We’re excited to share the topic and questions for this week’s #HITsm chat happening Friday, 11/12 at Noon ET (9 AM PT). This week’s chat will be hosted by Kelly Benning (@KellyBChurch) on the topic “Building a Health IT Startup in a Highly Competitive Marketplace.”
VC’s invested $34B in healthcare tech globally in Q2 of 2021, which represents the 7th straight quarter of growth. Digital health startups accounted for 40% of this funding. And 11 healthcare startups joined the unicorn club during Q2. Investors and companies alike have evaluated the acceleration of digital health due to COVID, and this acceleration has created bigger wins (SPAC deals) and bigger losses (Google and Apple recently scaled back their healthcare efforts). The opportunity to achieve funding is at an all time high, but this also means competition is at an all time high!
How does a start up make sense of this heightened opportunity? There is a new era in building a digital healthcare company. Building technology that is valuable because it improves outcomes is no longer enough to entice VC to invest. In early stages, VC is now looking for technology that has proven engagement with both the user and the provider, technology that will scale to unicorn size, and technology that is proven by regulatory, the scientific community, and much more. With limited budgets and resources, the prioritization of building a new digital health platform has become complex. Should dollars and resources go toward real world testing, even though you have clinical results, to help prove engagement? Should dollars and resources go toward hiring a sales team to prove scalability? Or should dollars and resources go toward partnering with reputable, known brands (Mayo, John Hopkins) for clinical outcomes or free pilots to accelerate the brand/reputation of the technology?
Let’s talk about prioritizing digital health platforms to maximize the opportunity to be funded. Is there such a thing as a straightforward path in building a company in this new era of funding? Or, is there a path that will be a major competitive advantage for securing funding? We look forward to hearing your thoughts and discussing how to build a company to achieve funding in this highly competitive marketplace.
Join us for this week’s #HITsm chat where we’ll discuss the following questions and topics.
Topics for this week’s #HITsm Chat:
T1: How should a digital health start up prioritize to maximize chances of funding? #HITsm
T2: What type of companies and start-ups will be the most appealing to VCs and why? #HITsm
T3: Cash, resources and talent are more readily available at large companies vs. start-ups. Do priorities for large companies and start ups vary or are they the same? #HITsm
T4: Should a startup aim for a larger seed round to compete when it comes time to raise a series A? #HITsm
T5: When a VC turns down funding for a start-up, what are the most common reasons why? #HITsm
Bonus: Are there better ways to fund a digital health start-up? Would crowd-sourcing give a start up a better idea of what appeals to the end user (which can be expensive)? Or, will angel investors begin to make larger investments due to growth of the marketplace? #HITsm
Upcoming #HITsm Chat Schedule
11/19 – Parking Lot Healthcare: Is It Here to Stay?
Hosted by Dessiree Paoli (@dessiree_paoli) from @InterlaceHealth
11/26 – Thanksgiving – No Chat
12/3 – Discrimination in Healthcare
Hosted by Rachel Miller (@ray_hmiller) from @HealthcareScene
12/10 – TBD
Hosted by TBD
12/17 – TBD
Hosted by Maram Museitif (@MaramMPH)
We look forward to learning from the #HITsm community! As always, let us know if you’d like to host a future #HITsm chat or if you know someone you think we should invite to host.
If you’re searching for the latest #HITsm chat, you can always find the latest #HITsm chat and schedule of chats here.
