Reports indicate that Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, is backing a new medical startup despite serving time in federal prison related to her previous venture. I mean, it’s kind of surprising, right?
Holmes, who is now 41, was convicted in 2022 in Texas and is facing a sentence of over 11 years for defrauding investors in her blood testing startup, Theranos, which has since gained a notorious reputation.
Her current partner, Billy Evans—who has two children—is reportedly raising “millions” for this new venture, which some might say bears unsettling similarities to Theranos. He’s leaning on Holmes for advice as he prepares for the launch.
The company, called Haemanthus (which is Greek for “bloody”), aims to innovate medical testing using AI technology that employs light beams for diagnostics. A patent has already been secured for this approach.
The technology is said to test various “biological materials,” like sweat and saliva, while allowing minimal blood samples for diagnostic purposes. It’s intriguing, honestly.
Interestingly, Haemanthus utilizes something known as Raman spectroscopy, which has been effective in diagnosing conditions like ALS and certain cancers. Moreover, it’s utilized in detecting improvised explosive devices in conflict zones. Quite a broad application, huh?
Prior to her conviction, Holmes was celebrated as a Silicon Valley prodigy, claiming that hundreds of medical tests could be conducted with just a few drops of blood, contrasting sharply with traditional, larger sample methods.
At the height of her success, her net worth ballooned to roughly $4.5 billion, and Theranos formed lucrative partnerships with major brands like Safeway and Walgreens. But in 2015, everything collapsed as whistleblowers revealed fraudulent practices, leading to her downfall and that of her former partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
After her fraud conviction, Holmes was barred from being an officer of any public company for ten years by the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, this doesn’t seem to hinder her involvement in privately-held startups like Haemanthus.
This week, she faced yet another legal hurdle when the 9th Circuit denied her request for reconsideration of her conviction, which was ruled on by the same judge who sentenced her.
Haemanthus was officially registered last February, with its main office located in a $2.3 million home in Austin, Texas.
After that, Evans noted in a post on Haemanthus’ official account that Holmes is not involved in the startup. His message highlighted that the mistakes made in Theranos were valuable lessons, but that she has no role in this venture’s present or future.
