In news that’ll intrigue fans of The Dropout (or hell, pretty much anyone familiar with the tale of convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes), her partner Billy Evans has raised millions of dollars for a new blood-testing company. And let’s just say, it’s sounding pretty dang similar to the one that landed the Theranos founder in federal prison.
Evans’ company is called Haemanthus — named after a flower also known as the blood lily, because of course it is — and bills itself as “the future of diagnostics”, as reported by the New York Times. The pitch? It’s going to be a health-testing company that can make diagnoses from users’ blood, urine and saliva.
Let me reiterate, this isn’t satire.
The start-up has received one patent so far. According to its marketing materials and patent paperwork, the Haemanthus device will identify and qualify biomarkers such as glucose and hormones from samples within seconds, and deploy what the company calls ‘deep learning models’ to detect cancer and infections.
For now, they’re starting with pet health care, as outlined in its pitch to investors. But the ultimate goal is a wearable version of the device, about the size of a postage stamp, designed for humans. They’re estimating it could take around three years (and US$70 million) to make that vision a reality.
The investor presentation doesn’t mention Evans’ connection to Holmes, the Times noted.
You’ve got to low-key wonder why Evans — described by the Times as an heir to a hotel fortune — wants to get into blood-testing of all businesses. But by the sounds of it, Haemanthus’ fundraising has built momentum.
It’s already raised US$3.5 million from friends and family, and earlier this year, it started seeking an additional US$15 million from wealthy investors in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to investor documents.
Since the news of Haemanthus dropped, social media users have been having a field day with this one, and some of the posts have me cackling.
“Lord, give me the confidence to pitch investors like Billy Evans — launching Theranos 2.0 while his wife is still serving time for Theranos 1.0,” wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter).
“Elizabeth Holmes is grinding from prison, what’s your excuse,” another added.
If you somehow aren’t familiar with the Theranos lore, let me fill you in.
Holmes launched health-tech start-up Theranos back in 2003, which promised to run dozens of medical tests, from cholesterol checks to cancer markets, using just a tiny drop of blood. It was supposed to be a fast and affordable way to help detect health issues early, and at its peak, its valuation even ballooned to an astounding US$9 billion in 2014.
But investigations revealed the tech didn’t work as claimed, including false results, and Theranos eventually shut down in 2018. Holmes and former COO Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani were convicted of fraud.
Evans met Holmes through all this in 2017, during the ongoing fraud investigation that eventually led to her imprisonment. He now reportedly lives in Texas with their children, while she serves her 11-year sentence in a federal prison roughly two hours from their home.
So will this new venture turn out to be a genuine innovation or lil’ bit of tech deja vu? Your guess is as good as mine. But surely they can’t be surprised if everyone’s going to be real invested (no pun intended) with how this all unfolds.
Lead image: Getty
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