The Healthtech Times is a weekly newsletter covering healthtech news from Canada and around the globe.
Subscribe to H|T using the form at the bottom of this page to ensure you don’t miss out on the most important healthtech news every week!
Boston-based Haemonetics announces intent to acquire OpSens in healthtech deal worth $345 million CAD (BETAKIT)
A duo of healthtech firms have announced an agreement in which Boston-based Haemonetics will acquire Quebec City-based OpSens in a roughly $345 million CAD ($253 million USD) deal.
Haemonetics outlined the financial and strategic benefits it plans to see from the transaction, including what it identifies as an addressable $1 billion market for OpSens’ fibre optic sensor technology.
AI revolutionizing MRI scans — a Munich startup banked $32M to scan eggs, and says humans are next (TECHCRUNCH)
Munich-based startup Orbem, equipped with an industrial MRI scanner combined with an AI-based platform, enables hatcheries to determine the sex of an egg in a contactless and non-invasive manner.
The company has now raised a €30 million Series A funding round and says it scan other biological samples, such as plant species, and — even — the human body.
Health management platform TAMVOES utilizes Waterloo co-op students to help with technical development and marketing.
“Students bring a lot of innovation and ideas, and they allow us to improve our business every single day. We believe that young minds have an eye for change and that's something that we aspire for and try to reach for every day at TAMVOES,” says Jordan Lunshof, director at TAMVOES.
Did you know funding is available to cover up to 70% of a student’s salary?
Talent experts can support you through the hiring process.
FluidAI Medical announces $15-million Series A for AI-driven postoperative monitor (BETAKIT)
Kitchener-Waterloo healthtech startup FluidAI Medical has announced it raised a $15-million Series A round for its AI-driven postoperative monitoring platform.
FluidAI announced the funding on Oct. 10, almost exactly one-year after it rebranded away from NERv Technology on Oct. 11, 2022, to lean into an identity as an AI-based healthtech solution.
The ‘model-eat-model world’ of clinical AI: How predictive power becomes a pitfall (STAT)
A growing number of AI tools are being used to predict everything from sepsis to strokes, with the hope of accelerating the delivery of life-saving care. But over time, new research suggests, these predictive models can become a victim of their own success — sending their performance into a nosedive and generating inaccurate, potentially harmful results.
Federal government announces first VCCI inclusive growth stream VC fund recipients (BETAKIT)
The Government of Canada is investing up to $25 million CAD into five Canadian venture capital (VC) funds through the inclusive growth stream of the renewed Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI).
These VC fund recipients include Calgary-based District Ventures Capital and The51’s Food and AgTech Fund, Toronto's BKR Capital and Ripple Ventures, and Halifax-based Sandpiper Ventures.
23andMe User Data Stolen in Targeted Attack on Ashkenazi Jews (WIRED)
The genetic testing company 23andMe confirmed that data from a subset of its users has been compromised. The company said its systems were not breached and that attackers gathered the data by guessing the login credentials of a group of users and then scraping more people’s information from a feature known as DNA Relatives.
TechCrunch reported that some of the stolen data was listed on hacking forums up to two months ago.
Neo Financial, Jobber, WaitWell among winners of sixth annual Start Alberta Tech Awards (BETAKIT)
Twelve awards were handed out to companies and members of Alberta's tech ecosystem at the Start Alberta Tech Awards hosted in Edmonton this week.
The 2023 awards not only celebrated some of this year's standout deals and capital raises, but also turned the spotlight to the province's emergent ventures.
Accel leads $21M investment in UK care home marketplace Lottie (TECHCRUNCH)
Lottie, a UK-startup with an online marketplace that helps those seeking care find the best care homes and services for their needs, announced it has raised $21 million (£16.35 million) in a Series A round .
Last year, Lottie acquired a care home software company called Found, which many care homes already used to manage the occupancy and CRM side of their business.
BetaKit Live: Bridging the cybersecurity gap for SMBs (BETAKIT)
Ahead of Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023, Mastercard found that only 16 percent of small business owners are certain of next steps to take following an cyber attack, with just 18 percent totally confident their business could fully recover within six months.
In partnership with Mastercard, BetaKit is happy to present a live-streamed panel conversation on what Canadian small business owners can do to bridge their cybersecurity gap.
Why AI Is Medicine’s Biggest Moment Since Antibiotics
(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The dean of Stanford University’s medical school thinks artificial intelligence will transform the medicines you take, the care you get and the training of doctors.
Scale AI announces $21 million for nine Canadian AI healthcare projects (BETAKIT)
At the ALL IN conference in Montreal, the federally funded innovation organization Scale AI announced a $21-million investment across nine separate Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) projects focused on optimizing healthcare logistics and resources.
A common denominator among most of the projects is the need to manage scarce resources in a sector facing a chronic budgetary strain, high community needs, and a persistent labour shortage.
Evernorth acquires tech platform Bright.md to enhance MDLIVE offerings (MOBIHEALTHNEWS)
Insurer Cigna's health services subsidiary Evernorth announced it acquired asynchronous platform Bright.md, which it will use to enhance the virtual care offerings of its portfolio company MDLIVE.
Portland-based Bright.md offers an automated patient intake and virtual care connection platform to improve efficiency for hybrid care providers and patients.
Subscribe to The Healthtech Times
Don’t forget to subscribe to The Healthtech Times using the form below to make sure it hits your email inbox every week!
