Which startups are leading the way in this sector?
“Urban health technology encompasses a significant range of digital solutions and services that seek to benefit the health of humans in urban spaces. With 56% of the world’s population living in cities, this proportion is expected to reach 70% by 2050 (world Bank, 2023), creating and maintaining healthier cities is an urgent and crucial challenge of our time. These challenges require lateral thinking and today we support in different ways the startups that are creating the future of our cities. Improving air quality, such as 720 And Airfor the early detection of viral epidemics with Clear; home pharmacy delivery with Healmanaging burnout at work with Amber.
“Beyond our portfolio, there are many other examples of startups using technology to rethink healthcare and improve access to healthcare in our urban centers, including Naytalthe virtual clinic that partners with employers to reduce women’s health care costs; GoSensecreating technology for visually impaired people; A well, a low-code platform used by clinical and product teams to design clinical workflows. As you can see, this space is huge. Pi Labs is excited to be a part of this conversation, especially given the growing need for greater efficiency in our urban healthcare systems as the global population grows.
What challenges do they face?
“One of the biggest challenges lies in the fragmentation of the healthcare delivery model in Europe, in a highly regulated sector. There is a large amount of legacy healthcare technology and buildings in the region that are no longer usable, operate inefficiently, and have a significant environmental impact. Urban HealthTech can alleviate these pressures, using digitalization in the right way to have a positive impact, not only on our health, but also that of our planet. It’s about finding the right balance between digital and physical. If you want to explore this topic further, here is an article from Pi Labs on Healthcare real estate under the microscope.”
With an estimated 70% of the world’s population living in urban centers by 2050, how can we ensure cities are clean, liveable environments?
“To make a real impact on cities, you need to think outside the box and look at the overall city infrastructure which needs to be technology-enabled. We need to look at how cities can be optimized through technology to create healthy, accessible and environmentally sustainable places.
“With all the advances in AI, hardware, software and technology over the past two decades, technological capabilities are starting to reach the advanced levels we need to make a real impact. We now have many examples of technologies that can be implemented at the necessary scale at the city level, to enable cities to become clean, livable environments.
