Investment Banker Appointed CEO of Australian Health Tech Start-Up
Australian start-up, Sonoa Health, has today appointed a respected investment banker as CEO. His mission: bring an innovative product to market, secure strategic partnerships, and expand internationally
SAN FRANCISCO, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonoa Health, a health tech startup based in Melbourne, Australia, has developed a world-first consumer health portal, Health&, which brings together data from online health records, medication prescriptions, wearable devices and more.
Today, the Company appointed respected investment banker John Stewart as its CEO, who brings to the table more than 18-years experience in investment banking and corporate advisory, which has included working closely with the biggest names in Silicon Valley in the US.
Sonoa Health's Founder and Chair, Mr Bob Biddle, said Mr Stewart's appointment is a significant achievement for the Company, which was officially founded four years ago and ramped up production for its consumer health portal early last year with more than 50 handpicked recruits. The portal will be launched later this year.
"We are in a very exciting phase of our development and John's appointment is a testament to the quality of the company we've built and the talent we've attracted to drive its success. We are delighted to welcome him to the team," said Mr Biddle.
"John has spent more than a decade in the heartland of digital health in Silicon Valley and will contribute invaluable perspectives to our business as we secure strategic business partnerships, raise capital, launch our product, and expand internationally."
Sonoa Health's new CEO isn't hesitating to embrace the challenge.
"Sonoa Health presents a rare opportunity to work with the very best medical, creative and digital minds, and has enormous potential for global growth. After more than 18-years in banking, I am pretty comfortable navigating risk and reward - and I know we're in for an exhilarating climb here," said Mr Stewart.
Sonoa Health is taking an astute step forward in the highly saturated health tech market, by engaging the world's most respected medical pioneers to drive the development of health technology and education resources.
"Our Health& portal is designed to provide an intelligent interface between doctors and consumers, which displays consumer health information in one place and helps them to proactively manage illness. It is supported by a search engine containing animated, illustrated and written health content, which is derived from evidence-based resources and designed to boost health literacy," said Mr Biddle.
"The unique algorithms at the core of Health& power a reasoning engine, which brings the logic of a doctor's brain online and delivers truly individualised health information to consumers. To achieve this, we've accessed the brightest brains and harvested their knowledge."
The Company has engaged nine medical professors, who are all members of the Order of Australia, to head its Medical Advisory Board. In-house, there is a bright young team of doctors, writers, developers, animators, illustrators and an entrepreneurial leadership team too.
"It's heartening to lead a brave and committed team of individuals, who are so focused on improving lives across the world. The launch of the Health& consumer portal later this year will signal a great achievement for Australia's innovation sector," said Mr Stewart.
Prior to joining Sonoa Health, Mr Stewart was a Managing Director at Gresham Partners, a Managing Director with Lazard in Australia and spent more than 11 years in the US in M&A roles with JPMorgan and Thomas Weisel Partners.He has also worked as an M&A lawyer with Fried Frank in New York and Corrs in Australia.
For more information about Health& visit www.healthand.com
Media Interviews:
To request an interview with Sonoa Health CEO, John Stewart, please contact Chief Communications Officer, Haley Price, on +61-423-139-163 [email protected]
Links & Resources:
* Photos of CEO John Stewart and the Sonoa Health team may be downloaded:
Photo 1 [ https://www.dropbox.com/s/lhiygh7nji4g65z/JS_Photo%201.jpg?dl=0 ] and Photo 2 [ https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpcgfq948drk8p8/JS_Photo%202.jpg?dl=0 ]
* A video showcasing the Health& consumer portal is available HERE - http://healthand.com/
* Further resources are available upon request
Visit the Sonoa Health corporate website [ http://corp.sonoahealth.com/ ]
SOURCE Sonoa Health
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