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Lina Behrens & Thomas Hagemeijer

Winning Business Models in HealthTech – Six Examples

HealthTech is accelerating—€6.21 billion flowed into European ventures in H1 2025, within a $353 billion global market growing ~22% CAGR—yet it still accounts for only ~3% of healthcare spend. Scale remains elusive for many: hype rises, margins tighten, and weak models collapse. This chapter dissects six companies across B2B, B2C, and hybrid plays to show what actually works—and why.

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The eRx is on its way to become a cornerstone of digital healthcare in Germany.

From online booking to oncology AI, there is no single formula—but there are repeatable moves. Winners wedge into a narrow, high-utility entry point before expanding; prove measurable ROI early; align with reimbursement and system incentives; build trust through privacy, rigor, and compliance; and treat regulatory readiness as a differentiator, not a checkbox. Together, these choices convert promising products into durable companies.

When Strategy Beats Hype:
Patterns That Compound

What you’ll learn

How a “wedge first, platform later” approach (e.g., booking or education) lowers friction and builds daily relevance
Why measurable ROI—time saved, outcomes improved, costs reduced—determines adoption in budget-tight systems
Which strategies align with healthcare structures (licensing, reimbursement, clinical workflows) instead of fighting them
How trust is operationalized via privacy, scientific rigor, and certification—and why it compounds advantage
Where six exemplars (Doctolib, Alan, Amboss, Flo, Waystar, Tempus) differ in model mechanics yet share scaling principles

Lina Behrens is the Head of Strategy & Content of HLTH Europe. She brought HLTH to Europe for the first time and established it as the leading healthcare conference in Europe. Before joining HLTH, Lina was the Managing Director of Flying Health, the main ecosystem for Next Generation Healthcare in Germany. Previously, she worked at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Social Finance in London, and was part of the management team of Polymath Ventures, the largest company builder in Latin America. Lina is a member of Bertelsmann Foundation’s advisory group 30 under 40 in Digital Health. Previously, Lina was a Board Member of the German Startup Association, and a Member of the Advisory Board Young Digital Economy to the German Federal Ministers of Economics and Energy, Robert Habeck and Peter Altmaier. She is passionate about healthcare innovation and female leadership.

About the Author
Lina Behrens

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Thomas Hagemeijer is the founder of HGM Advisory, a decentralized HealthTech consultancy that helps senior leaders drive healthcare innovation. He works with pharma companies, MedTech firms, investors, start-ups, hospitals, and policymakers, focusing on business models, go-to-market strategies, and commercial due diligence. As a business angel with Springboard Health Angels, Thomas invests in early-stage AI and HealthTech start-ups. He is also an ambassador for HLTH Europe, the leading HealthTech conference, and HBI, a conference on Private Equity in Healthcare. His LinkedIn posts on HealthTech and AI reach over 2 million people each year. A sought-after speaker and moderator, Thomas is a key voice in healthcare innovation.