HealthTech Happy Hour is a community for the people behind HealthTech, bringing together founders, clinicians, operators and others building what’s next in healthcare.
Founded by Lauren Placencia, MD and brought to you by the SciPro HealthTech team, the community was created to make it easier for people working on different parts of HealthTech to meet, share ideas and have the conversations that do not always happen in the day-to-day. Through its podcast and in-person events, HealthTech Happy Hour creates space for honest conversations about what’s working, what isn’t and what people are learning as they build.
Its first in-person event brought founders, clinicians, operators and investors together in New York for an evening with no panel, no formal agenda and plenty of conversation.
We wanted to give people working on different parts of healthcare the space to actually meet, compare notes and build relationships outside of the usual pitch meetings and sales conversations.
By the end of the night, guests were swapping numbers, connecting on LinkedIn and making plans to keep the conversations going.
We caught up with Lauren after the event to hear how the first HealthTech Happy Hour felt, what people were talking about and where the community goes from here.
It felt amazing! I've wanted to build something like this for a long time, so seeing it come to life was really special. Watching the room fill up with people who care about the same problems I do was a moment I won't forget. The energy picked up quickly, and within the first half hour the room was buzzing with conversations that kept going all night. By the end, people were swapping numbers, sharing LinkedIn profiles and making plans to grab coffee. When people leave an event with plans to keep talking, you know you've built the right kind of room!
We had a great mix of founders, clinicians, operators and investors, with a strong showing from founders in particular. Having so many builders in one place gave the night a lot of energy, because founders tend to bring a sense of urgency and curiosity to every conversation. Seeing them in conversation with clinicians and investors is exactly the kind of mix I was hoping for. Those three groups need each other to build healthcare that works, yet they rarely get the chance to sit down together outside of a pitch meeting or a sales call. Giving them a relaxed setting to simply get to know one another was one of my favorite parts of the night.
So many of the conversations came back to how we fix what's fundamentally broken about the healthcare system. Everyone in the room is coming at it from a different angle, whether that's a new care model, better infrastructure or a fresh approach to access and affordability. What made it so cool was hearing people tie those angles together. A founder working on one piece of the puzzle would meet someone tackling a completely different piece, and you could see them realize how much their work complements each other. Those are the moments that remind me why community matters so much in this space. Nobody is going to fix healthcare alone, and it was inspiring to watch people recognize that their work fits into a much bigger picture alongside the person standing next to them.
How many people were already connected without realizing it! As the night went on, people kept discovering mutual contacts, former colleagues or events they'd both attended, and you could watch them connect the dots in real time. More than once I overheard someone say something like "wait, you know them too?" It goes to show that the healthtech scene is much smaller and more connected than people think. So many of us are only one or two introductions away from each other, and sometimes all it takes is getting everyone in the same room to turn those loose ties into real relationships.
The feedback was wonderful. Multiple times throughout the night, people came up to thank me for organizing and told me how different it felt from other events they've been to. That meant a lot, because creating a different kind of experience was the whole goal. Almost everyone I spoke with said they'd love to come back for the next one, and several people asked when it would be before the night was even over. That kind of excitement is the best feedback I could ask for, and it's given me so much motivation heading into what's next.
The NYC healthtech scene can feel fragmented, and a lot of networking events end up skewing toward job seekers or turning into an hour of sitting and listening before you finally get a few minutes to talk. I wanted to flip that, so I kept the evening much more casual and just let people talk. Without a stage, everyone was on equal footing. A first-time founder could end up in a deep conversation with a seasoned investor or a practicing physician, and nobody felt like they were waiting for permission to jump in. The conversations could go wherever they needed to, and that freedom is a big part of why so many people discovered shared connections and dug into the bigger questions about fixing healthcare.
It reinforced that there's a real appetite for peer connection in healthtech. People are working on the same big problems from different angles, and they're often only one or two introductions away from each other. I want HealthTech Happy Hour to be the place where those connections happen, whether that's on the podcast, at an event or somewhere in between. Above all, I want it to feel welcoming and genuine, a place where people show up to learn from each other and leave with relationships that last well beyond one evening. The night also made me even more excited about smaller, more focused gatherings for specific groups within the community, where people can go even deeper on the challenges they share.
There's a lot coming! We have a new podcast episode on the way, and we're continuing to bring on guests who are building and shaping the future of healthcare. We'll also be at HLTH in November recording quick conversations with people on the floor, so keep an eye out for us there. On the events side, our goal is at least one in-person gathering a quarter, and we're exploring more focused formats like a Women in HealthTech evening and a clinician-focused gathering. Over time, I'd love to bring HealthTech Happy Hour to other cities too. If you want to be part of what comes next, follow along on our LinkedIn page and come say hi at the next one!
We are a trusted partner for every step from Discovery through to Development. So, no matter where you are in your journey, we're here to help you make a difference. We are a trusted partner for every step from Discovery through to Development. So, no matter where you are in your journey, we're here to help you make a difference.