Connected Medical Devices from France: Visiomed CEO Olivier Hua (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s talk about from the point of view of building this company. You said the company started in 2009?

Olivier Hua: The company started in 2007.

Sramana Mitra: At that point, the product was the thermometer?

Olivier Hua: Correct.

Sramana Mitra: How long did the company function in that one product mode and what revenue levels did it reach?

Olivier Hua: It, very quickly, shifted from a one-product mode to multiple products. We are extremely agile in developing new products—either totally new products or modifications to enhance the capabilities of an existing product. The company was a one-product company when it started, but soon after, other products have been developed as well. We needed to add another range of product. We ended up adding 100 different products within the first three to four years.

Sramana Mitra: When you invested in 2009, that was still a one-product company?

Olivier Hua: It already had multiple products but weren’t connected. The company was created in 2007. In 2009, the revenues were already about €5 million.

Sramana Mitra: Over the course of bringing all these products to market, what has been the financing strategy?

Olivier Hua: Initially, the company was self-financed. Two years later, there was a private equity raise. That’s when I invested. The use of funds went towards the development of the connected devices. There were two other rounds of private equity in 2010 and 2011. Then the company went public in July 2011.

Sramana Mitra: How have these products done in the market? What is your most successful product?

Olivier Hua: It would still be the Thermo Flash. The second best sellers are around the blood pressure monitors.

Sramana Mitra: The multi-product strategy came together only recently and you haven’t really hit the revenue cycle quite yet.

Olivier Hua: Correct.

Sramana Mitra: Are you selling in France, America? Where is the business right now?

Olivier Hua: We’re selling in 40 different countries so far. We still don’t sell in the US yet.

Sramana Mitra: What is the revenue level of the company at this point?

Olivier Hua: It’s in the range of $12.5 million.

Sramana Mitra: What else do you want to share about the story?

Olivier Hua: One key issue about the story is the shift from traditional products to the connected products is that we are moving from a device manufacturer to a device and service provider. The key issue is we have inserted artificial intelligence in the app. When you have a symptom, you can go to the app and you’ll be asked questions. It will tell you the most likely things you might have based on the symptoms. Based on the data, it will give you a recommendation on what to do.

We allow doctors to monitor patients from home. Within the app, not only do you have this artificial intelligence, you also have the ability to be connected with a real doctor at any point in time.

Sramana Mitra: Where do you see the connected product trend going?

Olivier Hua: If I look at the studies in market research, there is a huge boom in connected products.  Connected products will have an incredible future if they are built in a way that they actually give service. Let me take an example to illustrate that. Do I need to have an electric bolt connected to an app? There’s no usage for that. There will be billions of connected products in the years to come. There is a huge market for us. If you look at which sector will be the most important in terms of connected products, research is saying that 60% will be dedicated to the health sector.

Sramana Mitra: Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Connected Medical Devices from France: Visiomed CEO Olivier Hua
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