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Telus acquires TSX-listed HR tech firm LifeWorks for $2.3 billion CAD (BETAKIT)
The LifeWorks deal was initially announced in June, following Telus’ recent purchase of healthtech startup Sprout Wellness Solutions. Telus’ other acquisitions, made through its health division, include EQ Care, Akira Health, Nightingale, and ZRX Prescriber.
InterWell Health finalizes $2.4B kidney care merger to combine tech, value-based care capabilities (FIERCE HEALTHCARE)
The three big players in kidney care announced in March plans to form a new value-based care company focused on services for the earlier stages of kidney disease. The deal creates a company valued at $2.4 billion, according to the companies.
Five months in, details on Canada’s new Innovation and Investment Agency remain sparse (BETAKIT)
Since the budget announcement, the federal government has little to offer about what the agency will look like, its role, how it will work and, most importantly, whether it will work at all. Queries to the federal government only elicit vague statements about why the new agency is needed, but yield nothing concrete about its potential workings.
GoodRx laying off 140 employees, 16% of workforce (SEEKING ALPHA)
GoodRx (GDRX) said the reduction is part of its goal to “re-balance its investments and cost structure into prioritized areas that the Company believes will drive incremental long-term growth and improve margins.”
Canadian-founded healthtech startup Power emerges from stealth with $7 million (BETAKIT)
“Historically, clinical trials have relied on recruiting patients who are being treated at large, prestigious medical institutions and/or have active, hands-on support from a physician or patient advocate,” said co-founder Brandon Li. “It should not be as hard as it is today.”
Exclusive: Tiger Global-Backed Healthtech Unicorn Innovaccer Lays Off 120 Employees (INC 42)
Innovaccer shared a video meeting link with the employees who were to be laid off earlier today. During the meetings, in which senior HR personnel and team managers were present, the employees were asked to resign, the sources added.
How startups can avoid the “Frankenstein data stack” trap (BETAKIT)
In the quest for speed, many startup founders cobble together multiple low-quality data sources, hoping it offers practical insight. This is a problem Peter Fishman, co-founder and CEO of Mozart Data, frequently saw at fast-growing startups in the Bay Area.
MedGenome Raises $50M To Map The Human Genome (CRUNCHBASE NEWS)
MedGenome, a California-based startup, leverages genomic sequencing platforms to aid in diagnostics and drug discovery. Most notably, the 9-year-old startup also collects samples from patients in and around the Indian subcontinent to better map out variations in genetic sequencing among the South Asian population.
Canadian tech companies continue to hire despite downturn – here’s an (incomplete) list (BETAKIT)
350 companies have now added their job listings, indicating a strong and continued desire to hire #CDNtech talent.
African genomics startup 54gene lays off 95 as COVID testing business struggles (TECHCRUNCH)
Founded in 2019 by Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong, the three-year-old startup seeks to address the gap in the global genomics market where less than 3% of genetic material used in pharmaceutical research is African. This is despite reports saying Africans and people of African ancestry are more genetically diverse than all other world populations combined.
Vitalik Buterin fund gives financial booster shot to doctor’s startup assessing airborne COVID-19 risk (BETAKIT)
Emergency room physician, Dr. Kashif Pirzada created the Raven Clean Air Map as part of a three-person team after seeing what he called a lack of systemic efforts at COVID-19 prevention.
“I’ve seen a public response, a government response that’s always slow and reactive,” he told BetaKit. “There isn’t sort of an attention paid to the science especially, or an attention paid to prevention.”
Theranica raises $45M for migraine digital therapeutic (MOBIHEALTH)
The round was led by New Rhein Healthcare Investors with participation from aMoon, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LionBird, Takoa Invest and Corundum Open Innovation. The startup announced a $35 million Series B round of funding in 2019 and a $6 million Series A in 2017. Theranica said it will extend its Series C round of financing, with a final close planned for October.
AlayaCare lays off 14 percent of employees, slows M&A plans (BETAKIT)
The Montréal-based healthtech startup has also scaled back its near-term merger and acquisition (M&A) plans and let two of its office leases expire in Victoria, British Columbia, and Queens, New York, as part of a broader push to become more cash-efficient. AlayaCare’s CEO said startup’s revenue growth has not followed its “aggressive investment.”
New medical tech company aims to improve customers’ health — by going with their gut (CBC)
Nucliq Biologics, co-founded by married couple Nikitha Kendyala and Purvikalyan Pallegar, has just launched Gutcheck, an analysis kit that tests a person’s stool to evaluate the health of a person’s gut by analyzing the microbial diversity of a stool sample.
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