Masawa Minute 100
What’s next for European healthtech? | Are brain implants in our (near) future? | + More! 🍒
This is the Masawa Minute — mental wellness, social impact, and impact investing snippets from what we’ve read and created in the last month + where you can get active.
This week’s newsletter is about health(tech) and innovation. In our milestone 100th edition, we delve into the European healthtech market, shed light on one of the most essential yet currently underfunded sectors, and spotlight some exciting innovations. Enjoy!
Accelerate Health Launches Founder Mental Health Program
Next Wednesday, November 29th, Masawa’s Co-Founding Partner, Joshua Haynes, will be in Helsinki speaking at the House of Impact Day, a pre-event to Slush. Joining a panel discussion alongside Elodie Donjon (European Investment Fund) and Nicolas Celier (Ring Capital), he will be exploring the dynamic journey of forging tomorrow’s investment landscape and what the fund of the future might look like.
This event, hosted by The Impact Office, is designed to foster transparent conversations about impact and facilitate collaborations for tangible action. Besides Joshua’s panel, you’ll get to hear a lot of exciting talks on all things impact, so don’t miss it!
This Week’s Story
How’s the European healthtech market doing and what’s next?
As the year draws to a close (where did the time go?), it’s a good opportunity to reflect on industry trends. While funding has experienced a downturn across many sectors, there’s a glimmer of optimism, and things might actually be looking up. According to Albion VC’s recently published European HealthTech Market Map, the European healthtech market is returning to historic levels, with 2023 VC funding matching that of 2020.
Predictably, AI has been the name of the game this past year and has firmly commanded investors’ attention. It has driven significant growth in digital pharma, with AI-powered drug discovery companies in Tech Bio and SynBio market segments witnessing growth of over 100% in the last year. Similarly, in digital care, companies in the Diagnostics and Clinical Decision Support segments have experienced a 75% growth, while other sectors like Symptom Checking, Companion apps, and Wellness have faced a slowdown. Digital pharma, especially segments like Patient Recruitment, has stabilized, witnessing a return to pre-pandemic patient engagement practices.
The maturation of the European healthtech market is evident through increased funding and a continuous flow of early-stage companies demonstrating solid financial performance. While it still lags far behind the US in terms of the number of established unicorns, there’s promise in the ambition and innovation of European healthtech founders. Over €5 billion has been invested in the past three years, and while 2024 may present challenges, AI is expected to fuel innovation and propel breakout companies.
If you’d like to take a closer look at the HealthTech Market Map of 2023, check out the link below. Bonus: a Sifted briefing on the same subject for their Pro subscribers.
European HealthTech Market Map 2023
What else we’re reading…
🧘 Few employers systematically track employee health, complicating the design of effective, scalable health strategies and impact assessment. This four-part framework, empowers companies to systematically assess employee wellbeing and make a long-term investment in the health of their organizations.
☀️ Despite substantial annual spending on healthcare innovations, public health faces growing challenges from factors beyond the traditional healthcare sector. Understanding the model of Systemic Drivers of Healthis essential for innovators and policymakers to address the root causes and create effective, holistic solutions for societal wellbeing.
👶 Recent CDC data reveals a 40% increase in U.S. maternal mortality rates, heightening the risks of pregnancy compared to the previous generation, yet women’s health remains severely underfunded and under-researched. The maternal health crisis, disproportionally affecting Black women, demands urgent action and innovative solutions to ensure healthier futures for families — and promising breakthroughs are on the horizon.
🥑 Zoe, a UK-based personalized nutrition startup that launched in the UK in 2018 with gut microbiome testing and a diet tracking app, aims to “change the way people think about food forever.” Despite criticisms, the company, valued at $101 million, plans to expand with personalized prebiotics and retesting options, solidifying its role in the consumer health testing sector.
🧠 Scientists at Switzerland’s EPFL, led by Stéphanie Lacour, have pioneered a groundbreaking solution for brain-machine interface electrodes. The implant, inserted through a small skull hole, utilizes soft robotics to deploy, minimizing tissue compression. While still in the testing phase, the approach shows promise for clinical applications.
