#Twenty25 - Funding the future of health tech - Part 14/20 Interview with Camilla Dolan, Eka Ventures

Ian Coyne: Camilla, thank you for joining us today. Let's dive right into the future of health tech. From your perspective, what do you find most exciting about the health tech landscape in 2025?

Camilla Dolan: In 2024 there was a lot of excitement around healthcare and AI, in 2025 Eka believes we will start to see companies who are meaningfully using AI to develop totally new and more effective approaches to diagnostics, treatment and ongoing healthcare management.

One area within that which we are looking to make an investment into is a holistic healthcare assistant, that manages people’s end to end health, helping keep people well rather than treating them when they are sick. Prior to recent advances in AI, solutions existed that solved point solutions like nutrition or fitness, however previous solutions failed to bring all the strands together. We believe the next generation of companies will offer comprehensive solutions that help manage health daily, covering nutrition, fitness, mental health, and relationships. AI will be a key driver in this space, and while it will be crowded, we expect some clear winners to emerge. Our hypothesis is that the winners will be the innovators that approach this from a consumer mindset, building delightful products and leveraging learnings in social, organic, and omnichannel marketing to get an edge in distribution.

Ian: That sounds fascinating. What other areas do you see attracting significant investment?

Camilla: In addition to AI changing how we interact with healthcare, we believe there is the opportunity to democratize clinical trials, by more effectively using the mountains of health data that consumers are generating on a second by second basis, leveraging data from wearable devices, consumer feedback data (app stores, Trustpilot, reviews) to understand where products are effective and identify data sets as well as starting to unlock larger publicly available data sets.

Longer term, we see this democratization of clinical trials enabling a greater variety of both digital and physical health products, for example supplements generating trial data that allows them to be prescribed instead of pharmaceutical drugs and gives end healthcare users increasing confidence in the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical drugs.

Ian: Interesting. And what about the use of AI in healthcare?

Camilla: If 2024 was around the use of AI in healthcare to improve operational efficiency, with the rise of digital scribes/note taking solutions, Eka’s view is that in 2025 we will see AI be used for healthcare delivery. For example, we have an investment in Flok Health, a CQC-regulated provider of back pain care that delivers end-end back pain care treatment through an autonomous agent with early data indicating that over half of respondents prefer receiving care delivered through AI than through a person led service. We believe this approach will extend across all healthcare segments, offering convenient, low-cost access to personalized care. This provides the opportunity to significantly increase health equity; AI offers a huge unlock for underserved populations who struggle to access to high quality treatment in a timely manner.

Ian: With the rise of wearables and consumer tech, do you think patients will become more self-managing?

Camilla: Definitely. We expect consumers to take more ownership of their health, driven by technology that enables actionable healthcare recommendations with measurable benefits. Previously, much of the tracking was diagnostic, but now we're moving towards treatment-focused solutions that deliver tangible results and seeing those results will be the missing part of the puzzle to solving retention which has historically been a challenge.

Ian: Looking beyond 2025, what trends do you find particularly exciting?

Camilla: One major trend we're investing in is the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in healthcare. We believe the next platform shift will involve immersive environments for treatment, training, surgery, and managing healthcare conditions. The technology in this space is advancing rapidly, with significant improvements in hardware costs, software accuracy, and a reduction in some of the early challenges, for example around latency.

Ian: Are there specific areas where AR and VR will be particularly impactful?

Camilla: In the short term, we see AR and VR being used by healthcare professionals for patient consent and surgical assistance. For example, visualizing a patient's brain before surgery can help explain the procedure and potential risks. Longer term, we expect these technologies to be used in neurorehabilitation and other areas where the connection between physical and mental health is crucial. 

Ian: If you had a magic wand, what would you change to accelerate health tech innovation?

Camilla: It's a simple but crucial change: clearer contracting, shorter sales cycles, and more consistent access to proper revenue within the NHS, in the UK. Many companies get stuck in pilot projects despite proving significant ROI. Streamlining the transition from pilot to full-scale implementation would be a major unlock for health tech innovation in the UK. 

Ian: Thank you, Camilla. This has been incredibly insightful. Any final thoughts

Camilla: It's an exciting time for health tech. We believe the convergence of AI, real time availability of healthcare data and ecosystem acceptance of using technology means we are at a paradigm tipping point for the healthcare industry to be re-wired shifting from a treatment led system to a preventative based system – making it an ideal time to invest in the space!

Ian: Thank you for your time, Camilla. Looking forward to seeing these innovations come to life.

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Camilla Dolan, General Partner at Eka Ventures

Camilla founded Eka in 2018 alongside Jon [Coker] having been investing in consumer technology companies from seed to growth since 2013. ‍She has been fortunate enough to work with some extraordinary entrepreneurs at Bloom & Wild, Gousto and Elder, seeing them develop into emerging category leaders. ‍She started her career at Bain & Company, enjoying time with them in Tokyo and San Francisco and studied Law at Oxford University.

About Eka Ventures