Hikma Venture, the venture arm of Jordan-based Hikma Pharmaceuticals, has participated in Canada-based Seamless MD’s $4 million Series A investment round, led by MEDTEQ. Other investors participating in this round include Anges Québec, AIoT Health, and health IT entrepreneur Sanjay Malaviya.

Founded in 2012, SeamlessMD is a cloud-based digital patient engagement platform that connects patients with care providers to deliver better patient care in an efficient and timely manner. The platform provides patients with digital care plans, while enabling care providers to receive alerts and monitor them remotely.

“We have been incredibly impressed by SeamlessMD’s vision, category-leading clinical evidence, and best-in-class technology platform, and are excited to add them to the diverse portfolio of companies we have invested in that are utilising digital health technology to improve outcomes for patients,” said Hamzeh Abdul-Hadi, principal at Hikma Ventures.

“SeamlessMD has developed a proven model for health systems to improve patient outcomes at scale, and we are thrilled to support SeamlessMD in advancing their mission and expanding into new markets where Hikma operates to improve the quality of care.”

The startup will use the funds to fuel its geographical expansion and develop its digital services.

“Covid19 has accelerated the need for health systems to deliver digital care at scale. Since the pandemic started, we have been rapidly assisting health systems to adapt to the pandemic, including new solutions for COVID-19 digital screening, patient education, and digital pre-surgery monitoring to safely resume surgery,” said Joshua Liu, MD, co-founder and CEO of SeamlessMD. 

“This investment from Hikma Ventures will be critical in enabling us to meet growing customer demand, expand our library of digital care plans and further develop our machine learning platform for risk prediction and optimising patient outcomes. We are ecstatic to be supported by forward thinking, strategic healthcare investors such as Hikma Ventures who share our belief that the future of healthcare is digital,” Liu added.

source: wamda

Entrepreneurs can still make money in this environment. The opportunities may be in different industries than you usually work with, but many businesses still need your skills.

In times like these, full of unknowns, it can be scary for entrepreneurs and freelancers who’ve lost business opportunities, as well as workers who’ve lost their jobs or had their hours cut. However, there are still ways to make money during a crisis, even one like this with both significant health and economic concerns.

Personally, I’ve had around a dozen public speaking opportunities get canceled or postponed, which has been hard, but having gone through the Great Recession, I’ve learned some lessons and know I’ll make it through to the other side. You can too, and in some cases, you may find that this crisis creates an opportunity to take your career or business in a new direction that benefits you more in the long run.

Some ideas to earn money safely from home include:

1. Charging for content or content support

During this period, with so many of us staying at home, with more time on our hands, you’ll likely see a lot more content creation, such as with launches of new podcasts, YouTube series, courses, etc.

Some creators may be able to monetize this content by finding advertising — if, for example, you have a sizable social media following or can get enough podcast listeners. Or you could put your content behind a paywall and charge for access.

Others, however, need to be realistic about how much, if anything, they can earn from content creation. That said, you may still have the skills to support content creators, such as helping with writing, editing, graphic design, etc. Make sure you charge for your time. You can look at project and hourly rates on sites like Upwork to get a sense of what your fee should be based on your experience and the type of work you can do.

2. Monetize your knowledge

Related to creating content is jumping into the growing online education space for all ages. You may have the skills and experience to teach on sites geared toward young students, or you might have business knowledge that you can teach to other professionals, especially those at companies that have budget that would have gone toward attending conferences.

You can monetize your knowledge by creating a course on sites like Kajabi and marketing to professionals, or you can try to get paid directly by working part-time for an online learning platform. If you have an idea for your own course, see if it exists already on a platform like LinkedIn Learning. If it doesn’t, you could have a good opportunity to create something unique that others might be willing to pay for.

3. Find freelance work

Whether you’re a creative, a coder, an administrative assistant, or many other occupations that can be done online, there’s a good chance you can still find freelance opportunities through platforms like Upwork and LinkedIn.

Many businesses are still operating at full speed, such as in the technology sector and some food brands that are seeing strong sales due to demand at grocery stores.

Taking on freelance opportunities can be a great way to get your side hustle off the ground, whether that’s because you’re getting paid directly for your side hustle work (e.g, doing graphic design to eventually fund your own agency,) or because you’re using freelancing income to eventually fund another type of business venture.

4. Get active on social media

Social media will experience a renaissance in 2020 as people get back to being truly social and more connected online out of necessity.

While being more active on social media won’t necessarily lead directly to income opportunities, you can start making quality connections and planting seeds that can grow into ways to make money.

For example, you can crowdsource ideas for your business through social media, find new clients, find partners that help you grow your business, etc.

This is also an opportunity for a new wave of thought leaders to emerge, and while only a few will make it, now could be the time to build your personal brand so that you can gain a following.

Having an audience can then lead to monetization opportunities such as through affiliate links on your website, video views on YouTube, podcasting sponsorships through Anchor and article views on Medium.

Although this crisis has affected so many of us, it’s important to try to stay positive and look for opportunities where possible.

You may have to work harder and get creative, but with perseverance and quality work, you can find ways to make money in a crisis.

source: entrepreneur