The partner of imprisoned Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Billy Evans, has reportedly raised millions of dollars for a new health tech startup called Haemanthus.
Following reports that Holmes is advising Evans on the startup from prison—where she’s currently serving an 11-year sentence for misleading investors about her medical startup, Theranos—Haemanthus denied the disgraced founder had any involvement in the company.
“We’re Haemanthus. Yes, our CEO, Billy Evans, is Elizabeth Holmes’ partner. Skepticism is rational. We must clear a higher bar,” the company wrote.
“This is not Theranos 2.0. Theranos attempted to miniaturize existing tests. Our approach is fundamentally different. We use light to read the complete molecular story in biological fluids, seeing patterns current tests can’t detect. Not an improvement. A different paradigm.”
“Setting the record straight. Elizabeth Holmes has zero involvement in Haemanthus. We’ve learned from her company’s mistakes, but she has no role, now or future,” the company said, adding its mission was to combine photonics and AI to “detect disease earlier and with unprecedented precision.”
Haemanthus is still in its early development phase, NPR reported, citing a source familiar with the company, and has mainly raised funds from family, friends, and other supporters.
It is currently leveraging light detection technology to enable AI-driven medical diagnostics, a method detailed in a patent the company secured in January.
Central to its approach is something called Raman spectroscopy—a technique with applications in identifying Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and certain cancers.
Fortune could not reach Evans for comment by press time.
Holmes is still planning to return to the healthcare sector despite her public fall from grace.
As part of a settlement she reached with the SEC in 2018, Holmes is banned from leading public companies due to her fraud conviction.
The former Theranos CEO was convicted of defrauding investors in January 2022 and sentenced later that year to over 11 years in federal prison.
Her projected release is currently set for April 2032.
