Simon Starfinger

It is only the first edition, but HLTH Europe has already established itself as the leading #HealthTech conference in Europe. Besides my 4 highlights, I also had the chance to moderate a panel on the topic "Last mile: Localising access for underserved areas" with 3 fantastic panelists: · Prathibha (President, Mayo Clinic Health System) · Minal (National Director of Primary Care and Community Transformation, NHS England) · Harmony (SVP, Chief Medical Officer & Head of Global Medical at ViiV Healthcare) PS: Amira (SVP Innovation at Siemens Healthineers): we missed you! Here are the key insights of the panel: Bringing healthcare #access to all, especially to underserved areas, has been a challenge since the inception of healthcare. With all the technology of our modern world, is #Healthcare access on the verge of being solved? The short answer is no. But there is hope. In the UK: ➝ There is a 15-year life expectancy gap between deprived areas, and wealthier neighbourhoods nearby. ➝ Funding struggles to keep up: In the next 15 years, a 37% increase in "ill-health costs" is expected, while the working population will increase by 4% over the same period. ➝ Increasing productivity is essential to solve the problem: A 1% decrease in productivity costs 1.5 billion pounds. In the US: ➝ The zip code is (still) a better determinant of health than the genetic code. ➝ Enabling access to underserved areas can also be seen as an opportunity rather than a problem. Tech adoption will be faster due to higher unmet needs, accelerating innovation that can later benefit well-served areas. Debunking one myth: ➝ For HiV, there is now a better access and coverage in Africa than in certain parts of developed countries (US and Europe). Pockets of innovation: ➝ To unlock HCP capacity, the NHS has a national program to move towards a modern General Practice, moving away from "first come first serve" to a new model based on population health and segmentation: the right care for the right person in the right way. First results show that 30% of GP appointments could be done via "messaging only" (instead of F2F visits), bringing massive efficiency gains. ➝ Mayo Clinic already has 75 specialties that are technology enabled, bringing the “Mayo medical care" in the rural areas via virtual and hybrid models, and also embedding the 50+ AI algorithms already active at Mayo. ➝ But increasing access is not only about Tech. Sometimes, it is about boldness: Viiv Healthcare, a pharma company specialised in HiV, gave the patent of its drugs away in 90+ underserved markets, enabling cheap and at-scale production. What does the future hold? Will someone living in an underserved area be able to visit the "Mayo Clinic in the metaverse with his / her digital twin?" Special thanks to Katy, Lina and Henry for this fantastic conference!

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Ep.17 Drop #20Angel 🎙 The one & only Philipp Moehring, Co-Founder of Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company, joined me in the hot seat for a rare public appearance 🔥 👉 Introducing Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company FUND III ✍ 👉 Higher valuations = higher expectations 💣 👉 Giving Founders the freedom to be extreme 🤪 👉 Your access gives you your price 💰 Some Founder References on Philipp: dennis müller (Amie): "More than most, pmoe is a cheerleader. The journey is already hard enough, some VC's make it harder by sending unsolicited articles with "seen this?". He's the opposite. always fun to brainstorm ideas with him. Differentiated intros relative to others." David Budde (trawa): “He‘s been a great sparring partner and has a ton of experience. I remember, the night before our Pre-Seed closing, we found a minor but important error in our cap table. Unsure what to do, we called Phil late that evening for guidance. To me, it‘s super important to know that I can reach my investors, if it actually matters, and that they‘ll be able to help! + he’s just a really nice guy.” Milos Rusic (deepset): “Phil is amazing! He was actively involved in assembling each of our funding rounds - even in the first round where he committed before we had settled for a lead investor. He actively helped to construct our favourite setup of lead investors for that initial round. He knows everyone and his support is not limited to great intros - he really helps founders to assess and identify which investor could be a right fit for them. 100% reliable, massive value for every company. What they do is really unique.” This was a special one to do, hope you enjoy 🍿 https://lnkd.in/gTRT_SmJ 20VC, #AngelInvesting, #technology, #podcast, #entrepreneurship, #VC, #Founder, #Investing

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How do I actually get proper money as a founder? I spoke about this in the Für-Gründer.de Podcast with editor Elena Todeva. What financing options are there? How do I find the VC that really suits me? When should I bootstrap? Which financing has which consequences in the end? My personal tip for founders: Do some real networking, exchange ideas with other founders, get tips and advice from everywhere, be brave, talk to experienced founders and ask really deep questions and learn always from the experiences of others. Please listen and feel free to write me feedback. https://lnkd.in/de_ZmdZq

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"As a VC for 20 years, here's a confession: I should have trusted my gut more often." Something that Rainer Märkle, General Partner at HV Capital. Shared with us at EUVC We all know VCs are supposed to be data-driven guided. We're trained to believe perfect analysis leads to perfect investment decisions. But sometimes, your gut feeling is your best friend. As a highly analytical person, Rainer has learned this valuable lesson. Intuition matters. Yes, due diligence is essential. However, take a break and look from a different perspective. Experience tells you when to trust your instincts. How do you balance data-driven analysis with intuition? Share your experiences in the comments! #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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🌟 Insights from Hauptstadtkongress Digital Health Congress 🌟 I had the opportunity (literally by accident) to assist Niklas Verwey and his startup RHEYNI GmbH & Co. KG yesterday at the #Hauptstadtkongress, focusing on finding hospitals to adopt their communication tool for patients to communicate with nurses. During the short period of exchange with visitors, I observed two extreme situations: on one side, some decision-makers from hospitals and clinics are open to new technologies, but frontline staff often get tired of constantly trying new tools, seeing them as additional challenges and extra work. On the other side, some clinics are eager for digital solutions but suffer from basic infrastructure issues (one client from Bavaria told us that they don’t have access to WIFI in the building), making it difficult to implement new technologies effectively. This also partially reflects the reality of the whole picture: many clinics are making losses, there is a shortage of doctors and nursing staff, and the medical quality of treatment can still be improved, particularly in small hospitals. I do not know how much of the hospital reform will be implemented, but there is a lot that can be done by the technology sector that provides digital solutions. 🏍 My key takeaways: 1️⃣ Focus on end users: It's crucial to understand personnel's daily routines and challenges. A seamless onboarding process and integration into their existing workflow are essential. If the product simplifies their tasks rather than adding to them, they are more likely to embrace it. 2️⃣ Educate and support: Many users face mental obstacles when it comes to adopting new technology. Providing thorough education and continuous support can ease these concerns and promote a smoother transition. 3️⃣ Value simplicity: Don't underestimate the power of simple digital solutions. While it's tempting to add all the fancy AI features (which I am doing all the time), we must remember the real-world challenges faced by healthcare professionals. Sometimes, straightforward solutions can have the most significant impact. By prioritizing the needs and experiences of the end users, our hardworking frontline staff, we can drive meaningful adoption of new tools that ultimately enhance patient care. A big thanks to Falk H. Miekley, @Guido Pschollkowski WISO S.E. Consulting GmbH for organizing this insightful event. And it was such a surprise to see Jonas Gesenhues and Dr. Tobias Salesch with Fenjax again at the congress. I really like the comparison of their robotics solution with the GPS tracker for my cat. Good job and viel Erfolg!!! #Hauptstadtkongress #HSK #DigitalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #UserExperience #PatientCare

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Long-term care start-ups in Germany are announcing new partnerships with statutory payers almost every month. Yesterday, I had the pleasure to join a webinar organized by Vilans, a leading long-term care organization in the Netherlands. I presented the key dynamics in long-term care in Germany and the main start-ups to watch. A few additional thoughts: 1️⃣ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 & 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 #𝟏 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 There is a crisis on the demand side (always more elderly people in need of care) and on the supply side (not enough nursing staff). Technology is a key enabler to address this. 2️⃣ 𝐃𝐢𝐏𝐀 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 I was first invited to the webinar yesterday to talk about #DiPA, which is the "DiGA for nursing". The DiPA framework would define a standard certification process and certified Care Apps (that are not medical products) would be reimbursed by the social care fund (up to 50 € / month). Even if DiPA should have been implemented in 2022, it is still not there. And it might never happen. However, this DiPA framework might not be needed. For example, Nui Care, a Caregivers' coordination App, which would typically be eligible for DiPA, is showing good traction, making direct deals with statutory payors. 3️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬: 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 Before the webinar yesterday, I always took the Netherlands as the role model for long-term care in Europe. A company like Buurtzorg, based on self-organized care teams, is a best practice example. However, the Netherlands is spending 4%+ of its GDP on long term care (ranking the highest with Denmark), while the average in the OECD country is 1.5%. If nothing changes, 1 out of 4 persons in the Netherlands would have to work in #healthcare in 2040 to cope with the demand. This is not sustainable. 4️⃣ 𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦-𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 The Orpea scandal in France is one example that #nursing homes might not be the solution for long-term care. Germany prioritizes keeping patients in need at home. Even at "level 5" care needs (the highest level), over 50% of patients receive #care at-home. 5️⃣ 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 The at-home nursing market is a very fragmented market. In Germany, the top 15 players only capture 5% of the market. This creates inefficiencies. Typically, a nurse would do up to 50% of tasks that a less qualified person could do. Shifting care tasks to the appropriate skill level is a significant improvement lever. This is just one examples out of many. #healthtech Thank you Henk for the invite and insights! And join HLTH Europe in June to discuss!

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A business lesson that took me a few years to learn: 🗓️ 2020: I was part of the RBF hype from 2020-2022. RBF is short for Revenue-Based Financing. The RBF hype was a period of exceptional innovation in the dusty VC world. Together with Christian Stein, I built the business of a US fund in Europe from scratch. To many of my friends’s dismay, I posted a ton about RBF here on LinkedIn. I even co-authored a chapter on RBF in an investment book published by Springer 🤓 It was a *super competitive* time to be in the market! New funds entered the market every week. We expected unicorns and fairytales. All of us would flourish and continue to grow for years to come. Taking a bite out of that delicious VC cake. If there was a choice, my default decision was the faster, riskier, bolder bet. Being 26 years old, I only knew one direction of the market: up 📈 🗓️ 2024: A few years later, almost every single one of our old competitors is gone 💀 They went bankrupt, exited in a fire sale, or changed their business model. My old fund, Riverside Acceleration Capital, is still around. They played a different game all along. Focused on long-term viable partnerships. True better-together stories, even if that meant sacrificing hyper-growth. Back then, I didn’t understand how exceptional the market was that I found myself in. I didn’t understand that ZIRP was driving +99% of the investment decisions. I didn’t foresee that the shining stars of our industry would go down in flames in just a few years. Today, I am in the middle of a completely different trend. Again, I see competitors popping up left and right. Gitpod has become so successful that it inspires others to take a bite out of the CDE cake. 🍰 But I’ve learned my lesson. They truly don’t matter. Most of them will not be around 5 years from now. But one company will be there: Gitpod. If you are selling a product or service, keep that in mind: Being long-term viable is extremely important. Price accordingly. If new entrants underprice the market and sell at a loss, don’t worry. You are building long-term partnerships that require a business model that works. Make it real and share this idea in conversations with business partners and customers: smart buyers will value long-term viability over saving an extra 5%. Today, I am ready to explain and defend our long-term viability at any moment. I love collecting these business adventures. I’ve spent more time in Excel sheets than I care to admit. But some lessons need to be hard-won over the years :)

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Start-ups in Europe: a light at the end of the tunnel - finally!    This article by Nadine Schimroszik in Handelsblatt gives reason for hope for the tech ecosystem, as it summarises a development that has been tentatively emerging for some time: The number of new #start-ups in Germany is growing again, by 17 per cent, as shown by a comparison of the first quarter of 2024 with the same quarter of the previous year.   💡It is particularly interesting to see that most investments are being made in AI. An unmistakable sign that they continue to be a driver of innovation for the German startup ecosystem.   We recently came to a similar conclusion with my team, as part of our analysis of the German startup landscape. Our conclusion: more and more funding are being mobilised for ♻️ #Greentech business ideas that are based on AI-based technologies and have a positive impact on our planet. More info on our research at IRIS can be found in Startup Insider`s Investors Report 2024: https://lnkd.in/dU-5AMPz More info on Nadine’s insightful article here: https://lnkd.in/depicwGA

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Did you know that Antler welcomes already-formed startup teams to our residencies, offering fast initial investment to accelerate your venture's growth? 💼💰 Take inspiration from these remarkable success stories: 🔹 NetBird: Based in Berlin, @NetBird soared to success, securing a remarkable €1.1 million in pre-seed funding. Their mission? To revolutionize VPNs for businesses by simplifying IT infrastructure and networks. 🔹 FERO: Start-up from Amsterdam, @FERO, founded by industry experts from Ekata and Mastercard, raised an impressive €2.8 million. Their vision? To streamline payments processing for end-merchants, inspired by firsthand industry insights. If you're part of an established startup team hungry for growth, seize this opportunity to join Antler's May residency. 💥 #StartupAcceleration #EntrepreneurialSuccess

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I'm thrilled to share that @Smart Reporting has successfully closed a financing round of 23 million euros, with TVM Capital Life Science leading this Series C funding. A warm welcome to our new investors, including Bayern Kapital, as we bolster our resources to expand further into #NorthAmerica and #Australia. This significant capital infusion will accelerate our #mission to revolutionize medical reporting with advanced, AI-supported products. As we step into the #future, our focus is clear: to enhance healthcare IT markets globally and introduce cutting-edge, AI-based solutions that transform radiological and pathological reporting. The power of #genAI and large language models (#LLMs) is redefining what's possible in the healthcare sector. At Smart Reporting, we're harnessing these advancements to provide crucial support to radiologists and pathologists, making their work not only faster but also more accurate. As we gear up for this growth phase, I'm also pleased to announce the expansion of our management team, welcoming Christian Matzen as our new CFO and COO, and recognizing Sigrid Auweter's expanded role as CPO. A big thank you to our existing #investors for continuing on this journey with us and to our new investors for believing in our #vision. The road ahead is exciting, and I look forward to what we will achieve together in making #healthcare more efficient and effective worldwide. #HealthTech #Investment #ArtificialIntelligence #MedicalReporting #Radiology #Pathology #GrowthStrategy #Innovation #AI

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It's the ecosystem, stupid. Building robust ecosystems is crucial for the success of startups. Max Meister’s article in Handelszeitung highlights the current exit challenges and the importance of strong financial health and market readiness. In the US, a well-established exit culture fuels continuous reinvestment, but in Europe and Switzerland, this is just emerging. As a serial entrepreneur and investor, I see it as both a privilege and responsibility to actively shape this ecosystem, fostering growth and innovation. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/er3Y3-84 #ecosystem #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #venturebuilding

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***Update on Version One Ventures's thesis*** We back mission-driven founders who are early in new areas. As you know, Boris Wertz and I never stop challenging ourselves to be better VCs - it’s one of our core values! An important part of that work is developing a strong investment thesis, and evolving it as technology improves and markets change. Our current investment thesis, “backing mission-driven founders at the earliest stages,” was introduced back in 2020. It encapsulates our focus on backing a certain type of deeply passionate entrepreneur at an early stage when few people might believe in them.    Those words still hold true but they don’t explicitly spell out something we look for when evaluating an investment opportunity: timing. Investors always talk about “Why now”, and we do too, but the more interesting question for us is “Why not?”   Another way to ask it is “What’s possible?” We’re interested in those rare opportunities where a founder is creating a brand new category. These opportunities are fringy and emerging (some might call them crazy, weird, whacky or wild). There’s nothing obvious or inevitable about it. They’re building something the market hasn’t yet imagined and doesn’t fit neatly into an existing market category. But if they’re right, then the fringe picks up momentum and ultimately becomes a wave. So, going forward, we’re evolving our thesis to be even more explicit about the why now and why not: We back mission-driven founders who are early in new areas. Looking back, we predicted a few waves right and invested early into them: Vertical SaaS in 2012-2014 (e.g. Jobber) Crypto in 2016-2020 (e.g. Uniswap Labs) Climate in 2020-2021 (e.g. Patch) These days, the areas on our radar are a combination of “why now” and “why not”. AI – with a focus on AI-native products (e.g. Ada) VR/AR – especially with the recent launch of Apple Vision Pro (e.g REMIO) Crypto – yes, we’ve been investing in crypto since 2016, but it still feels early given that design space has recently opened with new L2 scaling, and the acceleration of mainstream use cases like payments or tokenization of real-world assets Climate/energy – we are looking outside of software and just invested in a materials company replacing lithium ion with sodium ion (as the world is moving towards electrification) Hardtech/biotech – we recently backed a company building the next illumina for proteins Building a startup is hard enough as it is, but pioneering founders need to build on brand new technology, find new markets, and convince everyone of the market need. BUT this is exactly who we, as venture capitalists, want to back. We look forward to meeting more of these courageous and bold founders creating transformational change!

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🌍 Excited to connect with fellow innovators and explore scalable business models. See you there! InnovaticGroup. Create the Future Now innovaticgroup.com #BornGlobalAcademy #GlobalExpansion #Innovation #Technology #Entrepreneurship #Investment #Networking #InnovaticGroup #BusinessGrowth #SustainableInnovation #BusinessAngels #VentureCapital #LPs #GPs #Innovation #DigitalRransformation #Digitalization #Startup #Scaleup

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VCs looking for mega trends? Watch this +8% CAGR market with „Sandwich-Effect“… 7 x unecpected patient growth (+ 8% CAGR) in 2023 by Bundesministerium für Gesundheit to almost 5,5 M patients in (home) care. Growing another +30% by 2050. Soon to be the largest piece of the pie in Germanys national Rx medication market 💊 with a SOM of +10BN p.a. (30BN TAM). Yet overlooked by e-pharmacies and widely non digitized, nore meeting home care needs by local pharmacies, owning the market segment. Pssst! Close to watch what hellomed.com e-pharmacy is cooking with hellomedOS in home care this summer… Tim Bogdan Felix Morawski Paul Bendzko Oliver Knoblich

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Strong founders are like benevolent dictators. 👑🤝 How do personality profiles of successful early-stage founding teams differ from those who are not so successful? We analyzed our 83 early stage founders in our Techstars Berlin portfolio to understand the secret recipe of successful founding teams at the early stage. Our founders took an assessment called Profile Dynamics®, which is an assessment designed to analyze people’s individual driving factors and motivation. Cornelius Schaub and Robert Siegers were so kind to introduce this to us. Profile Dynamics breaks personality factors down into 7 main categories 👉 💡 Yellow: Inspires with visionary ideas, forward-thinking, optimism, and is analytical 🏆 Orange: Competes, plays to win and to be viewed as successful 🏎️ Red: Executes quickly and decisively, and not afraid to be confrontational when necessary 💜 Purple: Stays loyal and dedicated to a cause or people, seeking security and safety 📘 Blue: Thrives in a structured environment, seeking stability and reliability 🌿 Green: Seeks harmony among people, listens empathetically, and desires consensus 🌐 Turquoise: Sees situations holistically, integrates difference in perspective, connects dots Here is the pattern in most of our founding teams that were successful in early-stage fundraising: 🏎️ More Decisive Red 🔴 Successful teams have on average 10 more points on their red score than unsuccessful ones. Takeaway: Strong founders are masters of execution. They cut off discussion to act quickly and decisively. They are relentless in working toward their goals, even if it sometimes means stepping on some toes. 💡 Lots of Visionary Yellow 🟡 100% of our most successful teams have at least one co-founder with a score of yellow higher than 10 points (average difference is 7 points). Takeaway: Successful founders are insanely ambitious with a vision for a new future. They can set a clear and inspiring Northstar for their company. They push for data to back up their vision and set the course. 🌐 Some integrative turquoise 🌐 Successful teams have on average 4 more points on turquoise than unsuccessful ones. Takeaway: While being decisive and visionary, it is critical to be able to integrate a diverse set of opinions around the (leadership) table. Strong teams tend to think in “and” not in “or” (e.g. growth AND profitability). 🌿 Less Harmonious Green 🟢 Unsuccessful teams have on average 8 points more in green. Takeaway: Unsuccessful founders often focus too much on building internal alignment instead of making decisions quickly and executing them. Therefore, don’t feel bad about being assertive and making decisive choices from time to time. We define successful as having raised a (pre-)seed round from institutional investors. Our sample size is 83. While this does not qualify for a scientific publication, is should give some practical advice.

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More VCs should operate as business angels with their portfolio companies. 🔥 Make your companies a priority over new investments, ⬇️ Be there when your CEOs are down, 📞 Be the one they want to call when metrics are not looking good, ✌️ Show up when they need a sparring partner to brainstorm on their roadmap. Remember, being a CEO is the loneliest job in the world, really, so if you're the one who surrounds them during the full roller coaster ride 🎢, you'll be the one-in-a-million kind of investor everyone is looking for.

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Everyone is talking about the German biotech financing gap, but are you aware of the many success stories written by the sector?   German biotech companies not only grew significantly across key industry metrics but also capture the global spotlight with their innovative power: ·        Strong growth in number of employees and R&D expenses ·        Revenues and market capitalization pointing upward over the long term ·        Biotech drug developers expanding their therapeutic pipelines ·        Alliances "biobucks" on high level (€11.4 billion) ·        Large-volume M&A deals in the first quarter of 2024 (€5.0 billion)   Furthermore, I am deeply impressed by Germany's biotech innovators who are leading the charge with breakthroughs in: ·        Next-generation radiopharmaceuticals ·        Microbiome-based therapeutics ·        Cutting-edge gene and cell therapies ·        Smart biotech materials ·        Revolutionary novel foods ·        And last but certainly not least, AI-powered solutions throughout various biotech application areas Dive into our German Biotechnology Report 2024 for an in-depth look at these success stories and more – of course we also analyze the German biotech financing gap: https://lnkd.in/egnQsNa4   What are the biotech achievements that inspire you the most? Share them in the comments!        #EYBiotech #BioDeutschland #Biotechnologie

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