BioInnovation Institute Venture Lab is designed to help newly established start-ups in the early phases.

BioInnovation Institute Venture Lab

Voima Ventures’ mission is to solve major global problems by combining science, entrepreneurship, and value adding capital. They shed light on the ideas and technology which require time and courage to build. Industry domains include bio and new materials, medical technologies and life sciences, imaging and optics, IoT and electronics, robotics, software & ICT and AI. In addition, Voima Ventures has invested in more than 30 deep tech startups, including companies like Solar Foods, Infinited Fiber Company, and Dispelix. Cornerstone investors are VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and European Investment Fund (EIF), backed by Finnish private and institutional investors.

Voima Ventures

Noaber Ventures invests in initiatives that bring social transformations using information technology.

Noaber

Octopus Ventures is a venture capital firm that offers support to companies at various stages of their journey, from idea conception to IPO. They allocate over £200 million annually to invest in sectors such as health, fintech, deep tech, consumer, and B2B software, with a focus on making a positive impact. Their experienced team assists portfolio companies in scaling rapidly. Octopus Ventures' investment philosophy extends beyond monetary support, involving time, energy, and focus to work closely with founders for success. Notable companies they have backed include ManyPets, Cazoo, Depop, Elvie, and WaveOptics. Their operations span London and New York, with a network of partners in the U.S. and Asia.

Octopus Ventures

Joyance Partners invests in companies that, through science and tech, cultivate joy to improve how we live, focusing on the health and consumer sectors from Pre-Seed to Series A.

Joyance Partners

Bust is an early-stage Venture Capital. Bust supports visionary company builders into brand builders on their journey to market leadership. With a track record of building successful brands, and by leveraging the capital and network from a family office (Harmar AB), Bust brings a unique added active partnership element to early-stage investing.

Bust

Alba Health

Alba Health provides digital gut health support to children based on AI and gut microbiome testing. The company is on a mission to improve the health of next generations.

<div>Sweden-based Alba Health provides an asynchronous gut testing service for children. The company&rsquo;s product incorporates AI and is based on research carried out by the company in partnership with the University of Helsinki&rsquo;s Health and Early Life Microbiota (HELMi) cohort. The study tracked the gut health of 1,000+ children over six years and collected 10,000+ microbiome samples and 50,000 data points on lifestyle and health outcomes. Based on this research, the company&rsquo;s product includes an at-home testing kit, which allows parents to take gut microbe samples from children and send it back to Alba&rsquo;s labs for analysis. Once the analyzed results are shared, parents can schedule virtual consultations with dieticians to create personalized care plans. The company&rsquo;s platform additionally includes a range of evidence-based educational content and an online community for parents to discuss gut health-related topics and best practices.</div>

More important now than ever, telehealth will long outlast the pandemic that drove its growth.

Telehealth

<div>
 
 Sweden-based Alba Health provides an asynchronous gut testing service for children. The company&rsquo;s product incorporates AI and is based on research carried out by the company in partnership with the University of Helsinki&rsquo;s Health and Early Life Microbiota (HELMi) cohort. The study tracked the gut health of 1,000+ children over six years and collected 10,000+ microbiome samples and 50,000 data points on lifestyle and health outcomes. Based on this research, the company&rsquo;s product includes an at-home testing kit, which allows parents to take gut microbe samples from children and send it back to Alba&rsquo;s labs for analysis. Once the analyzed results are shared, parents can schedule virtual consultations with dieticians to create personalized care plans. The company&rsquo;s platform additionally includes a range of evidence-based educational content and an online community for parents to discuss gut health-related topics and best practices.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In June 2023, the company raised USD 2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Voima Ventures, along with participation from other venture capital firms. The raised funds were set aside to launch the company&rsquo;s digital gut health solution for children.
 
 
 
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 Nice Healthcare is a US based telehealth company with a focus on primary care services to business-to-business (B2B) clients. Once the employer signs its employees with Nice (at a cost of USD 30 to USD 36 per employee per month), employees do not have to incur out of pocket expenses for Nice services and can schedule virtual or home visits within the time frames specified by the company. It connects patients with practitioners through a mobile app over video calls or text messages. Members can also request home visits which will be completed within a few hours, as claimed by the company. As of March 2022, Nice was operating in twelve states, and had over 400 small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
 
 
 In March 2022, the company raised USD 30 million in Series A financing led by DNA Capital which has been earmarked to expand its platform&rsquo;s reach among small and medium businesses. Additionally, the company is hiring three members for its management team to support the continuing growth of the organization.
 
 
 
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Nice Healthcare

Amicomed is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform which provides blood pressure monitoring services. It collects blood pressure data of patients from at-home devices, applies algorithms, and assesses the fluctuations in the blood pressure. Physicians can be connected and provided with blood pressure data of their patients in order to facilitate their workload, enabling more personalized management of patients regarding medication and lifestyle indications.Amicomed can also recommend actionable and personalized lifestyle interventions such as daily diet and exercises via virtual coaching.

Amicomed

Winston is a men’s health telemedicine platform that treats common issues impacting men such as sexual problems, hair loss, acne, and cold sores. Winston allows patients to consult doctors, place orders for prescription drugs, and offers free delivery to the homes of patients.The Toronto-based company aims to avoid men deferring doctor visits or withholding sensitive information. The consultation fee is covered by the provincial health plan, but the prescriptions are billed to the customer.

Winston

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 Dialogue partners with employers and health insurers to offer telehealth services to their employees and members. The users have 24/7 access to doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals via audio, video, and chat options for wide arrays of physical and mental health needs, artificial intelligence-enabled (AI-enabled) triage, referrals, and prescription renewals. 
 
 
 The company launched its trademarked Integrated Health Platform in January 2021 to consolidate its virtual care, wellness programs, mental healthcare services, and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) onto a single platform. The company claims to be the only integrated health and wellness B2B platform in Canada. 
 
 
 Key Customers and partnerships
 
 
 Dialogue had direct relationships with over 2,000 customers across Canada and Germany as of December 2020 and served around 50,000 organizations through these partnerships. In addition, the number of members with access to the virtual platform topped 1 million in January 2021. 
 
 
 Fundings and financials
 
 
 As of March 2021, Dialogue was planning to raise CAD 100 million (USD 80 million) from an initial public offering that will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol &ldquo;CARE.&rdquo; 
 
 
 In Q2 2023, net losses reduced significantly YoY to CAD 5.8 million (USD 4.3 million) from CAD 8.4 million (USD 6.3 million) in Q2 2022. Top-line revenue met internal expectations, growing 17.2% YoY to CAD 25.5 million (USD 19.0 million), driven by &nbsp;an increase in new members (by 18.6% YoY), 
 an expansion of the attach rate as existing customers added more services, and full-quarter contributions from Tictrac.
 
 Dialogue Health has not provided any forward-looking guidance as the company has entered into an agreement to be 
 <a href="https://investors.dialogue.co/English/news/news-details/2023/Dialogue-to-be-Acquired-by-Sun-Life/default.aspx">
 acquired by financial services company Sun Life Financial
 </a>
 for a consideration of CAD 365 million (USD 270 million) or CAD 5.15 (USD 3.82) per share. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023. Post acquisition, Dialogue will delist from the Toronto Stock Exchange but will continue to operate as a standalone entity under the &ldquo;Sun Life Canada&rdquo; brand from its head office in Qu&eacute;bec. 
 
 
 
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Dialogue

Grin offers telemedicine and remote monitoring services for orthodontic needs such as braces and teeth straightening. Patients can conduct self-scans (using a Grin device made available to patients in collaboration with 3M) which can be connected to their smartphones and share the feed with orthodontists to access dental solutions. The company plans to go to a subscription-based model after the pandemic. The app also encourages patients to have a 40-second check monthly and share the scan with a dentist in order to allow patients to regularly maintain their dental hygiene.Grin is the only Telehealth disruptor covered on the hub that provides virtual orthopaedic consultations.Funding and financialsIn April 2021, the New York-based teledental platform concluded a seed funding of USD 14 million, and the funds will be allocated to develop additional functionalities by building out its technology. The proceeds will also be used to scale up its team, expand its geographic footprint, and add doctors to the company’s orthodontic partner network.

Grin

Real-time collection of patients’ health-related data using any remote patient monitoring device combined with general telemedicine services to reduce readmission rates. 


A platform that facilitates the transmission of patient data to different locations for further evaluation and interpretation by medical specialists. 


A digital platform that offers specialty care services to address the specific needs of a patient or demographic, including consultations where patients are generally reluctant to meet practitioners face-to-face.

Primary care through virtual consultations for general health-related concerns using a digital platform or mobile app. 

Companies developing B2B software solutions for patient engagement, care navigation, practice management, and electronic health records integration to facilitate telehealth services for healthcare providers. 

IoT is used by most telehealth providers to operate virtual services

All telehealth players are involved in digital health via virtual offerings

Industry players offer varying degrees of personalization for each target audience

Some players offer technology and platforms to healthcare providers, converting physical-only services into virtual services

Specific telehealth offerings focus on diversity and inclusion, providing care to LGBTQ+ or BIPOC populations

Generative AI is used to streamline administrative tasks such as clinical note-taking

Alba Health

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