Nyhet

For Nordic healthtech companies expanding into the U.S. market is often seen as the ultimate growth milestone. The opportunity is significant. The demand is well established.

Yet many companies fail for a reason that has little to do with their technology.

This is the starting point for the upcoming Health3-2-1 workshop, led by Elizabeth Jennings, Managing Partner at Venture Atlas Labs. The session focuses on a critical gap in how international companies approach the U.S. market: understanding how value actually translates into revenue.

– I would say that the biggest mistake is assuming that the value propositions companies have in their home market translate into something that generates revenue in the U.S., and that it does so in a predictable manner, says Jennings.

Why don't impressive products mean impressive revenue?

For many European and Nordic companies, value propositions are shaped by systems that reward cost reduction, patient outcomes, efficiency and addressing staffing shortages. These pressures are often reinforced through public funding structures and innovation programs.

Those same value propositions do exist in the U.S.

– They’re needed, they’re strong, they’re good technologies. The challenge is that our economics are different.

The U.S. healthcare system is traditionally built around a fee-for-service model, where revenue is tied to volume rather than efficiency. This creates a structural mismatch for companies whose solutions are designed to reduce costs or improve workflows.

As a result, many companies default to a familiar strategy: pursuing reimbursement. Is the path of reimbursement the right path?

– There’s an overestimation that reimbursement is the way to succeed in the market or even to start generating revenue, says Jennings.

In practice, reimbursement is time-consuming, partially out of the company’s control and often comes with lower margins than expected. Even when companies succeed, they may find themselves competing on the same terms as everyone else rather than using the value propositions they developed in the Nordics to their advantage.

– By the time they get there, they’ve done a lot of work they didn’t anticipate, waited longer than they expected, and they’re just at table stakes.

At the same time, alternative pathways remain underutilized. The U.S. market is not a single system, but a set of overlapping models with different incentives.

What is the alternative?

– Companies can start within value-based care models while they’re waiting for traditional reimbursement, and actually compete in a way that reflects their strengths.

Value-based care models, where reimbursement is tied to outcomes and efficiency, have existed in the U.S. for decades and represent a substantial share of healthcare economics. Yet they are often overlooked by new entrants.

The challenge, according to Jennings, is not access. It is knowing where and how to compete.

From insight to action. This is what the workshop delivers

The Health 3-2-1 workshop is designed to translate this complexity into practical decision-making. Rather than focusing on general frameworks, the session centers on how companies navigate real situations: conversations with partners, early market entry decisions and commercialization strategy.

– The participants will be able to read the landscape. They’ll meet a lot of people and need to assess, is this useful for my next decision? How do I build my pathway into the U.S.?

A key focus is understanding how revenue is actually generated and how markets should be segmented based on who can pay, not just clinical specialty.

– It’s not just “I sell to cardiologists in New York.” It’s understanding which type of health system can actually pay you, how this changes across models, and how that differs across segments.

Participants will work through how budgets move across departments, how pricing strategies evolve and how different incentives interact, often in conflicting ways.

– In the U.S., we often have multiple incentives that work against each other. You need to understand how those pieces fit together when you make decisions.

The workshop also addresses a common challenge for companies entering a new market: conversations that seem promising but do not convert.

– Entrepreneurs often feel that conversations go well, but nothing happens. They’re not told why. This workshop gives them a way to diagnose what actually went wrong and adjust.

Bring clarity on where to win – and how to get there

One of the most tangible outcomes is a clearer understanding of where a company has a competitive edge and how to generate revenue without waiting indefinitely.

– They should be able to understand where they can get revenue at a reasonable cost, without waiting forever.

For some companies, that may mean adjusting their initial target market. For others, it may involve entering through adjacent segments to build early proof points before scaling further.

At the same time, the approach is not about abandoning what made the company successful in the first place.

– We don’t want companies to come to the U.S. and try to become something they’re not. Their value propositions, like cost savings or staffing efficiency, should be their advantage.

A central part of the workshop is therefore helping companies maintain their core strengths while adapting to a different economic logic.

Another key dimension is timing. According to Jennings, the U.S. healthcare landscape in 2026 differs significantly from just a few years ago, with shifts in incentives, structures and opportunities that many companies have not fully processed.

– What has happened in 2026 is not the world we had in 2025 or 2024.

The workshop provides updated, decision-oriented context to help companies assess not only how to enter the U.S., but whether they should enter at all.

– This is not about selling the U.S. market. It’s about giving companies the criteria to make the right decision.

This is a working session, not a theoretical overview

The format reflects that ambition.

The workshop is structured as an intensive one-and-a-half-day session, built around real-world case studies and interactive discussions. Participants work through scenarios they are likely to face, applying concepts directly to their own companies.

– It’s very interactive. We’ll work through real cases that are not always obvious, but reflect the kinds of problems they will actually encounter, says Jennings.

The final sessions open up for one-on-one discussions, where companies can test their own strategies directly.

– They can pressure-test their plans and think through their next steps in a very practical way.

The workshop is particularly relevant for companies planning U.S. expansion within the next six to twelve months, as well as those actively evaluating whether the U.S. should be their next market.

– They need this much sooner than they think, because opportunities don’t happen at a regular pace. You need to know how to navigate those conversations in advance.

A different type of workshop

Unlike many programs focused on market entry, this workshop does not concentrate on administrative steps such as legal setup or hiring consultants.

– You don’t need another workshop on how to hire lawyers. They do the same thing for every company.

Instead, the focus is on the decisions that determine success.

– This is not about table stakes. It’s about how to succeed.

The content is based on more than 15 years of hands-on experience working with international healthtech companies, spanning operations, commercialization and investment.

The Nordic advantage – and the gap

Nordic healthtech companies bring clear strengths into global markets. According to Jennings, the quality of research is consistently high, and solutions are often grounded in real clinical needs.

– The technologies that come out of the Nordics are usually very strong. You don’t see a lot of superficial solutions.

Companies also tend to operate efficiently and make disciplined decisions around resource allocation.

– They are very thoughtful about how they spend their money and how they build evidence that will translate to the next market.

At the same time, a key challenge remains when expanding internationally. – It comes down to not knowing what they don’t know yet.

This can lead to pursuing highly visible opportunities that are not strategically aligned, or underestimating the complexity of revenue generation in the U.S.

– There are far more opportunities than the obvious ones, but you have to understand which ones actually make sense for your company.

This is your investment in clarity

Ultimately, the workshop is designed to provide something many companies lack when entering the U.S.

Clarity.

– This is the content I wish I had known earlier. It’s not something you can Google. It teaches you how to think.

For companies aiming to succeed in the U.S. market, the value lies not in simplified answers, but in understanding the system well enough to navigate it independently.

– If you want to succeed in the U.S. and do it on your own terms, this is where you start.

The workshop takes place on April 28-29 for companies ready to approach the U.S. market with clarity.