Complex, diverse, and disparate, covering 750 million people, 44 nations, in all manner of configurations. European healthcare is a veritable smorgasbord of variation. What will it take to build a successful pan-European digital health ecosystem?

With more companies than ever before looking State-side to achieve real scale, how can we keep them successful in Europe? And how have those who have done it scaled successfully?

'O say can you see by the dawn's early light, The largest health market, in financial might.’ Alright, it's unlikely that The Star Spangled Banner's composer Francis Scott Key was thinking of the potential for European health startups in the modern American healthcare system, but there's no denying that America represents a new (and exciting) horizon for European health companies.

The glittering financial prizes available for those who manage to scale can be found at the end of a difficult pathway, but hey, nobody said achieving the American Dream was meant to be easy.

In 2021, health was in cruise control. Ticking over at 130 km/h, with an IPO every few kilometres, a clear road ahead, and not a cloud in the sky. Looking back as 2020 disappeared in our mirrors we were forging ahead, free to forget about past issues and objections.

As we soared up to junction 2022 though, a jam appeared. Just one lane at first, then rapidly filling the highway. The skies grew darker. Warning lights started to appear. Slowly at first, then with rapid, debilitating, frequency. Objections in the mirror were indeed closer than they had appeared. If you looked just at the public markets, and their reaction to healthtech over the last two years, you could be forgiven for questioning whether an IPO is (still) a legitimate route for the sector.

With a number of high-profile firms down over 95% from their IPO, many have questioned whether this is indicative of a wider trend in venture-backed healthtech.

After the SPAC-attack of 2021, and the subsequent fallout, and with VCs sat on more LP cash than ever before, can healthtech companies really still dream of an IPO? Or should they be set up to explore other exit routes?

Chief Growth Officer. Head of Partnerships. Business Development Director. We'll do almost anything not to use the word 'sales' in health. It doesn't feel right, does it?

Selling health? The same skill set that brought you realtors, second-hand car salesmen, and telemarketers, shouldn't align with the basic human right that is health, should it?

Well, yes and no. In many ways, sales is as much a part of the treatment cycle as triage. But how it's done can leave a lot to be desired.

Companies often see validation as the peak of the mountain, but if we're to take anything from Pear Therapeutics et al, it has to be that just because it's validated, doesn't mean it'll sell. So what does good look like, and how do we Make Sales Great Again?