Blockchain 🤝 Healthcare

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Happy MonTuesday, folks.

I hope you are all still stuffed from the holiday week, even if it makes today feel even more Monday-y than normal. I certainly am, and combined with hectic travel, I failed you all and sent this email out a day later than normal. I'm sure you're all just devastated.

Markets have been in a food coma, too, with the short trading week. However, the lack of action might be setting up for a positive end of the year.

Since 1950, in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the S&P has finished positive 71% of the time. It seems that even the big baddies on Wall Street get in a festive mood, too.

Not too festive, though. I hear that at their office holiday party, the Goldman Sachs analysts show up in Allbirds slippers, drink Red Bull-spiked hot chocolate, and stay up all night making decks arguing for why their favorite Christmas movie is the best.

Shit is going down in China. Rumors of unrest and protests have been mounting in recent years, largely in response to the country's strict "Zero COVID" policy which has been the go-to response to any signs of the virus since its beginnings.

However, following multiple deaths in an apartment fire which many claim could have been prevented without these strict policies, protesters actually took to the street where they chanted things like "Xi Jingping, step down" while waving white flags. Such large public outcries against the CCP have been scarce over the last few decade, and the mounting unrest is unsettling the financial sector given the country's central place in the world economic order.

Not saying it's nothing, but also not not saying so. I guess just keep an eye on it?

Most people look forward to Thanksgiving because it means spending time with family and friends. Others look forward to it because of the glutinous amount of food (though there is a flawed contingent of the population which actually doesn't like Thanksgiving food??? Just admit your family can't cook...) that they'll be eating. Personally, I love it because it means I get to switch off between dominating my family's backyard Turkey Bowl and watching the rivalries in college football all week and weekend.

Then there are those of us who look forward to the holiday because of what happens the day after: Black Friday.

The infamous "savings" day has been disrupted since the (gasp) pandemic. However, as normal life has begun to emerge, trends from the holiday could have pretty strong predictive power over the future of retail in the US.

In-person shopping was far less hectic than years past, so BAND-AID sales and hospital visits were likely down given the slowdown in the number of fights over Xboxes and Barbies. However, your mom's online shopping addiction carried as ecommerce sales rose 2.3% YoY to $9.12 billion despite the rather unfortunate macroeconomic environment (see: inflation). Much of this rise is expected to carry over throughout the holiday season and might lead to record sales yet again. Something tells me Santa's sleigh will be extra heavy this year.

With that being said, let's get into some startup breakdown.

When most people think about Blockchain, their minds immediately produce images of mutated monkeys and elaborate online ponzi schemes. Tbh, fair.

However, for the 1% of cRyPtO eNtHuSiAsTs who are actual Blockchain maxis, the technology is not innovative because of its "get rich" potential but rather for what it means for ownership and decentralization. The tech has the potential to empower individuals to finally take ownership over their data and information, financial and otherwise, and remove the middleman companies that have dominated the centralized economy of web2.

This use cases for this system transcend just banks and financial institutions, though. While most developments in web3 so far have just been recreations of the traditional financial system but with more technical jargon and fewer vests, the underlying technology can be applied in everything from advertising to science, and new use cases are being introduced daily, even in the bear market we are currently experiencing.

Perhaps no field offers more potential for the benefits of decentralization than healthcare.

Think about the last time that you went to the doctor or a healthcare provider and wasted time in the waiting room filling out paperwork and waiting for your doctor to fish through files for your information. Think about the time that your doctor asked whether you received some obscure ligma vaccination and you simply couldn't recall what all was injected in your body. Think about how little of your actual health history and insurance information you personally have immediate access to and how cumbersome it is to contact the necessary parties to get your own data to use. Wouldn't it be nice to have all of this information stored in a secure way in a place where you can immediately access it and provide it (with your own limitations imposed) to whoever you need to show it to?

Even before the crypto craze of the past few years, companies in the industry were searching for ways to introduce innovation, particularly using Blockchain technology. Few have outlasted the highs and lows, but aided by its disruptive tech which could shock the health data sector, Embleema has struck idea gold.

Embleema is bringing the power of data ownership to the medical record space, allowing customers to maintain full control over all of their data records from any source all in a single, easy-to-use platform. This includes information from doctor visits, hospitals, and even personal wearables. This consolidated, blockchain-empowered solution could pave the way for a future of seamless health record usage and protection.

Embleema is also looking to improve the medical research and development process through allowing study designers to ask users to submit their data to aid in research. Consumers can choose to grant access to their data to institutions looking for cheap, mass trial data. This is a completely optional decision for consumers, but it would allow users to receive personalized services and suggestions while also allowing them to make a positive impact in the community and world around them.

This data collection and study design process is made easy through the company's Virtual Research Platform where study designers can craft, launch, and analyze studies in real time with an easy, no-code tool.

The company's estimated revenues for this year are around $815,000, and it has raised nearly $3.8 million to date, including from an accelerator run by MassChallenge, one of the foremost incubators for ventures in the healthtech space. Other investors include Techstars and Pharmagest.

Last October, the company was awarded a contract worth nearly $2 million by the FDA to further the development of analysis tools like matrixes for infectious diseases. This is a huge first step in building a credible reputation, and the many potential studies that might be conducted on top of Embleema's Hive system could save many lives if they're able to prevent future pandemics such as COVID like the FDA is hoping for.

While Embleema's revenue numbers are nothing to scoff at for a young company in healthtech, this growth is still a bit slow in comparison to other companies in the space. Other companies such as Nference were founded earlier but have still seen valuations north of $150 million, far greater traction than what Embleem has achieved while providing just one part of Embleema's product. Considering that the Embleema platform has a much more immediately accesible product than other companies with more technically demanding services, you'd like to see more growth in five years.

However, the healthcare sector is massive, and the potential for any company in the space is among the most promising of any sector. If it hasn't already topped the trillion mark, it will very soon.

Big data within the broader healthcare field is expected to top $80 billion by the end of the decade. Diving deeper, the market for blockchain applications in the medical data space was roughly $287.9 million last year and is growing at a CAGR of 61.3%. There will be no shortage of opportunities for growth for early stage companies like Embleema. The question becomes how much of it the team will be able to capture with the large number of competitors.

Competitors include companies such as Akiri which provides blockchain healthcare data services with a focus on privacy by not actually storing any data on chain, FarmaTrust which offers supply chain authentication and patient data security, and a variety of others, evidence that in the healthcare sector, there will always be competition given the money flowing in. However, it's not a winner-takes-all market, so there shouldn't be too much concern over other companies so long as the product that is being delivered meets the needs of its users.

The team behind Embleema is also strong. Led by CEO Robert Chu, an expert with decades of experience in the data network space, the company has a strong mixture of both scientific expertise and medical data and information experience. The combination of biotech, wearables, and blockchain expertise sets the company apart from many of its competitors and sets Embleema's path clearly on the moon.

In summary, though the company is still very early, more adoption and growth would be good to see. However, the market potential, the unique product, and the strong team should all provide Embleema with the opportunity to excel for both consumers hoping to take more ownership over their medical data in a secure way and for medical researchers looking to utilize the power of decentralized medical information to conduct research and trials more quickly and at a lower cost.

The many potential positive ripple effects of the product on the development of innovative medical treatments has me rooting hard for the team. Abandon the pump and dumps, but embrace the power behind Blockchain technology.

Cheers to another day,

Trey

P.S. Interested in the business of college football? Make sure to check out Pigskin Economics, a once-per-week breakdown of the biggest topics going from the sideline to the executive suite.