WELL launches investment program for AI innovators

VANCOUVER and TORONTO – WELL Ventures a subsidiary of WELL Health Technologies Corp., a digital healthcare company, is pleased to announce the launch of a new investment program, the WELL AI Investment Program, focused on artificial intelligence and its applications in helping support healthcare providers with next generation tools.

The WELL AI Investment Program will focus on early-stage AI companies who demonstrate promising innovation, with a clear focus on AI technologies that can help healthcare providers to improve their efficiency, accuracy and ultimately help them deliver better patient outcomes. Data protection and cybersecurity applications will also be considered as this is a key part of WELL’s practitioner enablement platform.

“The prevalence of AI technology in healthcare will usher in perhaps the most transformational technologies we’ve ever seen in terms of supplying and supporting healthcare providers with tools that help improve the accuracy, efficiency and proactivity of care while also delivering significantly better patient outcomes,” said Hamed Shahbazi (pictured), founder and CEO of WELL Health Technologies.

“WELL wants to ensure that it is at the forefront of this movement, not just as a developer and user of AI, but also as a partner to other innovative companies seeking to advance the health technology industry. What makes The WELL AI Investment Program unique, besides being the first healthcare centric AI investment program in Canada, is that WELL is not just looking to provide capital but also leverage its own products, distribution and significant size and scale to help advance the proliferation of the best AI inspired health focussed technologies.”

The WELL AI Investment Program will provide investees with capital as well as extensive support from WELL’s ecosystem to help develop, test, refine, secure, de-risk and integrate the most promising such technologies into the Canadian healthcare ecosystem at scale. Additionally, WELL will provide investees access to the 23,000+ care providers who make use of its apps.health ecosystem, operated by its Provider Solutions Business Unit.

In recognition of WELL’s longstanding work with Canada Health Infoway (Infoway), an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government, Infoway will collaborate with WELL on advancing interoperability as part of the WELL AI investment Program in Canadian start-ups.

Infoway will provide guidance on security, privacy, interoperability, and other data standards. This partnership will ensure that resulting products and services meet pan-Canadian standards and can effectively serve the needs of providers and patients.

WELL aims to achieve the following through the investment program:

• Make a minimum of 10 AI related investments of at least $250k each in companies that are advancing healthcare applications and/or protecting data.
• Ensure that each Investee has a strategic alliance agreement with WELL that allows it to benefit from WELL’s healthcare ecosystem which includes: Its apps.health ecosystem, which is Canada’s only app marketplace for integrated EMR apps, and/or access to the 23,000+ provider network supported by WELL’s digital and services tools and the 2,800+ providers working internally in WELL’s own patient services businesses.

WELL Ventures is already fully funded for making these investments directly from WELL’s overall treasury position. While there is no defined timeline for these investments, it is WELL’s intention to make a number of these investments in 2023.

WELL is a leader in tech-enabling Canadian healthcare, and through WELL Ventures, WELL has already placed numerous investments in early-stage companies focussed on providing tools and enablement (including AI) for healthcare providers in Canada, the US, and abroad.

For more information on, or to express interest in the WELL AI Investment Program, please email corpdev@well.company or visit https://well.ventures for more information on WELL Ventures.

About WELL Health Technologies
WELL is a practitioner-focused digital healthcare company. WELL’s overarching mission is to positively impact health outcomes by leveraging technology to empower healthcare practitioners and their patients globally. WELL exists to enable healthcare practitioners with best-in-class technology and services. To learn more about the company, please visit www.well.company.