Yoni Shtein and Yael Adam Laguna Founders — Company Pic
Israeli startup Laguna Health is a post-hospital recovery assurance medtech company offering a value-based solution to reduce costly readmissions and shorten recovery times. Think about that. When people think about healthcare they tend to be most concerned with new procedures and the quality of care when something as extreme as an operation is needed. But what about after the operation is over?
The immediate post-op period is a crucial — and sometimes dangerous — aspect in a patient’s recovery. This is where Laguna Health comes in and the company just raised $6.6 million in seed funding. Pitango HealthTech and LionBird co-led the funding round, with participation from Assaf Wand, founder and CEO of Hippo Insurance and Josh Riff, founder and CEO of Onduo.
In recent years Israel has become known as the startup state or Startup Nation. The country has had multi-billion dollar exits for numerous software and security companies. But Startup Nations is also known for its medtech startups. Israel has always been a center for medical research and innovation. Now put that together with its startup culture and you have medtech nation.
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Laguna is a recovery assurance company that leverages digital care and behavioral therapists to reduce readmissions and shorten recovery time. The company declares that it can guarantee successful post-hospitalization recovery by combining data, digital care tools, and proven behavioral health interventions to radically reduce negative outcomes. From employers to health plans to health systems, the entire health care ecosystem now has the ability to ensure every patient recovers with confidence.
Laguna boasts that its recovery platform is the first to fuse data, digital care tools, and proven behavioral health interventions to radically reduce negative outcomes. These include lost productivity, mental health issues, substance use disorder or misuse, and the $80 billion or more which the firm says is spent annually on readmissions. With Laguna, it declares, all the “key stakeholders in the health care ecosystem—including employers, health plans, and health systems—have the ability to ensure every patient recovers with confidence.”
Yoni Shtein and Yael Adam say that they created Laguna Health after personal experiences with post-hospitalization challenges — Yoni after navigating the complexities of losing a loved one, and Yael after multiple surgeries as an athlete. Having worked together as software engineers at Microsoft, Yael and Yoni established careers in digital health, high-growth startups, and private equity. Laguna builds on this trajectory to radically modernize recovery.
“We’ve all been traumatized by losing a loved one, but the trauma is compounded when you find out there’s a world where it could have been prevented,” said Laguna CEO and co-founder, Yoni Shtein. “Not only can bad recovery lead to terrible health outcomes, it wastes billions of dollars every year—and it’s a category of digital healthcare that has not received proper attention. Laguna exists to solve this problem: by combining data, technology and behavioral health, we offer a valued-based digital solution to help all people successfully recover after hospitalization.”
“Recovery is one of the greatest challenges in your life,” Dr. Mark Lampert, MD, MBA, Deputy Head, Division of Cardiology at NorthShore University Health System and Laguna Chief Clinical Officer. “Over the last 20 years, everyday I’ve witnessed the difficulties my patients have faced when recovering. Nobody is actually prepared for the challenge.”
