There’s a temptation to declare providers as mysterious - their wants and needs an enigma. But speak to provider leaders, and they know what they want, and what challenges they have to solve. As one put it to us: “Don’t bring me solutions to problems I didn’t know I have”. 

With VCs sat on more unused capital than any time in recent memory, is now the time for better links between investors and providers? After all, when the pool of customers is limited, understanding their needs becomes of paramount importance.

Being a headline writer in European tech has been a depressing job for the last few years.

But here at HLTH Europe we say no to negativity.

 Yes, the waters have been choppy. Yes, the numbers are down. But there are still reasons to celebrate. Companies to champion. Success stories and triumphs. 

HLTH started in Las Vegas, and we know that when the chips are down, you have two choices. Leave the party or double down. And we choose to double down. To celebrate the wins. Because more are coming. We'd bet the house on it.

There are many crimes in healthtech marketing. We won’t name them all, for fear of alienating literally everyone. But top of the list is the term "patient-centric" when the product in question has not, in fact, been developed with patients.

Boil healthcare down to its bare minimum and it’s about keeping patients alive and healthy. And yet so often, they’re not in the room when decisions are made. 

It’s time to flip that script. To give patients a seat at the table, after all, who better to share the future of healthcare than those living it every day?

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In 2021, Private Equity, like every other investment sector, surged into healthcare, investing $50.97 billion in healthtech. By 2023 this had dropped back down to $9.18 billion, more in line with 2019’s figures.

This may all seem quite doom-laden, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Across the healthtech landscape there are numerous opportunities. Traditionally PE has focused on investing in large, high-growth healthcare technology companies. 

But for those funds looking for companies with the potential for double-digit growth, the midtier of healthtech offers an intriguing opportunity.

What areas of healthtech are ready for a new wave of PE funding? What emerging trends or technologies within healthtech could catalyse a resurgence in Private Equity investment?

There's a saying amongst Navy SEALS - "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast". The idea that doing things methodically and deliberately may feel like slower progress is made, but ultimately gets you there faster. 

When it comes to transformation in healthcare, we've mastered the slow bit. In fact we're arguably the world's leading sector when it comes to slow transformation. Smooth? Not so much.

We are notorious for our slow adoption of innovation. Some of this is unavoidable - healthcare regulations are often written in blood.

But we cannot hide behind this. Cultural resistance, ingrained systems and a lack of short-term capacity to do things that would free up long-term capacity.

To truly transform, organisations must evolve into "smooth operators" – agile, responsive, and forward-thinking. But is this even possible in a sector where slow is slow and smooth is a pipedream?

The year is 2021. 

Events are back in person for the first time in 18 months.

And you've only just picked up your badge when someone sidles up and shouts 'DiGA' in your ear. 

So this is the "new normal".

In Germany tested health apps can be prescribed as part of statutory health insurance since the Digital Care Act came into force on December 19, 2019.

It was seen as a watershed moment in European healthtech, and indeed healthcare, history.

Across Europe Minister Jens Spahn was lauded as a visionary. This was the moment. It was all going to be OK. One area of healthtech had a viable, reliable, certifiable route to getting paid. To making profit. Across Europe, VC pockets quivered with anticipation.

Other nations raced to fall into line. And yet just a few years later, and following a spate of DTx companies going under in Germany and across the globe, DTx has lost some of its shine. 

Where once the pathway to getting paid looked clearer, storm clouds have gathered again.

Googling "Pitch deck advice" is about as effective as Googling "What is this rash?". You’ll get a hundred different opinions, each more convincing than the last. Soon your deck is the length of a novel and the file is too big to share by email. But it is written. And off it goes.

Across town, in an office that isn't quite as nice as the outside would have you believe, a tired VC investment manager opens their inbox.

Amongst the "pls fix" emails there are a plethora of pitch decks. Their weary eyes scan each slide as the cleaner lifts their legs to vacuum under them. 

Too much text. Not enough narrative. Unrealistic figures. Is that really the TAM? Crumbs, is that really the time? Best head home, another 100 decks to review tomorrow.

But help is at hand, in the form of our All-Star VC panel, who will guide you through the needs and wants, dos and don'ts of building a deck to smash your funding goals.

Is this the same title as last year? Yes. Yes it is.

Was it the most saved track session last year? Yes, yes it was.

Is reusing your own titles lazy? Yes, yes it is. But we’ve written 90 of these now, and our brains hurt.

It can often feel like there are more pillars in healthtech than there are in Athens. From robotics to RPM, biomarkers to blockchain, AI to automation. We’re awash with pillars, verticals and sectors.

Every investment fund will have their own thesis. But with just 9% of European VC deals making the coveted 10x return on investment, what to pick in a market so broad is an unrelenting challenge. Go all in on AI? Stick to your specialised silos? Double down on diagnostics?

Fear not though, we’ve pulled together an all-star panel of VCs, the great and the good, to guide you through it.

Quite a lot of things peaked in the COVID pandemic. Banana bread baking. Sex toy sales. Zoom’s share price. All of which, on reflection, make sense. Except the banana bread.

Also riding high were the telehealth startups. Wild valuations, IPOs, huge rounds. This was telehealth’s big moment, and it was determined to seize it. All of which, on reflection, makes sense. Except the IPOs.

But as it turns out, levels of growth heavily dependent on nobody being allowed outside are not overly sustainable when people are, once again, allowed outside.

But since 2022 the growth of telehealth has dropped off significantly. Some of the biggest names are long gone. Down rounds abound. The EU is likely to remove €1 billion in funding for the EU4Health programme that has supported telehealth, and other initiatives, since 2021.

Has it now found its rightful size? Or is this just a temporary muting?