In December 2013, 06 and 07, the Healht 2.0 Conference will happen for the first time in Brazil, but comparing to the Health 2.0 Conference that just happened in San Francisco what is the status of the digital health in Brazil and what are the opportunities for startups and investors to enter into the brazilian market ?
First of all, there are many digital health startups in Brazil specially in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, some of them like Minha Vida, the leading wellness portal in Brazil, is not a startup anymore and has already been invested by Intel Capital. Other startups such as Medicinia, Boa Consulta, Prontmed, Help Saúde have all received investments and we have had a few number of succesful exits so far. One succesful exit was Orizon, a digital payment company focused on healthcare that was acquired by VISA. For some startups, the traction has been a huge issue, as healthcare professionals are resistant to new technologies, but it seems to be starting to change.
Second, the relationship with the legal authorities, specially the physcians council, has been challenging at times. Boa Consulta, from Daniela Boissou, a MD who got her MBA from Stanford, is working with online medical appointments and has faced some resistance from the state medicine council, but after explaining the business model and its purpose was able to carry on with the business.
Third, in Brazil we don’t have investors that are completely focused on healhtcare, what creates additional difficulties to invest in a company in this sector, because to understand the sector it’s critical to add more value to the company that is receiving the investment. Despite that, good healthcare IT companies have had succesful in their look for investments. Saútil, a website focused on providing information about the public healthcare sector, has been invested by Vox Capital, the first impact investing fund in Brazil and has shown clearly that it’s possibly to have an oustanding financial result, as well as social impact.
Fourth, the lack of forums that discuss Health 2.0 has been a major challenge for the startups. The Health 2.0 Meetup in São Paulo and Recife, as well as the events organized by EmpreenderSaúde have certainly started to address this challenge, but certainly the goal is that every major brazilian city participates actively in the Health 2.0 discussion. That’s the main reason that the Health 2.0 Latin America will be a landmark and certainly an event that is a must come for everyone that is interested in the Latin America market for digital health startups!
In conclusion, although the digital health movement has started it’s in its early stages and has a lot of potential in Brazil as the population is willing to use more technology to take care of their health and the healthcare professionals are looking for effective solutions to treat better their patients with lower healhtcare costs.
Would like to know more about initiatives in Digital Health ? Would like to know more about the digital health initiatives in Latin America ? So, you are invited to participate in the Health 2.0 Conference, that will take place on the 06 th and 07 th of December in São Paulo, Brazil ! Want to be a media partner or a volunteer ? You are invited !
Discover the Health 2.0 Latin America !
