According to The New York Times, Billy Evans, a partner at Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is working on a new startup that seeks to provide “human health optimization” through blood tests.
The Times reportedly spoke to two investors who were pitched to a startup called Haemanthus and saw some of Haemanthus’ marketing materials.
In these materials, the company says it has developed a machine that uses lasers to analyze blood, saliva and urine samples to detect cancer and infections. They reportedly plan to start with pet health before expanding to humans, and are looking to raise more than $50 million.
The pitch reflects Terranos’ commitment to conduct various medical tests on small amounts of blood drawn from the stabbed finger. In 2022, Holmes (Evans has two children) was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraudulent investors, but in a recent interview he said he was “fully committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to anyone.”
Early Facebook investor Jim Breyer told the Times that his team was asked to invest but declined, “for many of the same reasons we handed over at Theranos twice.”