In 2026, the healthtech industry is set to progress in ways that could reshape how care is accessed, delivered, and personalized. As a female founder bootstrapping my ventures in the Netherlands, I’ve found myself at the forefront of witnessing how practical applications of AI, virtual care, and predictive health solutions are moving from buzzwords to essentials. For entrepreneurs, especially women in Europe, understanding these trends isn't just about staying relevant, it's about creating opportunities to lead thoughtfully in an evolving sector.
Progress in HealthTech: What You Should Know
The healthtech landscape is no longer operating on promises, it’s delivering measurable results. Generative AI, personalized care systems, and secure platforms are some trends driving this momentum. Here's an insightful breakdown of what’s happening and, more importantly, what it means for us as founders.
1. AI Goes Beyond Buzz
Generative AI is now well-integrated into diagnostics, streamlining laboratory analysis, and expanding patient engagement tools. It’s not about replacing humans, but allowing medical professionals to focus on care, not administrative tasks. For startups like those in the virtual assistant or health coaching space, this opens significant integration opportunities.
For example, consider businesses scaling AI solutions into preventive healthcare. Startups innovating in AI diagnostics predict conditions and enable early intervention, offering founders an opportunity to align themselves with meaningful technology that benefits both providers and patients.
2. Wearables Aid Preventive Care
Companies leading wearable tech are adding value by collecting more than just step counts. Devices now assess heart rhythms, detect stress patterns, and can even predict migraines. Self-powered platforms, like the one outlined in this report on healthcare trends for 2026, eliminate the hassle of regular charging. For women-heavy entrepreneurship spaces, tools like these are goldmines to facilitate health equity.
Founders can adapt strategies to market compliance-focused solutions that work with these devices. Those solving issues in data display, interoperability, or security will likely lead in the wearable tech ecosystem.
3. Telemedicine Moves Toward Hybrid Models
While telemedicine exploded, especially during the pandemic, its 2026 version combines in-clinic treatments with substantial remote care options. Platforms that bridge home health tools with advanced AI are becoming scalable solutions, especially in underserved populations outside major cities.
Here’s where it gets interesting for bootstrapped founders: targeting niche markets within telehealth. Think platforms exclusive to rare diseases, menopause health management, or migrant healthcare solutions. Growth is about understanding emergent markets deeply, not just chasing the obvious.
How To Approach the Market as a Female Founder
Navigating healthtech as an entrepreneur involves balancing innovation with practical steps. As someone who’s dived head-first into funding applications, product iterations, and strategy rewrites, here’s my approach.
Practical Steps for Success in HealthTech:
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Understand Regulations Early
European healthcare regulations are complex, but partners like regulatory consultants or digital health lawyers can simplify compliance efforts. -
Find the Value in Bootstrapping
While external capital can accelerate scaling, bootstrapping builds discipline for resource allocation. Start small, leverage government grants or EU startup competitions while testing early ideas. -
Master Cross-industry Applications
Combine AI, biosensor data, and virtual platforms to offer standout products. Learning how algorithms connect to fields like biomechanics or neurology can give your startup a competitive lens.
Common Pitfalls and Lessons in HealthTech Scene (2026)
Here are the mistakes founders (often unknowingly) make and how I’d suggest NOT doing it:
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Underestimating Cybersecurity
Health data breaches are a rising concern, making platforms with secure APIs critical. Startups underinvesting in encryption protocols often pay heavily in reputation and lawsuits. For growth, ensuring data security right from the beta phase is critical. -
Overpromising from Emerging Technologies
Founders often make exaggerated claims about their AI's capabilities. Investors spot this quickly. A better approach? Focus on realistic short-term outcomes and scalable incremental features. -
Undervaluing Team Building
There’s an inclination to go it all alone when funds are tight. Instead, leverage talented networks, particularly through online incubators built by and for women. My free startup game teaches foundational skills and connects founders to mentors.
Insights for Female Founders in Europe
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Leverage Ecosystems: Europe’s tight-knit healthtech ecosystem, from accelerators in Berlin to grants like Horizon Europe, offers considerable resources for the right ideas.
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Own the Narrative: Women entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to drive change in health equity. Personal branding (something our gamepreneurship methodology emphasizes) changes how your story resonates with peers and investors.
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Experiment Smarter: Now is not the time to scale prematurely. Get creative, test prototypes, and use crowdfunding to validate solutions to niche problems you’re passionate about.
A Better Conclusion, No Wrap-up Necessary
By 2026, healthtech isn't just scaling; it's redefining how founders like us can address accessibility and efficiency gaps. My personal journey as a Dutch female founder shows that staying informed and trusting your instinct to pioneer underserved markets will set you apart. It’s not easy, but it’s entirely possible.
FAQ
1. How will AI impact diagnostics in 2026?
Generative AI will significantly advance diagnostics by enhancing real-time risk assessment, imaging analysis, and predictive healthcare processes. Learn more about AI-enabled diagnostics
2. What role do wearables play in preventive care?
Self-powered health wearables using technologies like nanogenerators and biomechanical energy harvesting will enable continuous monitoring without maintenance, improving preventive care. Discover self-powered wearables
3. What are hybrid telemedicine models in 2026?
Hybrid models integrate in-clinic treatments with remote care platforms, focusing on underserved populations and niche markets like rare diseases and menopause management. Learn more about hybrid healthcare models
4. How can startups secure healthcare data?
Startups should invest in zero-trust cybersecurity and encryption protocols to prevent data breaches and protect patient information. Explore healthcare data security
5. How is personalized medicine evolving?
Digital twins are set to transform personalized medicine by simulating patient-specific models for precision treatment planning. Discover digital twins in healthcare
6. What funding opportunities exist for female founders in healthtech?
Europe offers significant resources such as Horizon Europe grants and government initiatives tailored for women-led startups. Learn more about Horizon Europe grants
7. How can AI assist in surgery by 2026?
AI tools will provide real-time simulations and guidance during complex surgical procedures, improving accuracy and outcomes. Discover AI’s role in surgery
8. What practical steps should healthtech founders take to succeed?
Founders should prioritize regulatory knowledge, bootstrap strategies, and understand cross-industry applications like AI-biosensor integration. Check out founder insights
9. What are the challenges with emerging healthtech technologies?
Common pitfalls include overestimating AI capabilities, neglecting cybersecurity, and undervaluing team-building efforts essential for success. Explore healthtech challenges
10. How will virtual hospitals shape healthcare access?
Virtual hospitals combining remote tools and AI-driven diagnostics will expand high-acuity care beyond traditional facilities. Learn more about virtual hospitals
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.