Haemanthus: Rising from Theranos’ Ashes in a Biotech Redemption Quest

I’m no stranger to tech hype, but when Haemanthus hit my radar, it felt like a plot twist straight out of a Silicon Valley thriller. A new diagnostics startup, led by Billy Evans—partner to Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder—promising to revolutionize health testing with a device that scans blood, saliva, and urine in seconds? It’s bold, it’s audacious, and it’s haunted by a billion-dollar ghost. Haemanthus, named for the Greek “blood flower,” is wielding Raman spectroscopy and AI, starting with veterinary clinics to dodge the FDA’s glare.

With Holmes whispering advice from prison, this is biotech’s most polarizing comeback story. To get why it’s such a lightning rod, let’s rewind to the catastrophe that birthed it.