Issue #120- VC-Founder Matchups

The healthtech sector lagged behind major indexes in 2024, with many companies posting negative returns, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained over 20%. Many healthtech companies posted negative returns, with virtual care and remote patient monitoring segments hit the hardest.

 Challenges:

• Market fragmentation

• High customer acquisition costs

• Consumer-facing digital health companies facing ongoing hurdles

The Divide Widens:

• Companies like Teladoc Health, heavily reliant on direct-to-consumer channels, felt the pressure.

• Meanwhile, payer-focused players like Talkspace  thrived with an enterprise-oriented approach.

The healthtech landscape is evolving, and 2024 has shown that strategy matters more than ever.

 VC-Founder Matchups

SOSV, a global venture firm, is hosting a free virtual matchmaking event focused on women’s health, aiming to connect 100 investors with 100 founders.

Register Here

Honored to be named among the leading innovators in women’s health and FemTech for the second year in a row, alongside so many incredible women who are shaping the future of women’s health globally.

Check the full list here

• According to Carta, 966 startups shut down in 2024, compared to 769 in 2023. 
• Perplexity submits a new bid for TikTok
• Apple Watch bands linked to cancer-causing material; company responds
• ​​What is DeepSeek, China’s competitor to OpenAI?
• India dominates global mobile app market in downloads, time spent

• Health food brand Salad Days has raised Rs 30 crore in its Series A funding round to support its expansion plans. The round, which marked the company’s first institutional fundraise in its over a decade-long run, was co-led by V3 Ventures and Client Associates Alternates Fund (CAAF).
• Healthy eating supplier Mukka Proteins is set to receive Rs 60 crore in debt funding from Tata Capital, according to people aware of the matter. While the discussions are still ongoing, the total size of the round is expected to be around Rs 90 to Rs 100 crore.

• LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has raised $24.6 million for a new AI cancer research startup, Manas AI, in partnership with Siddartha Mukherjee, the author of “The Emperor of All Maladies,”
• SOSV Closes $306M Deep Tech Fund for Human and Planetary Health. 
• Systole Health, a tech-enabled virtual care platform focused on women’s heart health, has secured $2 million in pre-seed funding led by Benchstrength, with participation from January Ventures, J Ventures, and One Medical founder Tom X Lee.
• Virtual care firm Systole Health has raised US$2m to advance its mission to address  “underdiagnosed and undertreated” cases of women’s heart conditions.
• Kode Health, a Holland, MI-based provider of an on-demand medical coding platform, raised $27M in Series B funding.
• Sound Blade Medical, Inc., a Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada-based medical device company developing handheld ultrasound-guided histotripsy technology, closed a US $16.5m Series A funding round. 
• Sunfish, a fertility financing provider, has secured $10 million in Series A funding led by Haymaker Ventures, with participation from Allegis Capital and Mother Ventures, as reported by Axios. Existing investors Walkabout Ventures, Hannah Grey VC, Fiat Ventures, and Coyote Ventures also joined the round.
• Fertility prediction and insurance startup Gaia has raised $14 million in funding led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, as Axios reports. The round will support the company’s U.S. expansion, building on its 2022 London launch when it raised a $20 million Series A.
• PinkDx, an early-stage women’s health diagnostics company, has secured an additional $5 million in its Series A financing from new investors Blue Venture Fund, Sandbox Clinical Ventures, and BEVC. The extension brings the round’s total to $45 million, following earlier investments from Catalio Capital Management, The Production Board, Mountain Group Partners, Byers Capital, and Mayo Clinic.
• Delfina Care, a healthcare technology company focused on addressing the maternal health crisis, has raised $17 million in Series A funding led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP). 
• Foresee Genomics, a San Francisco, CA-based next generation sequencing (NGS) solutions company focused on the small and medium-sized laboratory market, raised $1.3M in SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) Financing.
• Atelerix, a Newcastle, UK-based hypothermic preservation technology company, raised £750K in funding. Backers included ACF Investors and biotech specialist investors o2h Ventures.
• Vessl Prosthetics, a London, Ontario, Canada-based startup specializing in advanced prosthetic systems, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding.

• When one abortion pill faces lawsuits, another may be waiting in the wings, a new study suggests. The study, published Jan. 23 in the journal NEJM Evidence, has found a potential alternative to the abortion pill mifepristone, offering yet another option at a time when access to reproductive health care faces increasing legal and political challenges.
• Earlier this month, Australian researchers announced the development of a non-invasive test that can detect early stages of endometriosis, as per a paper published in the prestigious international medical journal Human Reproduction. So far, tests for diagnosing endometriosis have been invasive. And that, too, just the diagnosis itself, would take years. 
• Poor sleep in midlife could age your brain faster. Researchers found that people who had more than three poor sleep characteristics had an average brain age of 2.6 years older than those who had none or only one poor sleep characteristic
• Daily low-dose aspirin can help prevent cancers from returning in about a third of colon cancer patients, a new study says.
• “Hidden hunger” — low levels of essential vitamins or minerals — is common among people with type 2 diabetes, a new evidence review says. Overall, as many as 45% of type 2 diabetics are suffering multiple deficiencies in vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, researchers reported Jan. 28 in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.
• Weight-loss surgery can protect the liver health of patients with obesity and fatty liver disease, a new study reports. Patients had a 72% lower risk of developing serious complications of liver disease after undergoing weight-loss surgery, researchers reported on Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Medicine.
• Females have a 31 per cent higher associated risk of developing Long Covid, with women aged 40 to 55 years having the highest propensity, according to a new study. The study followed 12,276 participants over time to identify the risk of developing Long Covid, and found females with a “risk ratio” of 1.31 compared with males, equating to 31 per cent higher associated risk.
•  Seniors whose cholesterol levels spike and plummet year-to-year could be at increased risk of dementia and failing brain health, a new study suggests. Those whose cholesterol fluctuated the most had a 60% increased risk of dementia, researchers report in findings published Jan. 29 in the journal Neurology.
•  A simple blood test might determine which patients are at risk for long COVID, a new study says. Higher levels of leukocytes – a form of white blood cell – are associated with more severe symptoms of long COVID among older women, researchers reported in a new study published Jan. 29 in the journal Menopause.
• Four in every 10 cancer patients treated with chemotherapy develop severe peripheral nerve pain, a new evidence review suggests. These patients might experience loss of balance and coordination, weakness or sensations of numbness, tingling, “pins and needles,” or burning, researchers said in a study published Jan. 28 in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.
• Delays in dreaming might be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s disease. People who take significantly longer to enter the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep could be experiencing an early symptom of Alzheimer’s, researchers reported Jan. 27 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
• An experimental blood test can effectively and accurately detect colon cancer in middle-aged folks and seniors, a new study says. The blood test was 81% accurate in detecting colon cancer among people who have the disease, researchers reported at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium held last week in San Francisco.
• Helping kids with obesity drop pounds can have a huge impact on their future health. When these children and teens lose weight, they are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol as young adults, researchers reported in a new study published Jan. 21 in JAMA Pediatrics.
• Maintaining tight control over blood pressure for even a short while can provide lasting benefits for seniors’ brain health, a new clinical trial says.
• People can reverse their type 2 diabetes through a combination of calorie cutting and medication, a small clinical trial says.Overweight and obese adults caused their diabetes to go into remission by following a calorie-restricted diet and taking the prescription diabetes drug dapagliflozin, researchers reported Jan. 22 in The BMJ.
• People with sickle cell disease often struggle with memory, focus, learning and problem solving, setting them back in school and the workplace.That could be because their brains are older than expected for their age, a new study published recently in JAMA Network Open says.

• Sonio has announced Sonio Voice, a new AI-powered voice recognition solution for OB-GYN ultrasound reporting. The tool integrates with Sonio’s ultrasound reporting platform to enable real-time transcription and data entry during exams.
• Progyny, a fertility and family building benefits provider, has announced the acquisition of BenefitBump, a parental leave benefits navigation program. The acquisition expands Progyny’s service offering beyond fertility and family building to include support for families during pregnancy, parental leave, and early childhood.
• Abbott, the global healthcare company, announced the launch of Navitor Vision in India for the treatment of patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme surgical risk. The device is the latest iteration of the company’s Navitor transcatheter aortic valve implantation/replacement (TAVI/TAVR) system. 
• Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) announced that it has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for ipratropium bromide nasal solution (nasal spray), 0.06%
• Polarean Imaging plc, a commercial-stage leader in advanced medical imaging focused on functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lungs, announces a strategic collaboration with SimonMed Imaging, one of the largest outpatient medical imaging providers in the United States, to expand access to Polarean’s cutting-edge Xenon MRI platform.
• Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., a global medical technology leader, and Paragon 28, Inc., a leading medical device company focused exclusively on the foot and ankle orthopaedic segment, announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Zimmer Biomet to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Paragon 28 for an upfront payment of $13.00 per share in cash.
• Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) and Avas Pharmaceuticals SRL (Avas), a leading pharmaceutical company renowned for its expertise in the commercialization of branded medicines, announced the launch of Lupin’s orphan drug NaMuscla (mexiletine) in Italy.

• With an aim to make Odisha a pharmaceutical powerhouse in the eastern part of the country, the government of Odisha is preparing an exclusive pharma policy 2025 for the state. Prior to the release of the policy, the government will hold a pharma industry CEOs’ conclave in Bhubaneswar in another three months.
• Indian healthcare providers face challenges in leprosy elimination with hidden cases and delayed detection. It is the stigma and lack of awareness that have often led to delayed diagnosis, increasing disability rates.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Eating Right, Exercising Before Surgery Improves Outcomes: Patients can improve their odds for a successful surgery by actively preparing for the procedure through diet and exercise, a tactic called “prehabilitation,” a new evidence review shows.
• Adults With ADHD Linked To Shorter Life Expectancy, Study Shows: Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, otherwise known as ADHD, may face a shorter life expectancy than their peers.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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