Editor's Note
Permission to switch off
The Great British Summer is in full swing. Pub gardens are spilling over, everyone's complaining it's too hot, and England are out of the World Cup.
Like most people, I've taken a more relaxed approach to my health these past few weeks as football fever took over. A few extra beers, a couple of late nights.
And at times it's felt wrong. As if not chasing a sleep score, or feeling a bit groggy on a Wednesday morning, means I'm not committing to my health.
But the culture of measuring and optimising everything has left us less room for experiences, connection and fun. And those things are healthy too, whatever your WHOOP might tell you.
That said, I'm glad it's over. I can hang up the pint glass for a few months and reload on electrolytes.
Which is handy, because that's exactly what we get into on this week's podcast with FLOWBIO founder Stefan van der Fluit.
Industry News
Neko Health raises $700m to bring its full-body scans to the US
Neko, the Swedish preventative health company co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek, runs a 60-minute full-body scan built to catch health problems before you feel them. It has raised $700m at a valuation of nearly $7bn, and is opening its first US clinic in New York later this year. (tech.eu)
Why it matters: Prevention gets more interesting in the US, where healthcare is so expensive. It wouldn't be a surprise to see employers and insurers start covering scans like Neko's to offset the cost of reactive care down the line.
The NHS picks Heidi for its largest AI scribe rollout
NHS England in the Midlands has named Heidi its sole supplier of ambient voice technology across 1,239 GP practices and around 70,000 clinicians, the biggest deal of its kind in the NHS so far. The software listens to a consultation and drafts the notes, so the clinician can spend the appointment looking at the patient rather than the screen. Trusts in the region have already started going live. (Heidi)
Why it matters: Every clinician knows the feeling of typing through an appointment instead of listening to the person in front of them. The NHS study behind this deal found scribes gave back nearly a quarter more face-to-face time, and this is a whole region committing rather than another pilot.
Hilo raises $19m for a wrist-worn blood pressure tracker
Hilo has raised $19m to bring its blood pressure wearable to the US. Rather than a one-off cuff reading, the band takes 30 to 35 readings a day from the wrist, including overnight, to show how your blood pressure actually moves through the day. (Fitt Insider)
Why it matters: High blood pressure rarely comes with symptoms, and a single reading at the GP tells you almost nothing about the rest of your week. Continuous tracking is where a wearable does something a cuff can't, though the harder job is getting doctors to trust a number that didn't come from a cuff.
Garmin takes on WHOOP with a screen-free band
Garmin has launched Cirqa, its first tracker with no screen, made for people who want health and fitness data without another screen competing for their attention. It costs £180, lasts about 10 days on a charge and, unlike WHOOP, comes with no subscription. (The Independent)
Why it matters: The monthly subscription has been central to WHOOP's whole model, and Garmin has just undercut it with a one-off price. For anyone who found the fee the sticking point, that is the whole story.
SONATA launches a doctor-led membership built around your biology
SONATA has launched in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles with a $2,500-a-year membership that sequences your whole genome, tracks 140 blood markers and pairs the results with an ongoing doctor relationship. The pitch is that people now have more health data than ever, from wearables to DNA kits, and no one to help them act on it. (Fitt Insider)
Why it matters: The gap it names is real. A wearable and a home test hand you numbers, not a plan, and at $2,500 a year SONATA is built for the people who can pay to close that gap themselves.
Investment Updates
Doctorsa, the Milan platform connecting travellers with a local doctor by video, raised €1m led by PranaVentures. (tech.eu)
Xenter, the Utah company building wireless medical devices that stream data from the body during procedures, raised $58.25m in Series B funding. (finsmes)
Corner Health, the Los Angeles startup giving nurse practitioners the tools to run their own primary care practices, raised $32.5m in seed and Series A funding led by Oak HC/FT. (htworld)
Handspring, the New York virtual clinic treating mental health in children and young adults with directly employed therapists, raised $19m led by RPS Ventures. (finsmes)
Evidenced, the US venture firm backing health startups that gain when regulation shifts in their favour, closed its debut fund at $24m. (Femtech Insider)
The Health Stack Podcast
Episode #08 - Full Episode
Stefan van der Fluit, FLOWBIO
Stefan is the founder of FLOWBIO, who have built a real-time sweat sensor that tells you exactly how much water and salt you are losing as you train. We get into why hydration is the last piece of performance nobody has quantified, and why dehydration is really about salt, not just water.
Listen on Spotify | Watch on YouTube
Roles Worth Knowing About
Head of Governance, Asterix Health | London, Remote
Asterix is the first company approved to have doctors abroad support the NHS remotely, and its model was named in the NHS 10 Year Plan. The role owns clinical governance as the company scales its remote GP network. (Apply here)
Senior Product Manager, Sleep, WHOOP | Boston, On-site
WHOOP makes the screen-free fitness band that Garmin is now going after. The role leads the sleep and recovery experience, deciding how the data becomes something a member actually acts on. (Apply here)
Director of Product Design, Runna | London, Hybrid
Runna builds personalised running plans and was acquired by Strava last year. The role sets the design vision across the app and grows the design team as the product scales. (Apply here)
Product Manager, Hinge Health | Bengaluru, Hybrid
Hinge Health treats muscle and joint pain at scale with technology and is now publicly listed. The role runs the internal tools that keep its care team working efficiently. (Apply here)
Senior Full Stack Engineer, AI Platform, 9amHealth | Remote
9amHealth delivers virtual care for diabetes, obesity and related conditions through employers and health plans. The role builds the AI systems behind the product, not a standard frontend or backend job. (Apply here)
That's it for Issue 16.
If you found this useful, forward it to one founder or investor in your network who'd get value from it. Reply with anything you'd like to see more of. I read every response.
