The entire healthcare industry is working towards to a common goal of bettering humanity but most of the effort is fragmented. The amount of medical research is growing exponentially and there has been no easy way to navigate it. Enter H1. It took around 2 years and millions of dollars for H1 to compile the most comprehensive dataset of all medical professionals in the US, using both machine learning and hand curation. This dataset serves as a go-to search platform for biopharmaceutical companies who need access to qualified, relevant data from a researcher, clinic, or scholarly database.
AlleyWatch spoke to cofounder Ariel Katz to learn more about H1, its future plans, and most recent round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We closed our Seed round of $6M led by Shore Group Associates.
Tell us about the product or service that H1 offers.
We build SaaS products to help biopharmaceutical companies develop therapies to fight diseases.
What inspired you to start H1?
Healthcare was lagging in its widespread adoption of AI and machine learning. We’re here to make a dent!
How is H1 different?
Through both machine learning and hand curation, we’ve spent 2 years and millions building the only comprehensive dataset of all life science/healthcare professionals in the US.
How do you ensure that the AI search tools are pinpointing sources that contain credible and valuable information?
We have an office in Hyderabad India with about 150 subject matter experts validating our models every day.
What market does H1 target and how big is it?
We are targeting the biopharmaceutical industry drug development pipeline. One of the larger trends in this industry is the use of technology during drug development, which in the US is currently valued at $250B spent per year.
What’s your business model?
Annual license to our main products and a services wing.
What was the funding process like?
I knew Ian Sax after he bought Labspot, which I was working on. I knew we didn’t want to raise VC and get down that path just yet, so I asked Ian if he had the capital to fund H1.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Picking the right partner.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Incredibly fast growth over the last 18 months.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Have a significant market share of the biopharmaceutical industry using our offerings.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Hold off for as long as possible before you raise, which will cause investors to come running towards you.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We’re focused on building the best products we can build for our users with the ultimate mission of helping them bring therapies to market that help fight diseases. That will be our near-term and long-term growth. From there the revenue and users will come.
