Do you take equity as a healthtech co-founder?

Cash at monthly rates is my preference. I do not take equity typically — for pre-seed and seed founders with tight cash, we may discuss reduced cash plus small equity case by case. Equity-only engagements are not my preference because they align incentives in ways that conflict with founder interests often. For healthtech founders expecting long engagements (18+ months through fundraising), clean cash arrangement keeps the relationship professional.

What about FDA regulatory path?

I help scope the FDA regulatory path appropriate to your product — SaMD classification, 510(k) vs De Novo vs PMA, clinical evidence requirements. Running the actual submission is done with a regulatory affairs consultant or dedicated RA team. I build engineering artifacts the submission needs — design controls, risk analysis, change management, traceability. Budget 6 to 18 months for submission process depending on class.

How do you pair with clinical co-founders?

Weekly sync (45 to 60 minutes) on product and priorities. Async daily updates. Shared 'clinical logic' document capturing care rules and protocols the clinical co-founder edits directly. I translate clinical logic into technical implementation with careful reviews. This pattern avoids the translation-layer bugs that kill healthtech projects. Clinical logic in a document maintained by clinicians; technical implementation in code reviewed by me.

Do you attend investor meetings?

Yes. For healthtech founders raising, I attend technical due diligence calls, architecture walkthroughs, and pitch meetings where tech is a topic. Preparation beforehand on expected questions. For highly technical investor audiences (health-tech-focused funds, corporate ventures), the CTO presence materially affects outcomes. Typically 2 to 6 meetings across a fundraise cycle.

How do you handle HIPAA scope?

HIPAA scope for healthtech depends on product type. Direct-to-patient tools touching PHI need full HIPAA with BAAs with every vendor. B2B tools selling to providers have similar requirements. Wellness apps below HIPAA threshold may not need full compliance — but often benefit from the posture for future expansion. I scope HIPAA appropriately and document posture for investor and partner review.

Healthtech fractional CTO

A fractional CTO acting as healthtech technical co-founder

Architecture, fundraising support, pairing with clinical co-founders for pre-Series A healthtech. $4,500/mo Advisory, $8,500/mo full.

Available for new projects

See Fractional CTO

Starting at $4,500/mo · monthly retainer

Who this is for

Healthtech founder with a clinical co-founder, pre-seed to Series A, who needs an investor-ready team and cannot afford full-time CTO hire yet.

The pain today

No tech co-founder to anchor investor conversations
Clinical co-founder cannot evaluate engineering decisions
Architecture that fits regulatory path is out of their depth
Investor due diligence requires technical credibility
Hiring full-time CTO is 6 to 9 months and expensive

The outcome you get

Fractional healthtech CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo
Technical co-founder role for fundraising
Architecture matched to regulatory path (SaMD, HIPAA, etc)
Investor due diligence preparation
Hiring plan for first engineering team

Why healthtech founders hire a fractional CTO pre-Series A

Three reasons. Investor credibility — healthtech investors scrutinise the team and the absence of a technical leader kills deals. Regulatory path decisions — SaMD classification, HIPAA architecture, data governance choices made in year one are expensive to reverse. Engineering leadership — first hires made without senior oversight compound issues for years. Fractional CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo delivers all three from week one. Compared to full-time CTO hire ($300k+ loaded, 6 to 9 months), the economics are clear for pre-Series A.

Architecture that fits the regulatory path

Healthtech regulatory paths vary dramatically. SaMD (Software as Medical Device, FDA clearance required) demands different architecture than HIPAA-only patient tools. Clinical decision support has different requirements than administrative automation. For each product, I help you pick the regulatory path appropriate to the MVP, then architect for it. Over-engineering regulatory compliance kills runway; under-engineering kills the product at first audit. I have shipped for Barclays and Bain-backed GigEasy (regulated fintech) and understand how to balance.

Investor interactions and due diligence

For healthtech founders raising, technical due diligence is often the make-or-break moment. Investors (and their advisors) probe: architecture, team, regulatory readiness, scalability, data strategy, moat. Without a CTO, founders struggle to answer. With a fractional CTO, answers land cleanly. Preparation for DD: architecture decision records (ADRs), regulatory posture documentation, scalability plan, security controls list, team roadmap. Attending DD calls as needed. GigEasy's 3-week MVP demonstrated this investor-readiness pattern at the pitch stage.

Pricing tiers

CTO Advisory $4,500/mo — 1 to 2 days per week. Strategic input, architecture, investor support. For founders with existing senior engineer needing oversight. Fractional CTO $8,500/mo — 3 days per week. Deep CTO role — architecture, hiring, investor prep, team building. For founders without a senior engineer. 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime. NDA and BAA standard. US LLC invoicing. Typically 6 to 18 months through fundraising and into first engineering hires.

Case: GigEasy — MVP-to-investor playbook

GigEasy: 3-week investor-ready MVP from scratch for Barclays and Bain Capital-backed founders. Stack: Laravel, React, AWS, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, Pulumi. 70 percent faster than typical 10-week industry cycle. Zero post-launch fires. Investor demo on schedule. The playbook: disciplined scope, senior engineering from day one, investor-ready architecture decisions. Same approach applies directly to healthtech MVPs — compressed timeline, compliance baseline, investor credibility.

When you need a full-time CTO with clinical domain depth

For healthtech products with deep clinical specificity (oncology platforms, radiology AI, surgical workflow), a full-time CTO with clinical informatics background may outperform a general-purpose fractional. I help you evaluate. For most healthtech MVPs and Series A, a senior engineer-MBA with fintech-grade discipline delivers the core CTO work; clinical domain expertise lives with the co-founder or advisors. At Series A+, when engineering team grows and clinical-informatics decisions become product-strategic, full-time CTO transition may be right.

Recent proof

A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.

Startup MVP Development

Built and shipped an investor-ready MVP from scratch

Built the entire technological base and delivered MVP in just 3 weeks, enabling a successful rapid launch and investor demo.

FintechMVP in 3 weeksInvestor-ready demoSeed funding enabled

Read the case study

Frequently asked questions

The questions prospects ask before they book.

Do you take equity as a healthtech co-founder?: Cash at monthly rates is my preference. I do not take equity typically — for pre-seed and seed founders with tight cash, we may discuss reduced cash plus small equity case by case. Equity-only engagements are not my preference because they align incentives in ways that conflict with founder interests often. For healthtech founders expecting long engagements (18+ months through fundraising), clean cash arrangement keeps the relationship professional.
What about FDA regulatory path?: I help scope the FDA regulatory path appropriate to your product — SaMD classification, 510(k) vs De Novo vs PMA, clinical evidence requirements. Running the actual submission is done with a regulatory affairs consultant or dedicated RA team. I build engineering artifacts the submission needs — design controls, risk analysis, change management, traceability. Budget 6 to 18 months for submission process depending on class.
How do you pair with clinical co-founders?: Weekly sync (45 to 60 minutes) on product and priorities. Async daily updates. Shared 'clinical logic' document capturing care rules and protocols the clinical co-founder edits directly. I translate clinical logic into technical implementation with careful reviews. This pattern avoids the translation-layer bugs that kill healthtech projects. Clinical logic in a document maintained by clinicians; technical implementation in code reviewed by me.
Do you attend investor meetings?: Yes. For healthtech founders raising, I attend technical due diligence calls, architecture walkthroughs, and pitch meetings where tech is a topic. Preparation beforehand on expected questions. For highly technical investor audiences (health-tech-focused funds, corporate ventures), the CTO presence materially affects outcomes. Typically 2 to 6 meetings across a fundraise cycle.
How do you handle HIPAA scope?: HIPAA scope for healthtech depends on product type. Direct-to-patient tools touching PHI need full HIPAA with BAAs with every vendor. B2B tools selling to providers have similar requirements. Wellness apps below HIPAA threshold may not need full compliance — but often benefit from the posture for future expansion. I scope HIPAA appropriately and document posture for investor and partner review.

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