Arturo Sánchez, Sofía | The Future of Healthtech in LatAm, Founder-Market Fit, and Going from Investor to Founder [Ep. 13]

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Latin America invests in health a percentage of Gross Domestic Product similar to Europe. However, less than 30% of Latin Americans believe that the quality of the healthcare system in their country is good. And, in case we had any doubts, COVID exposed the healthcare deficiencies in our region. Faced with the inability of governments and the private sector to offer better access and quality of healthcare, startups in healthtech have appeared as an alternative, and Sofía is one of them.

Today we have as a guest Arturo Sánchez, CEO and founder of the healthtech Sofía. Before Sofía, Arturo was an Investment Associate at Index Ventures, one of the most important venture capital funds in Europe. To date, Sofía has raised 25 million dollars from investors such as Index, Kaszek, and Ribbit Capital.

What You Can Learn Today

Problems in the healthcare sector in Latin America
Opportunities for healthtech solutions
Recommendations for building a health product

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Entrepreneurship in Healthtech and the Origin of Sofía

[2:00] - How did Arturo arrive at the world of startups?
- Master’s degree in England, internship at Songkick, and Index Ventures
[3:32] - What is Sofía and what problem does it solve within Healthtech?
[4:45] - Sofía’s current focus
[5:48] - Current solutions in the market vs Sofía
- Unexpected health expenses and an imbalance in personal finances
[7:33] - Who are Sofía’s current customers?
- Expansion of the number of people with health coverage
- Communication focused on health vs insurance as a financial product
[10:41] - What led Sofía’s founders to start in healthtech without having experience in the sector?
- Universality of health
- Addition of a doctor to the team

The Future of Healthtech in Latin America

[13:24] - What problems did they identify in the healthcare system and where did they see more opportunities to take advantage of technology?
- Disconnection of the elements within the healthcare system
- Nonexistence of a universal electronic medical record in Mexico
- Increase in the ease and clarity of the healthcare system
- Unlimited video consultations with an internist
- Sofía’s health plan as a holistic platform of specific services
[18:38] - Perspective on the future of Healthtech in Latin America: will the next big startups serve the entire value chain or focus on one part?
- Incentives to align companies’ interests with people’s health
- Focus on the reduction of the Lifetime Cost of Care
- Partnerships with preventive health solutions
[23:07] - How is the incentive for people to be healthier reflected in the risk assessment they do for their health insurance?
- Premium adjustment as patients’ risk conditions go down

How to Build a Healthtech: Sofía’s Experience

[26:10] - Recommendations to other entrepreneurs starting a healthtech, from Sofía’s experience
- Challenges and quality implications of the healthcare sector
- Building patiently, thinking about how critical a health product is
[29:03] - How did Arturo build his team’s culture while in “stealth mode” for almost 2 years?
- Intermediate milestones
- Improving people’s health as the team’s motivation

Doing Venture Capital Outside Latin America

[31:49] - What did Arturo learn at Index Ventures that influenced his way of starting Sofía and his current role as CEO?
- Strategic thinking about startups and market players
- Decision to create an insurer vs selling to insurers
[36:08] - How to support entrepreneurs who have not had such recognized work experiences?
- Education on how the Venture Capital system works
- Angel investment, increase in credibility, and advisory

Tweet Round

[40:05] -
- Verticals/trends in which Arturo would like to see more entrepreneurs: agroforestry, agriculture in forests
- Recommended books: The Hard Things About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz
- Changes in the Latin American startup ecosystem: greater access to capital and investment from outside LatAm
- Entrepreneurs to interview: Eduardo Paulsen and Mariana Castillo (Ben & Frank)