Galen Growth Asia summits attract $1.2 billion worth of Asian health startups

The Asia HealthTech Investor Summit and HealthTech CEO Summit 2017, organised by Galen Growth Asia (GGA) in Singapore, gathered 40 of the most promising HealthTech startups and 100 investors to share, debate and learn about healthcare. With over 3000 HealthTech ventures in the region, $1.3 billion has already been invested in HealthTech in the first half of this year alone, and by year-end, the number of investments is expected to double as compared to 2016.

HealthTech, the application of new technologies in healthcare, represents an unprecedented opportunity for Asia Pacific to address health system inefficiencies in a more efficient and scalable manner.

The summits are the only HealthTech-centric events in Asia, and epitomise the vibrancy of this ecosystem. Over the two days, innovators and investors were joined by over 120 business leaders and global HealthTech CEOs. Some of the startups & sponsors included:

• 1mg – A leading consumer health platform in India aimed at enabling consumers to take control of their healthcare needs.
• Cyrcadia Asia – The Asia Pacific branch of Cyrcadia Health, a start-up that has developed a "Screening Bra" with a complex sensing grid capable of detecting early-stage breast cancer.
• Halodoc – An Indonesian start-up that offers unique Telemedicine solutions to those that need it most.
• Health2Sync – A digital start-up aimed at managing diabetes through mobile, digital health and cloud-service techniques.
• CXA Group – A technology startup founded in 2013 that brings evidence-based wellness into the workplace to improve employee health and control healthcare costs.
• Holmusk – A HealthTech company that combines innovative, scalable and cost-effective digital behaviour change programs with cutting edge technology to guide people to better health.

"Over the past 2 years, we have witnessed a significant build up in momentum in the HealthTech ecosystem. Investors, corporates, clinicians and entrepreneurs are all exploring how to positively impact Asia healthcare via technology. Despite substantial growth in health expenditure, large segments of Asia’s population are not benefiting. Building relevance to the health system is critical to sustainability and long-term value, for both society and investors," said Julien de Salaberry, Managing Director & Co-founder, Galen Growth Asia.

"Our Investor and CEO Summits will facilitate all relevant parties to better understand the challenges and contribute to the building of a collaborative network of innovators. We are focused on enabling HealthTech innovators across Asia Pacific to solve the pain points in our healthcare systems to improve health outcomes in the region," he added.

Innovation, fundraising, investments and the regulatory environment are just a few of the challenges and opportunities in HealthTech that will be discussed. As part of ongoing efforts to upscale HealthTech entrepreneurs, GGA will also be organizing training sessions such as a communications marketing workshop and customized marketing consultancy conducted by Edelman.

"The event gives us a great opportunity to meet and network with HealthTech innovators from the region. Hearing from some of the most prominent healthcare influencers also provide investors with great insights to assess suitable startups. By aligning innovations with real life problems, HealthTech startups and investors alike can steer towards investing in technology that benefits the community," said Gavin Teo, Partner, B Capital Group, which partnered with GGA in staging the HealthTech Investor Summit 2017.

In conjunction with this year’s events, GGA also published its Point-of-View whitepaper which provides a contextual overview of the healthcare landscape in Asia Pacific, their insights on the health system inefficiencies in the region, key drivers of HealthTech and its opportunity on addressing each concern.