Public-Purpose Technology Intelligence
Summary
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- Founded in 2013
- Total Funding: £69 million
- Latest Funding: Series C, £45.5 million
- Revenue band: Not supplied
- Lead investors: Corner Ventures, Aleph, Quantum Pacific Ventures
- Office: Tel Aviv-Yafo, IL (HQ); Boston, US; London, UK
- FTEs: 100-250
- Key clients/partners: NHS UK, Dutch Kidney Foundation, University Medical Centre Groningen, US National Kidney Foundation, Geisinger
- Key execs: Yonatan Adiri, CEO and Founder: Founder Disruption Labs, Co-founder Getaround.com, Previously Chief Technology Officer for the President of Israel; Ron Zohar, CPO: Cofounder at Groovideo, previously Mobile Product Manager at Fiverr; Katherine Ward, CCO: previously Chief Growth Officer at Optum International, 15 years of experience at NHS UK and 11 years at UnitedHealth Group.
Profile
Poor access to healthcare is linked to increased hospitalization for preventable diseases, poor management of chronic diseases, and higher risk of terminal illnesses. Steep care expenses and limited service provision are key drivers of healthcare inaccessibility. Healthy.io’s product offerings seek to equalize healthcare access by placing the ability to detect and diagnose certain conditions in a more accessible, cost effective form– the smartphone camera.
Healthy.io has received regulatory approval from the FDA and CE, including two 510(k) clearances from the FDA - one for the company’s general home urinalysis test called Dip.io and another for point of care use of the company’s ACR test. Additionally, the company’s digital wound management solution is registered with the FDA.
Dip.io is useful for self-management in hypertensive pregnancies, and detecting, amongst others, Uterine Tract Infections and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Its ACR product is further down the service chain of medical care for CKD. To diagnose CKD, it tests urine for increased excretion of Albumin (the most common protein in urine), using a measure called the Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio (ACR). SPOT scans, measures, analyzes and documents wound dimensions to help clinicians manage chronic injury.
Healthy.io’s approach sits within maturing policy spaces. Digital healthcare has witnessed sustained but slow public attention and investment over the past decade. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed public and private activity in this area. For example, the US public health emergency declaration has unlocked immediate funding for telehealth, although the US Congress is more conservative about long-term investment. Remote patient monitoring applications such as Dip.io can ride on the coattails of this increased attention. There should also be sympathetic policy developments for DIY healthcare, especially for chronic conditions, which require regular check ups.
Plans
In September 2020, Healthy.io won a three-year, £140 million Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Award from the NHS to deploy its technologies to NHS sites. As part of the award, Healthy.io will receive £50M to accelerate technologies selected to meet the aims of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Who Should Speak To This Company
Healthcare service providers
Company In Action
The Dip.io test kit can be referred to anyone whose suspected condition can be further investigated using urinalysis. The person would be given the Dip.io kit and a referral link to download the accompanying app. The kit holds a small plastic cup, disposable dipsticks ( thin plastic strips, each with 10 chemical pads that change colour in the presence of specific compounds), and a colour board. Upon downloading the app, a chatbot called Emily guides the person through the process of filling the plastic cup with urine, immersing the dipstick into the cup, and taking a picture of the dipstick appended against the colour board.
Image from Financial Times
The app uploads the image to the cloud, where computer vision algorithms analyse the chemical pads’ colours, which reveal levels of key compounds like protein. This process lasts up to one minute, after which the results are sent to the person’s electronic medical record.
Image from Financial Times
The app uploads the image to the cloud, where computer vision algorithms analyse the chemical pads’ colours, which reveal levels of key compounds like protein. This process lasts up to one minute, after which the results are sent to the person’s electronic medical record. StateUp View
Although imperfect, developed-country healthcare is often long established with entrenched business models. Here, startups struggle to find the penchant for full-blown disruption exhibited in other sectors. The issue is not so much with ideation, but in translation to commercially viable business models. With Healthy.io, we see a company with a shrewd playbook for commercialisation.
The market segment Healthy.io targets involves people who do not access the healthcare solutions they should, and are thus low-hanging fruit. Many who should take urine tests do not, due to either a lack of awareness or inconvenience. For example, the US’ Healthy People 2020 objective to “[increase] the proportion of persons with [CKD] who know they have impaired renal function” would be met if a measly 13.4 percent of the target population become aware.
Healthy.io CEO Yonatan Adiri has shied away from talk of disruption, preferring to collaborate with established players. In 2017, the company entered Dip.io into the NHS Innovation Accelerator. They have aggressively deepened this partnership since, and recently won a £140 million NHS award. But Healthy.io also seems to be using collaboration as a launchpad for loftier goals. While Dip.io is a pharmacy-first service, it has quietly introduced a direct-to-consumer channel via the UK-only Velieve app. Velieve conducts a similar test for UTIs and does not require a referral.
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