The healthcare industry is evolving rapidly with the introduction of new technologies. AI, robotics, IoT, and other emerging technologies are disrupting the healthcare sector more than any other industry.
In 2018 alone, the digital health space received an all-time high Q1 funding of $1.62 billion. According to reports, the global annual health expenditure continues to rise and is expected to reach $10.059 trillion by 2022.
The healthcare industry is huge, and based on its growth rate, it is quite clear why venture investors are turning to digital health startups.
With innovative products and creative offerings, many healthcare startups have secured mega fundings from VCs. But, very few of them were able to sustain the market.
There are many reasons why some startups meet their demise. Most of the healthcare companies fail to keep up with the current market needs and technology trends. That’s why a lot of startups, in particular healthcare, are now vetting for strategic partnerships in technology.
Benefits of a Tech Partnership for Healthcare Startups
Small businesses and startup owners have to take care of everything, from marketing to sales and accounting.
Therefore, investing time and effort into developing your innovative healthcare app or a whole new technology, can be expensive and risky. It may take a lot of your time and money to build new technology all on your own.
Having a technology partner can reduce this risk and help you build innovative services with high ROI.
The following are a few major benefits of having a tech partner in your healthcare startup –
1. Knowledge and Expertise
Technology partners have the necessary knowledge and skills to get the job done. They have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the advanced technologies, and they stay updated with the current market trends.
Tech partners know how different technologies work and how to use them in an optimal way to build solutions for you.
A credible technology partner would help you design efficient solutions based on research. They work hand in hand with different departments of your startup, like marketing and sales, to build customer-centric solutions.
2. Faster Deployment
Sometimes, even the well-thought-out plans can go off the gird, no matter how much time you’ve spent in the planning. Sudden changes in business technology or unexpected market needs can require a quick update to the existing solution.
Since tech partners have proven the expertise of their field, they can deliver the project at a much faster rate. Not only that, if you want to add a new feature to the product, you can quickly get it deployed in no time.
3. Time-Saving and Cost Reduction
Whether it’s taking the backup of the data or fixing the bugs in the software, your tech partner would oversee and manage everything. This would save a lot of your time that you can spend on core business operations.
The technology partners are responsible for providing support for the solutions they’ve developed for your healthcare startup. Whenever there’s an issue with the system, the tech partner would fix it for you.
Generally, the support services are included in the complete package, so you don’t have to pay additional money on performing such IT tasks.
4. Honest Recommendations and Insights
When it comes to healthcare startups, you have to make sure that the solutions you offer are helping the patients. For this, you need detailed insights on how end users are interacting with your products, the performance of the specific tools and services.
Tech companies offer different types of technology and analytical solutions, and they can provide you with unbiased recommendations and business insights. Your technology partner would even help you integrate different solutions to a single platform.
These insights become crucial to make informed decisions.
5. Access to New Technologies and IPs
A strategic partnership with a technology company offers your healthcare startup easy access to the newest technologies, without having to expand current resources.
More than 26% of business leaders cite easy access to new technologies as a significant benefit of having a technology partner.
Easy access to the latest technologies also fuels innovation and creative ideas.
Innovative Healthcare Startups That Crossed the $1 Billion Valuation
Since 2017, venture capital is pouring into the healthcare space in record volumes. The funding has allowed healthcare startups access to excellent resources to fuel their growth. Below are the four healthcare unicorns that recently crossed the $1 billion valuation mark.
1. Devoted Health
Valuation: $1.8 billion
Founded in 2017, this health insurance startup aims to make healthcare easier for seniors.
Devoted Health uses machine learning and data analysis tools to help users make better decisions about care. Famous data scientist, DJ Patil is heading the technology team at Devoted Health.
“How do we get the industry to start building more on this? You’ve got weather data, census data, health data, climate data. How do you start taking that information to build new things?” – DJ Patil says.
2. Butterfly Network
Valuation: $1.25 billion
Mobile ultrasound startup, Butterfly Network is making ultrasound imaging more accessible and easier for all.
Butterfly Network was founded in 2011 and is already transforming diagnostic and therapeutic imaging with sensors, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and cloud computing.
3. Health Catalyst
Valuation: $1 billion
Founded in 2009, this Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup uses big data and analytics to drive innovation in the healthcare sector.
The Health Catalyst platform helps organize and link the data from all your different systems and make it searchable by all users.
4. Calm
Valuation: $1 billion
Based in San Francisco, this startup has developed a unique app that helps people improve mental health and wellness.
The company’s app, named Calm, is widely popular and has been downloaded more than 40 million times, with over 1 million active users.
These digital health startups have paved the way for entrepreneurship and new opportunities in the healthcare sector.
Let’s Create Together
Businesses are better together. As investors set their sights on healthcare, there’s going to be huge competition in this large sector. And, if you want to survive the competition, you have to keep building innovative healthcare solutions.
If you are a healthcare startup, you need a credible technology partner like Imaginovation to turn your innovative ideas into a reality.
We are an award-winning app and software development company with vast experience in emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain.
We work with funded startups to Fortune 500 companies to build innovative solutions. Get in touch with us to discuss ways to scale up your healthcare startup through a strategic partnership.
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