Plug and Play attends HLTH 2022
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Dec. 9, 2022 - Global innovation platform and accelerator, Plug and Play, attended HLTH 2022 hosted by HLTH, a leading health platform focused on health innovation and transformation. Almost every key player in the health tech industry was in attendance at the Las Vegas conference this year – whether it be an early-stage startup hoping to pitch to VCs in-person, or a big name pharmaceutical looking to showcase new innovation initiatives. The event provided networking opportunities with major stakeholders in the healthcare innovation space all while located in the hub of bright lights, casinos, and hotels.
“HLTH was an epic event. Conversations between potential customers, ecosystem partners, and investors were non-stop. Participating in the [Plug and Play] Prove-it event was a major highlight from the conference.” - Waleed Mohsen, CEO of Verbal
Plug and Play has been an annual attendee at HLTH hosting a booth for its batch and portfolio companies. This year, the company also held a showcase on the "Startup Stage" at the event to have select startups present their success stories and real-world case studies about how they're transforming healthcare.
The showcase, titled “Prove It! Plug and Play Health Expo Presented at HLTH” attracted an audience of innovative corporations in healthcare, investors, and other startups. The showcase gave some of Plug and Play's batch alumni and portfolio companies a space to present their success stories, including
The showcase also concluded the event by presenting the Corporate Innovation Award to Director of Consumer Insights at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Derek Fetzer.
The team at Plug and Play Health, with offices in Germany, Canada, and the US, reflected on their experience at HLTH. The following were some key takeaways from the conference:
- The health industry wants to partner with startups
The "Cleared for Takeoff: Health Pilots & Partnerships" panel discussion with leading experts from Moderna, Biogen, California Blue Cross, and Steward Health Care Systems discussed the nuances in partnering with startups versus established technology providers for advancing innovation opportunities in health care.
- Retail pharmacies are accepted by consumers, but face challenges in transforming into health hubs
One panel had speakers do a show and tell, highlighting the new nature of retail pharmacies. The stunt involved Walgreens highlighting their COVID-19 testing capabilities during the pandemic.
- Direct opportunities for startups to pitch to their dream customers
The “Health Tech Challengers Finals” had a highly curated jury consisting of leading healthcare companies, such as Ipsos UK, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, Sanofi, Takeda, etc.
Plug and Play has managed to stay at the forefront of industry trends and the Plug and Play Health team is about six months ahead of the major topics discussed at HLTH. The event showed emphasis on the following areas:
- Consumer health and how “payviders” are taking a front row seat in this space
- Health equity and making healthcare accessible and viable for underserved populations
- Addiction recovery and prevention support
- Women’s health with topics such as endometriosis, PCOS, hormone cycle tracking, etc
- And, at-home care
Despite the success of the event, the Plug and Play Health team believed there were still some missing elements from HLTH and commented the following:
- There needs to be more space for robust, insightful topics that aren’t already widely available online
- There should be a larger focus on global health challenges, developing countries, and emerging markets
- The sessions at the event weren't very diverse; most were very focused on the US market and its specifics, including having mostly US speakers
- And, value-based healthcare
“HLTH is the best conference for the digital health ecosystem. There is no other place where you can find 10k+ of the most innovative minds finding ways to collaborate to improve health & healthcare across the globe.” - Nathan Sundheimer, Head of US Health Partnerships
About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we're present in 50+ locations across 5 continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we've invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/.