Black-owned startup Suvera has been named one of the world’s most promising digital health companies. The UK-based virtual care platform made CB Insight’s Digital Health 150 – a list of 150 companies transforming healthcare using digital technology. The 150 winners were selected from a pool of over 13,000 companies. What is Suvera? Suvera uses a dedicated remote care team and in-house technology to reduce the workload and waiting times at doctors’ clinics. From tracking blood pressure readings to administering prescriptions, the platform supports people with chronic health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.
Forehead thermometers are widely used in hospitals and care settings around the world. However, the findings from a recent study suggest that these commonly used thermometers are less accurate in detecting fevers in Black patients than white. Researchers found that 23% of fevers in Black patients went undetected when temporal (forehead) thermometers were used compared to when oral (in mouth) thermometers. As temperature readings are used to determine levels of care, inaccurate readings may lead to missed fevers, delayed diagnoses, and increased mortality in Black patients, contributing to further distrust
Black-owned digital health platform, She Matters has closed a $1.5 million pre-seed investment fund. The funding round included participation from Oxeon Ventures, Chingona Ventures, New York University, The Fund, and Techstars. The platform, co-founded by Jade Kearney and Marguerite Pierce, is a social networking platform designed to support Black mothers who experience postpartum comorbidities. The organization provides mothers access to a community, culturally competent healthcare, and culturally relevant resources. Additionally, they train healthcare providers on culturally appropriate healthcare and help them understand Black women’s challenges. She Matters’ original mission was
Black-owned cardiovascular telehealth provider, Moving Analytics, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. The funding round, which Wellington Access Ventures and Seae Ventures led, also included investors Philip Ventures, Aphelion Capital, Nueterra Capital, SteelSky Ventures, and Citi Ventures. Moving Analytics, co-founded in 2013 by Ade Adesanya, Harsh Vathsangam, and Shuo Qiao, has partnered with cardiology offices and cardiac rehab facilities to expand access to secondary prevention for all patients. The platform specializes in cardiovascular prevention and uses a virtual cardiac rehab program, Movn, to support patients who have recently
According to a recent study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, an error in a widely used medical device that measures oxygen levels prevented critically ill patients of color from receiving the supplemental oxygen they required to help them breathe. The study comes after research from the medical journal JAMA last year revealed that pulse oximeters performed less accurately when used on Black and Hispanic patients, ultimately leading to a delay in care for patients with severe respiratory issues. Out of 3,000 patients treated in Boston’s intensive care unit (ICU), patients
Nigerian health tech startup, Healthtracka, has raised $1.5 million in its first official funding stage. The funding round, which was hosted by Africa-focused VC Ingressive Capital and US-based venture fund Hustle Fund, also included Angel investors, Flying Doctors, and Alumni Angel Alliance. Healthtracka, which was co-founded by Victor Amusan and Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson in May 2021, works with lab partners to help detect early cancer patients. The organization has set up a website that allows people to book lab tests online and get their results back within 48 hours. “As a
Cayaba Care, a maternity health startup, has announced the closing of a $12 million Series A round that will work to expand the company’s footprint within underserved populations. The funding will be used to increase staff, launch in additional markets, and further invest in technology solutions that will increase access to much-needed holistic maternity services. Seae Ventures and Kapor Capital led the Series A round and new investors include Wellington Partners, Citi Impact Fund and Rhia Ventures. Founded in 2020 with a mission to improve community outcomes by reimagining how maternity and pediatric care is delivered, Cayaba
Athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick and his partner’s Canadian businessman Jim Nikopoulos and activist Akim Aliu have made a seed investment in Naomi Osaka’s KINLÒ brand with Kaepernick joining the brand’s board of directors. Osaka has also brought on a new brand President, Mia Meachem, who joins KINLÒ with over 20 years of brand marketing experience with roles across notable beauty brands including Drunk Elephant – a part of the Shiseido organization, The Estee Lauder Companies, and Burt’s Bees. In her new role as President, Meachem will help to drive
This week, a systematic review of 28 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that telehealth-delivered interventions for patients of color were most effective in treating and managing many conditions. The study, led by researchers from Monash University in Victoria, Australia, focused on examining telehealth’s effectiveness for non-Indigenous patients of color. Telehealth was and still is being used extensively during the pandemic as some hospitals remain open primarily for urgent care patients. Researchers in the study wrote: “Findings from this systematic review indicate that telehealth for mental
The company was founded in 2015 by Femi Kuti, Opeyemi Olumekun, and Matthew Mayaki and now – six years later – it has just raised $40 million. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and Austin, Texas, Reliance Health began operations in Nigeria as a telemedicine-focused startup, Kangpe, it later expanded into a single-fee healthcare provider to better address the complex, evolving needs of patients. Reliance Health operates business-to-business and business-to-customers models. RelianceHMO is the company’s health insurance plan for both sets of customers where individuals can select monthly, quarterly, or yearly health plans. But businesses can
