#7 PR and the healthtech podcast

In this new healthtech podcast, our own Eleanor Willock talks to Joe Stringer, partner from Octopus Ventures about investment in healthtech, medtech, digital health and a whole blurring of the lines!

Joe specifically focusses on investment in healthtech with the aim of improving one billion lives using the best healthtech from across Europe.

Key take-aways:

• A lot of people and companies run away from public healthcare systems, but one of the key things for us is to embrace the opportunity that amazing healthcare systems like the NHS can provide
• The NHS is one of the largest untapped markets in the World
• To get early traction in the NHS is incredibly valuable for founders and investors around the World
• Healthtech and medtech to us are quite old school definitions; medtech in our mind means disconnected passive devices and healthtech means using data to get more useful insights
• For example, a device going into a body not connected to anything is old school medtech
• But, an implant going into someone with early warning, connected data — that is healthtech
• Essentially, if its not collecting data, its not ‘investable’
• We’re most excited by AI led solutions or data platforms; point of care diagnostics; data-led genomics and biotech, and then digital health [which covers wellness, the mental health space and avoiding needing care in the first place]
• The investment world is moving into impact — if your business has an incredible impact, the numbers will follow
• It is fundamental for founders to tell the story of how they impact lives — clear and strong communications sits at the heart of any strong start up.