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Covid-19 patients. Photo by Mohsen Atayi.

Top 10 Healthcare Start-ups

It is universally agreed that Covid-19 pandemic caused disruption in all facets of healthcare domain in a remarkably short span and severely stressed the medical industry.

The pandemic made the healthcare sector vulnerable by exposing the major gaps in the sector which paved way for new startups to be formed to address them.

New startups in healthcare have adopted emerging technologies which facilitate remote health monitoring and treatment such as artificial intelligence.

Solutions which are beyond virology, immunology and epidemiology have been required in medical and healthcare fields in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

As the world economy recovers from the global crisis, healthcare startups have jumped into the bandwagon to fulfil those needs.

The growth in the healthcare industry is therefore on an upward trajectory. Entrepreneurs in the healthcare space do not need to be doctors as there are many avenues to start a business in the industry.

The top 10 startups include the following.

1. Babylon Health

Skin allergies. Photo by DLdoubleE.

Babylon Health is a London based telehealth startup which has designed artificial intelligence (AI) software which can provide remedies for a broad range of ailments. 

The software provides remedies to ailments ranging from skin allergies and bronchitis to influenza among others.

The software provides 24 hours digital consultation and offers customers an online appointment with doctors.

The company operates in various regions including the United Kingdom, Asia Pacific and North America and is planning to penetrate emerging markets in the Middle East and South America.

The company has formed partnerships with primary healthcare providers such as Centene Corporation in the U.S to survive the steep competition.

2. VillageMD

Walgreens. Photo by Nick81aku at en.wikipedia.

VillageMD is a US based startup which has invented an innovative three step model to deliver medical care and is turning heads of medical professionals.

Patients can access world class physicians through its VillageMD’s docOS proprietary operating system.  Results in par with normal clinic settings have been proved to be achievable with the model.

Patients using the system are able to connect with medical professionals from the comfort of their homes through virtual visits which have been enabled by the system.

DocOS uses artificial intelligence which helps doctors to make better decisions by analyzing patients’ data over a thousand clinical source systems.

VillageMD physicians use insights to understand patient needs by leveraging on healthcare expertise and advanced analytics.

Through its cooperation with Walgreens Boots Alliance, VillageMD plans by 2025 to open at least 600 new Village Medical at Walgreens locations in more than 30 US markets.

3. Freenome

Blood testing. Photo by SpicyMilkBoy.

One of the startups which has merged the field of biology and medicine with speed and effectiveness of machine learning is Freenome; a US based biotechnology healthcare startup.

Through their ‘Multiomics’ platform, Freenome assists doctors to detect early onset of cancer with a simple blood test.

To discover cancer in its initial stages and assist doctors in developing the next gen precision therapies through knowledge, tools and expertise, the startup has employed machine learning experts, programmers, biologists and clinicians.

Freenome closed a $270m financing led by investors like Bain Capital Life Sciences and Perceptive Advisors in August 2020.

The funding was channeled to advance novel multiomics blood testing platform which would ensure cancer is detected in the early stages.  

4. Optellum

Lung Cancer. Photo by Laboratoires Servier.

For early detection, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, the United Kingdom based startup Optellum has designed and developed a clinical decision support software.

From one of the world’s largest clinical datasets, Optellum’s clinical decision support software uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to analyze millions of data points.

Optellum entered into collaboration with the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson in August 2021.

Optellum undertook to apply its AI-powered clinical decision support platform to improve the lung cancer survival rates through early intervention and prevention according to the agreement.

5. Medicsen

Medicsen, a healthcare startup based in Spain, has developed a smart patch for non-invasive drug delivery systems for people with diabetic conditions.

A user can activate and operate the patch using machine learning algorithms or manually from the comfort of his home.

The patch can predict glucose levels thereby assisting in delivering the required amount of insulin as it offers direct access to personalized health data.

6. MedAngel

People can monitor the temperature of their medicines and insulin through their smartphones using a mobile app developed by a Dutch startup called MedAngel.

The company improves the safety of patients by covering the last-mile of cold chain management.

The company took part in the Rockstart Digital Health Accelerator program in the Netherlands and is actively working towards expanding its product portfolio to gain competitive advantage in the market.

7. Jetbrain Robotics

Jetbrain Robotics is an Indian based healthcare startup that specializes in end-to-end autonomous mobile robotic solutions.

The startup develops service robots to assist with nursing and internal logistics management in hospitals and other healthcare service areas.

To help hospital staff with medical transportation, the autonomous robotic solutions for patient care uses machine vision and indoor navigation technology.

Solaris acquired Jetbrain Robotics for developing new smart logistics and assistive care in the fall of 2020.  By spring of 2021 the company rolled out unique products in the market.

8. FeelTect

One of the budding startups which has focused on addressing a specific issue in the healthcare sector is the Ireland based FeelTect.

The startup has developed a devise which measures bandage pressure during compression therapy in patients

The startup’s product is called Tight Alright and it measures the pressure of the sub-bandage at any place it is placed. The startup focuses on a niche market in the medical field and hence its potential is quite high.

The company’s product is ideal for patients with Venous Leg Ulcers as it eliminates the shortcomings of the traditional pressure sensing systems used previously.

Feeltect is one of the best start-ups for investment in the medical sector, as in one grant round it raised around €50k.

9. Cerenion

Cerenion is a Finnish based startup founded in 2017. The company developed a brain monitoring technology aimed at improving treatment of patients in intensive care programmes in hospitals.

Without   requiring any changes to the care of the patient, Cerenion’s C-Trend technology aims to reveal the status of the brain as one simple score at the bed-side.

The technology combines standard EEG-measurement with machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to provide solutions that work.

The startup based in Finland raised a total of $2.84M in the last three years to finance its activities.

10. Verge Genomics

FDA New York Office. Photo by CaptJayRuffins.

Verge Genomics is one of the best healthcare start-ups to watch for in 2019 which was co-founded by Alice Zhang and Jason Chen.

The company is working to streamline medical trial process to save lives. This would help the medical field as an estimated 1.3 billion dollars is spent on R&D and FDA approval before a drug is successfully placed on the market.

Verge Genomics uses artificial intelligence to determine which drugs have a higher likelihood of success which is a unique process not employed in the past.

The company plans to help big pharma better determine which drugs to advance through the FDA approval process with their innovative approach.

The company will also help big pharma to determine which drugs to abandon and hence save a lot of money with their innovative approach.