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Tech startups in general gain HUGE press.
The buzz, the funding rounds, the talent, the apps, the "top startups" lists, the sexy marketing and all the disrupting / revolutionising / changing / reinventing / innovating (delete as appropriate).
But as we all know the facts tell us not all thrive or even survive.
Here are three Australian healthtech startups that gave it a crack but have since passed on quietly:
1. Doctus
Marketed as an online prescription service, Doctus was one of the first technologies in Australia promising to “connect people to doctors anywhere, anytime.”
Founded in 2014 it gained fairly substantial fanfare and media coverage, it garnered publicity in media such as GQ Australia and was promoted on Channel 9’s Today Extra Show.
At peak coverage and visibility in late October 2016 the site suddenly disappeared but has been emulated several times over with a host of online services now offering the same.
2. Tyde
In April 2018 fresh off the back of a $3m capital raising, Tyde were on the rise. As well as the funding, the government’s languishing and comical My Health Record project chose them as one of only a few vendors that could access their data, a massive boost.
The healthtech promised consumers “a way to connect with and access all their medical records via an app,” as well as then share this with doctors and healthcare professionals alike.
But in late 2018 and barely three years old My Health Record pulled the rug from under them and along went their commercial viability.
3.CliniCloud
Originally known as “StethoCloud, the Smart Stethoscope”, after a couple of years of toil CliniCloud attracted a US$5m investment from Chinese funding juggernaut Tencent Holdings and Ping An Ventures.
Melbourne Doctors Hon Weng Chong and Andrew Lim even managed to make inroads into the US securing a partnership with the impressive Doctor on Demand.
However since late 2016 there has been almost no mention of the brand or its products, with the website unresponsive. We at Doctology can only speculate (hopefully) that its smarts and technology were absorbed into another company in its investors’ portfolio.
Do you know of any healthtech startups that battled bravely but succumbed? Even better, are you a Founder we can interview so people can grow from your learnings? Get in touch at terry@doctology.com.au
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