that fintech)
Also, these stats don’t represent all the grants, things on the DL or in-house innovation, which seem to be ramping up in Aus. With universities and government entities coming in strong.
The hype isn’t going anywhere (see below)…
Because, well… we can’t use faxes forever (I may live to regret that statement). And perhaps, we’re just seeing a change of approach, much-needed clinical considerations, slowed cycles, more streamlining and aggregation.
TL;DR - Don’t lose hope yet
Aussie (& NZ) Funding Fun
💜 Human closed the largest seed round raised by an all-female-founded Aussie start-up, securing $10.15m to build a new personalised healthcare platform and put the human back in healthcare
🩸Leakproof pioneer Modibodi was gobbled up by Swedish hygiene and health company Essity for $140m
💰 Seer snagged investment from Breakthrough Victoria to fuel their mission of becoming a global leader in epilepsy home monitoring and management
📱AFL star Dusty Martin launches new fitness app DRIP
💵 >$8 million has been awarded to WA innovation projects through the Innovation Seed Fund with 17 companies grabbing up to $500k
💊 Supposedly MedAdvisor the virtual pharmacy, is raising $15m to fund US growth and integrate trade player GuildLink it’s acquiring for $9.14m
Worth Knowing
🖥 The Gov launched the Cancer Hub – a national one-stop digital hub to change the way young Aussies access cancer-related services
🗺 Advance QLDs new $142.2m roadmap is setting innovation and science front and centre over the next 10 years
⌚Health insurers are starting to roll out programs utilising your wearable & fitness data… and there’s mixed feels
🎧 Audeara, the personalised sound experience headphones, signed a global supply agreement with a big audiology retailer, Amplifon
♿️ Remarkable had their demo day ft 8 epic startups tackling disability
Homeable, nuroflux, WearWorks, RecoveryVR, Participant Assistive Products, Vacayit, BIOMOTUM, Inc. AccesserCise
🧪 The CUREator, Aus’s first Biotech incubator - was super oversubscribed and announced the first 23 recipients of funding ft. $8.5m to 17 pre-clinical biomedical technologies & $8.9m to support the clinical development of 6 clinical-stage drug therapies
💜 Therapeutic Innovation Aus partnered with AAMRNet & MTPConnect to accelerate therapeutic development research - announcing 15 companies in its latest pipeline accelerator each snagging $500k
🔎 nib Group with Honeysuckle Health & Pacific Anaesthesia Group established a first-of-its-kind network - GapSure Anesthetics, to provide certainty for patients when it comes to out-of-pocket expenses
🎉 Lenexa Medical & Sapyen made the top 20 in the MedTech Innovator’s Premier Startup Annual Asia Pacific Accelerator
US & Beyond the Borders
Whilst private markets and VC appear to be pulling back, big tech and those with moats continue to make moves
✅ Amazon
Is buying One Medical for US$3.9bn, a membership-based primary care service that promises customers "24/7 access to virtual care”
Launched a contest offering $45k in prizes to the developer of the best Alexa skill for people over 55
Is filing for an FDA-approved cancer vaccine clinical trial in partnership with Fred Hutchinson, to develop personalized vaccines for cancers
🍎 Apple released a 60-page doc on their updated health strategy to “Empowering people to live a healthier day Innovation using Apple technology to support personal health, research, and care”
🌈 Google recruited the Ex-head of the FDA to lead their digital health charge
👓 Microsoft is making “consumer fashion friendly” Holo Glasses
🚙 Uber is combating social isolation by enabling access to care
This group did a deep dive on everything big tech is up to in health in a 200-page report
Sick Science…
👃 Could nasal spray vaccines help bolster immunity against covid19?
📱 Smartphone kidney damage tests from Healthy.io got the FDA tick of approval
🥼 Studies show decentralized and remote tech significantly increases interest in clinical trial participation
🧠 New investigation suggests that the underlying studies on the mechanism for alzheimer’s disease may have been meddled with, bringing into question how the disease works
💊 AI models from MIT find potential drug molecules 1000x faster and more accurately than current computational models
🤯 Depression may not Actually be Caused by a Chemical Imbalance in the Brain
A new meta-analysis caused controversy, shining a light on the relationship between depression and research on serotonin. With researchers suggesting the serotonin hypothesis for depression may not be as accurate as we thought
This is a big reminder of just how early, and sometimes, incorrect medicine is. How not all “evidence” is actually correct. And just how far we have to go…
Startup Stuff 🚀
Want to run a health tech or innovation incubator?
The BioMedtech Incubator grant provides businesses up to $50m to establish a research incubator to identify and select Australian SMEs undertaking early-stage medical research projects with commercial potential - More here
Want to get some advice on how to navigate the TGA?
ANDHealth partnered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to bring you ‘software as a medical device’ (SaMD) and digital health office hours - More here
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
Female looking to make the leap into startups?
Startmate’s Women fellowship is taking apps for its next cohort and hosting the epic Liminal Series ft. stories of inspirational women across the industry - More here
Are you building a social innovation changing the world for good?
Optus’s 2022 Future Makers program is a capacity-building and accelerator program for social start-ups that are using technology for good. And they want to help you scale and grow - More here
Research Australia Health & Medical Research Awards are now open
The Health & Medical Research Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of individuals & teams who drive & support the opportunities that health innovation brings to our society - More here
Looking for a comprehensive program to help you level up?
BDO’s new CEO School Foundations is a4 month program for early-stage, high growth company founders who are Post-revenue ($200k - $1m), Looking to get investment ready, and/or looking to scale internationally - More here
Any other great programs that should be here? Let us know!
Excellent Events💥
26th - 27th July: InformaConnect - Innovate Health 2022 (Melbourne/Virtual)
Thur 28th July: MTPConnect - Adelaide Intermediary Program (Adelaide)
Tues 2nd Aug: Meet the Australian & NZ Startup Ecosystem: Accelerators, Investors & More (Virtual)
Wed 3rd Aug: SaMD Regulation with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (Virtual)
Thur 4th Aug: BiotechTalks - Medtech investment 101: The pathway to attracting capital (Virtual)
Fri 5th Aug: Digital Health Institute Summit (Perth)
15th - 19th Aug: Workshop - Quality Management Systems for Medical Devices (Melbourne)
9th - 10th Aug: Cicada MedLab Commercialisation 101 (Perth)
22nd - 24th Aug: Workshop - Quality Management Systems - Requirements (Melbourne)
23rd - 24th Aug: Cicada MedLab Commercialisation 101 (Melbourne)
Consumable Content 💎
🎙ABC Podcast: Why too much medical treatment is causing more harm than good
That’ss the view of orthopaedic surgeon, Ian Harris.
He believes too many drugs are being prescribed, too much surgery is being performed, and there are too many unhelpful tests, scans, and overdiagnosis.
The 'business' of medicine, Ian says, is taking precedence over what the science tells us. We should go back to the first principles of the Hippocratic oath and ‘first, do no harm’.
💩 Could Your Old Poop Cure You of Future Diseases? Fecal transplants can fix gut diseases, but finding the right donor stool is tricky. The solution, some scientists believe, is to keep a store of your own.
🍄Psychedelics are hot, but another type of Mushroom is also moving onto the block. Functional Mushrooms are making waves amongst big-name athletes and entrepreneurs in the US to help with preventative and holistic health
🎯 Healthcare's newest pivot: consumer identity as the cornerstone of digital health I’m not exactly sure it’s new, but traditional healthcare thinks so we’ll go with it 😂 Smart health systems are realising that they must think about their sustainable growth strategies in terms of end-to-end user experience.
🧬 The first CRISPR gene-editing drug could be here as early as next year
The first CRISPR gene-editing drug, designed to treat blood disorders, could be on the market by 2023. Here’s what it means for the future of drug development.
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
Know someone doing good things in tech?
Nominate them for the Tech for Good awards by Fishburners. They’ll bag $5k and a bunch of media coverage - More here
Clinician keen to upskill in Entrepreneurship?
The Australian Clinical Entrepreneur Program (AUSCEP) is a subsidised program to up skill clinicians and accelerate innovation by developing the entrepreneurial and innovation mindset, with aims create better outcomes for patients by accelerating healthcare-led innovations - More here
Know a young Entrepreneur doing great things?
Nominate them for the Aussie Young Entrepreneur Awards! Putting the creativity & tenacity of our forward-thinking young business minds in the spotlight, recognising the leadership, success & contributions to society - More here
Nominations are open for the 2022 Australia MedTech Industry Awards
These awards by MTAA recognise outstanding individuals and organisations in MedTech , who have made a significant contribution to the industry - More here
In the NFP sector and looking to build Leadership capability?
McKinsey is offering a suite of multi-day programs for leaders of not-for-profit orgs and social enterprises, to provide the time, tools and peer connections to help lead successfully -More here
Jobs 💼
Want to get your role and company featured in front of >2500 health tech-loving legends? Add your job to the board or get featured
Have I missed something? Just want to say hi?
Solid. See you soon.
👋 Emily
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