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!
DOT Mind Unlock wins #CollisionConf 2022 startup pitch competition (BETAKIT)
Founded in 2017 by Yishel Khan, DOT provides tech-enabled solutions for improving mental health. Its product suite includes Neuron, a web-based platform that aims to support mental health caregivers by automating diagnosis, monitoring, and management of their patients.
Startups Providing Abortion Access Could Seek More Funding In Wake Of Roe Decision (CRUNCHBASE NEWS)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration changed the rules around medication abortion, eliminating the requirement for a patient to see a provider at a clinic or hospital before they could receive the combination of pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, that are used to terminate an early pregnancy. Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of the abortions in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
M&A likely to be a significant driver of value for Canadian tech firms in 2022 (BETAKIT)
Canada will soon close out the first half of 2022, and already, the market for initial public offerings (IPOs) appears unrecognizable from that of 2021. PwC’s Canada-focused M&A report found M&A activity across the country saw similarly explosive growth last year.
Virtual care unicorn Ro lays off 18% of workforce (MOBIHEALTH NEWS)
"While we took steps over the last six months to prepare for a possible downturn, including raising additional capital and narrowing our focus, we came to the unfortunate conclusion that we needed to make more significant changes to manage expenses, increase the efficiency of our organization and better map our resources to our current strategy," CEO Zachariah Reitano wrote in an email.
Open and connected, Luxembourg is seen as a neutral location at the heart of Europe, making it easy for you to gain a foothold on the culturally diverse European markets.
With almost 50% of its population coming from abroad, Luxembourg is multicultural and multilingual, attracting numerous international companies as well as the best talent.
It is your base for growth in Europe. Learn more here!
Why VC Deven Parekh doesn’t mind “overpaying” for a good deal (BETAKIT)
Parekh has invested in software for his entire VC career but has never seen growth quite like during the COVID-19 pandemic. He chalks this growth up to a massive acceleration of companies adopting software, first for working remotely during the depths of the pandemic but now for a hybrid and flexible work future.
TPG Capital Pivots to Take Convey Health Private (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The private-equity firm remained Convey’s majority shareholder through its TPG Capital arm even after the initial public offering in June 2021. On Tuesday, TPG offered to pay $10.50 a share to buy the roughly 25% of the company’s outstanding stock that it doesn’t already own in a deal with an enterprise value of about $1.1 billion.
IntelliSports raises $2.5 million for gamified fitness app PlayFitt (BETAKIT)
A spokesperson for IntelliSports declined to disclose the company’s total funding to date. Per Crunchbase, the company has secured over $6 million in financing to date, including a $1.4 million seed round, and $2.9 million in debt from the Government of Québec.
Cracks in the mirror: The uncertain future of Lululemon’s half-billion-dollar smart-fitness bet (THE LOGIC)
Lululemon acquired connected fitness device company Mirror for $500 million USD in June 2020. But when the COVID-19 driven at-home workout craze died down and the market flooded with competitors, Mirror failed to reach sales expectations. The firm’s founder has stepped down as CEO, replaced with a former Twitch executive whose plan for Mirror doesn’t require the devices.
Telehealth visits for mental health continue to rise despite dropping in every other specialty (MEDCITYNEWS)
For the report, healthcare appointment booking platform Zocdoc, which is used by millions of patients each month, examined the appointments booked on its platform from May 2020 to May 2022. In May 2020, one-third of appointments were telehealth visits, and a year later, it dropped to 17%. Excluding mental health, just 9% of last month’s appointments were conducted virtually.
Able Innovations announces $7.5 million to take the pain out of patient transfer (BETAKIT)
The best [medtech] solutions are the ones that change the standard of care, and sometimes they’re super, super simple. And this is that thing.” -Dr. Gaurav Puri In an interview with BetaKit, Puri described the typical patient transfer process as “pretty crude,” adding that it can cause pain to patients and result in hospital staff experiencing injuries.
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!