Investing in Healthcare Requires Particular Expertise

Q:  How will your alliance with Benzobas support the launch of Grupo SOHIN’s Cuidarte clinics?

A: In January 2022, we sold a percentage of Cuidarte to gain the funds to open 14 clinics in the next 36 months. The first six clinics will be inaugurated in 2022. With this alliance, we will offer an alternative to ambulatory clinics to provide care to oncological and onco-hematological patients. These clinics will offer financing and quality services to treat the diseases that are challenging patients, their families and the public and private health sectors.

Cuidarte is focused on the many oncological diseases that represent a burden for the health sector. There are approximately four diseases that represent 60 percent of the public spending in health. By addressing these diseases, we support the entire system’s viability. We treat cancer and other diseases related to disordered cell growth. We also address hematological, autoimmune and rare diseases.

Q: How does Cuidarte measure its impact?

A: Right now, we only have a clinic in Mixcoac, Mexico City, which will demonstrate the service’s capabilities and measure its market reception. The results will be used for a second investment round. Grupo SOHIN’s main indicators have always been the number of patients and the impact of the clinics on their quality of life. By evaluating these indicators, we can monitor the experiences of patients facing this complex disease. We also evaluate how attractive the service is to investors. During the clinic’s first two months, we attracted over 20 potential investors, which showed there is a real need in the market that can be met with our value proposition.

Q: Grupo SOHIN is positioning its Concierge service in the EU. What is the most relevant achievement of this service in Mexico and how will you replicate it in the EU?

A: Social entrepreneurs measure the impact of a project through the number of people they reach. We aim to offer our services to more patients and, for an entrepreneur, geographical barriers do not exist. Now that we have a partner in the EU, we aim to provide access to our services to that continent, starting with Spain.

Q: Before the pandemic, funding and investment for healthcare entrepreneurs were hard to get because results took a long time to materialize. How has this changed?

A: The enthusiasm for investing in the health sector was renewed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, investors do not understand the sector. Many see health as an attractive sector for investment but they lack experience in the industry. Some health initiatives offer magical solutions with unrealistic premises. It is a shame that these projects are being financed because they take funds away from viable initiatives. If they fail, these enthusiastic investments could end up driving away investment in health entrepreneurship due to bad experiences.

Q: How do you support entrepreneurs in healthcare through your position in the Mexican Association of Entrepreneurs (ASEM)?

A: ASEM has always had the same priority: to make Mexico a better place to start a business. The association has focused on promoting public policies. Our main priorities include generating certainty in early payments to SMEs and promoting female entrepreneurship. Training is also essential because we want passionate entrepreneurs who are prepared and capable of bringing their companies to the next level.

Q: What strategies is Grupo SOHIN implementing to promote female participation in the health sector?

A: In June, we will launch a group to monitor the labor conditions of women in the health sector. We will also present the Mujeres de la Medicina Mexicana documentary, directed by Carla Iberia Sánchez, to showcase the female talent that exists in the health sector. Finally, we will launch a program that aims to have more women specialized in the healthcare industry.

Q: How will Grupo SOHIN continue transforming care provision in the country?

A: Our goal is to lead an ecosystem of collaborative innovation that understands that health problems are larger than the capabilities of any single institution or company, so we all need to collaborate. We aim to continue strengthening healthcare in Mexico and in the other countries in which we operate.

Grupo SOHIN is a Mexican company that works to transform the care model of patients with chronic degenerative diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic renal failure.