#84 🍩 $308M for brain-computer interfaces, $8T longevity spend by 2030 & OpenAI goes into consumer health?
Whats happening in health tech & innovation?
Happy Black Friday friends - also known as the day where consumerism tricks us all into spending far more money than we need to *deals* 💰 All hail capitalism.
Anyyywayyy…
In case you missed it - we had an EPIC event in Sydney with our friends Google Cloud, Tenmile and +150 of you 💜
Sadly, I got the flu and couldn’t be there too (yes, I have the biggest FOMO). BUT if you’re a private community member - there’s a recording for you 📽️ 👀
Big thanks to the incredible Victoria, Tina & Mariah for making the magic happen, our amazing speakers, and to everyone who joined!
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🍩 TODAY’S ISSUE
Noteworthy News
AI Updates
Sick Science
Startup Stuff
Events
Cool Content
Noteworthy 🗞️
Funding
🧠 Synchron raised $308M to advance its brain-computer interface tech, including a $54M investment from Aus’s NRF to bring operations & clinical trials back home
The Series D round, led by Double Point Ventures with backers like Bezos Expedition & Khosla Ventures, values Synchron at about US$1B
🫁 RAGE Biotech, announced $29M to take its inhaled COPD treatment, RB042, into first-in-human trials
💰 Medtechs dominated the latest $10.3M Industry Growth Program grants, with Laronix securing the biggest slice, ~ $3.2M, to take its artificial larynx into two top US hospitals
🧠 Coherence Neuro bagged $10M in a seed round led by Artesian to advance its wearable device that uses electrical stimulation to treat brain cancer
🧫 Cytophenix, snagged $1.3M in pre-Seed funding for its AI infection management platform, FloCAST, which identifies effective antibiotics within hours instead of days
🤖 J&J Impact Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in ThinkMD, to scale its AI clinical decision software that helps frontline health workers deliver doctor-level assessments in low-resource settings
👁️ Optain Health acquired EyePACS to expand AI retinal screening & teleophthalmology access in primary care
Newsworthy
🧬 Harrison.ai launched its Open Platform, giving hospitals zero-markup access to medical imaging AI & third-party algorithms through a single integration
🧠 Cochlear-backed Epiminder is preparing a $325m ASX listing after its under-scalp epilepsy implant, the Minder, secured FDA authorisation
💉 0.5M Aussies are using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic & Mounjaro, with sales jumping 10x since 2020 & ~50% of users paying privately up to $600 a month
🏥 Medibank is buying GP network Better Medical for $159M to expand beyond insurance & become a major health provider
🤖 Care GP will scale its agentic AI platform to 7,000 GP clinics after recording 140% month-on-month usage growth, zero churn, & profitability across 150 clinics
💢 A Vic inquiry into women’s pain found widespread dismissal, bias, & inadequate care in the health system, with 90% of respondents reporting pain lasting > a year
🦴 Bupa partnered with MoreGoodDays to give members free access to clinician-supported digital program for chronic pain
😴 ResMed will open a new US manufacturing plant by 2027, doubling its American production but keeping major sites in Sydney & Singapore
The move aligns with Trump’s “Made in America” push & lessons from COVID supply chain shocks, as ResMed posts 9% quarterly revenue growth to $US1.3B
💪 Everlab partnered with Bain & Company to roll out a long-term employee wellbeing strategy focused on sustained health
🩻 Vexev’s robotic ultrasound AI-powered ultrasound system, VxWave, that maps patients’ vascular access points in 3D, met all primary endpoints in the CANSCAN trial
🏆 Capgemini & Navi Medical Technologies won the Good Design Award for their NeoNav ECG Tip Location System, a world-first device that tracks catheter placement in newborns & children in real time
🏆 Emyria won the 2025 Wesfarmers Wellbeing Platinum Award for its psychiatrist-led, insurance-backed therapy programs for treatment-resistant depression & PTSD
⚖️ The Federal government will give the NDIS Commission new powers to ban fraudulent auditors & consultants and boost penalties for rorting the $50B scheme
🧠 Control Bionics integrates Apple’s new Brain–Computer Interface across NeuroNode & NeuroNode Trilogy
🤖 Daniel Roelink was appointed to lead the new NSW Office for AI, which will oversee the safe & ethical use of AI across government
US & Beyond Borders
🧠 Microsoft created a new MAI Superintelligence Team to focus on domain-specific systems like medical superintelligence, which already achieved 85% accuracy on NEJM diagnostic case challenges (vs ~20% for doctors)
📉 U.S. obesity has dropped from 39.9% in 2022 to 37.0% in 2025, as GLP-1 weight-loss drug use <2x since early 2024 to 12.4% of adults
🧬 Biogen launched a new venture arm, Biogen New Ventures, to invest in & incubate early-stage life sciences startups
💰 Global longevity spending is projected to exceed $8T annually by 2030, driven by aging populations, medical innovation, & shifting consumer priorities
🛒 A FoodHealth Co. report found most Americans are buying unhealthy foods *shock*, with 60% of grocery spending going to processed items across 210B transactions
💔 Aid cuts following the dismantling of USAID are devastating health services across Africa, leading to rising deaths from HIV, malaria, & childbirth complications
Under Trump’s “America First” strategy, U.S. funding for the WHO, UNICEF, & the Global Fund has plunged by up to 80%, forcing program shutdowns in >20 countries & threatening more than 1M lives through cancelled HIV, TB, and malaria treatment
💍 Tidepool partnered with ŌURA to create a first-of-its-kind diabetes dataset combining smart ring biometrics with glucose & insulin data
💊 Hims & Hers launched compounded GLP-1 microdosing treatment plans to offer more personalised, flexible care for metabolic health beyond weight loss
🚴 Superpower launched a brand partnership with SoulCycle, turning every class into a “Superpower Ride” that helps riders understand their metabolic health
💸 America’s health-care costs are climbing sharply, with group insurance premiums up 8.5% in 2025, as more people seek treatment & use medical services…. Cancer screenings are up 60–80% since 2019 & mental-health claims have surged up to 80%
🤖 AI Updates
🩺 OpenAI is exploring a move into consumer health, sussing new products like a personal health assistant or data aggregator after hiring Doximity cofounder Nate Gross & Instagram’s Ashley Alexander to lead its health strategy
🧬 The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is going all in on AI & biology, shifting its focus to the Biohub network as its primary philanthropic effort & acquiring frontier AI lab EvolutionaryScale
🧠 Millions are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT for therapy, but new lawsuits claim the bot encouraged users toward delusional thinking &, in some cases, suicide
OpenAI says 0.15% of users have suicidal conversations weekly & is updating GPT-5 to curb “people-pleasing” responses & flag crises. While trials of specialised bots like Therabot cut depression symptoms by 51% & anxiety by 31%, 11 U.S. state, have now moved to regulate or ban AI conducting “therapeutic communication.”
Sick Science
☕ Does coffee protect against irregular heartbeat?
In a multicentre randomised clinical trial published in JAMA, researchers enrolled 200 adults with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardioversion to test whether caffeinated coffee helps or harms heart rhythm. Over 6 months, patients who drank at least one cup of coffee daily had fewer AF recurrences (47%) than those who avoided caffeine entirely (64%), a 39% lower hazard of relapse. There were no differences in side effects or hospitalisations.
💻 How safe are NHS digital health tools, really?
In a national cross-sectional study (J Med Internet Res), researchers surveyed all 239 NHS organisations in England about their digital health technologies (DHTs) & compliance with mandatory safety standards DCB0129 & DCB0160.
Of 14,747 DHT deployments reported, only 17% were fully assured under both standards, 13% were partially assured, & a striking 70% had no documented safety assurance at all. In a typical NHS trust, just 1 in 4 digital tools met the minimum legal safety requirements, leaving more than 10,000 unassessed systems in routine use.
🦾 Can AI run your company’s quality management system?
In a 2025 Technical Disclosure Commons paper, researchers proposed a Proactive & Semi-autonomous Agentic Quality Management Framework that replaces static, manual QMS tools with a network of specialised AI agents. The system uses a three-layer design:
a unified data fabric to merge siloed manufacturing, regulatory, & complaint data;
a core AI engine that interprets information and orchestrates workflows; and
agentic sub-AIs that handle tasks like risk management, CAPA, & audit prep.
Each agent runs continuously with a human-in-the-loop for oversight, turning quality management from a passive record-keeping process into a proactive, intelligent ecosystem across industries like medical devices and aerospace.
Startup Stuff 🚀
Got a big idea and looking for the right launchpad?
Antler is now taking applications for its global Residency Program, where exceptional founders come together to build &scale world-changing startups. It’s a full-time, in-person opportunity to find your co-founder, validate your idea, & tap into Antler’s global network of investors & mentors. - More here
Got a big mRNA idea bubbling away?
BioNTech Aus launched its new mRNA Innovator Program, offering $50K in funding to support preclinical mRNA research across Aus & NZ. Early & mid-career researchers are especially encouraged to apply - More here
Want to up your grant game in WA?
MTPConnect’s new WAGES program is here to help WA researchers, clinicians, & startups sharpen their grant applications for national funding rounds like the MRFF. Backed by the WA Government, this 3-year pilot offers early-stage support, expert advice, & partnership-building to up your chances of success – More here
Have a promising digital health startup ready to scale?
ANDHealth+ opened apps for its flagship incubator program, offering up to $5M in non-dilutive funding alongside hands-on support from a world-class network of experts to help you grow globally - More here
Working on a game-changing genomics or precision medicine solution?
The MRFF’s Genomics Health Futures Mission has a new grant round open to fund projects improving medication efficacy via pharmacogenomics & genomic solutions to tackle diseases prevalent among Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples - More here
Based in WA & need help getting to a big conference?
WA’s Health & Medical Life Sciences Market Access Grant scheme offers 80% of eligible travel costs (up to $5K) for WA healthtech SMEs to attend national or international industry events - More here
Want to level up your health startup know-how?
The NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program is offering a free 3-day Business Fundamentals bootcamp for budding healthtech entrepreneurs. It covers how to form a company, navigate regulations, get funding-ready & build your team – all taught by industry experts in law, finance, & sales - More here
Building the next big healthtech startup in Australia?
LX is a leading accelerator backing 10 Aussie health startups with up to $200K in funding, plus hands-on support, expert coaching, & access to 300+ clinicians, investors, & operators – More here
Events💥
19 - 21st Nov: The International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare (Canberra)
19 - 21st Nov: The Health Innovation Conference (Melb)
23rd Nov: Mastering AI Integration into Healthcare (Bris)
24 - 25th Nov: AI.Care 2025 (Bris)
26th Nov: Investing in MedTech/DeepTech (Online)
27 - 29th Nov: 2025 Australasian Doctors’ Health Conference (Melb)
3 - 4th Dec: Health Justice 2025 (Syd)
4th Dec: ANDHealth Unfiltered (Melb)
Cool Content 💎
🎙️Oversubscribed: Inside the Playbooks of Australia’s Fastest-Growing Founders
In the debut ep of Oversubscribed, Brendan Hill sits down with 3 of Aus’s most ambitious founders: Dr. Tom Kelly (Heidi Health), Liam Millward (Instant), & Charlie Gearside (Eucalyptus) for an unfiltered look at the realities of building a high-growth company
🎙️Notion, Founder Fridays: Scaling Fast Without Burning Out with Sam Kothari, Everlab and Alex Dam, Notion
🎙️Redoctoring: Navigating a Portfolio Career in Medicine with Dr Amy Collyer
📜 Strategic Shift released a report on Why Patient Experience Is Now Healthcare’s Top C-Suite Priority
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👋 Emily,
Mariah, Victoria & Team WTH
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