- Billy Evans, partner of incarcerated Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, has reportedly raised millions for a new diagnostic startup called Haemanthus. In a public statement, the company has said Holmes holds no formal role at the startup and insisted Haemanthus was not “Theranos 2.0.” Holmes is currently serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding Theranos investors.
The partner of imprisoned Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Billy Evans, has reportedly raised millions of dollars for a new health tech startup called Haemanthus.
Haemanthus, which is Greek for “blood flower,” is developing AI-powered diagnostic tools using light detection technology, according to NPR.
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 using AI-driven medical diagnostics
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.
According to a report from The New York Times, Evans’s company has marketed itself as pursuing “human health optimization” and is developing a blood, saliva, and urine testing device that resembles Holmes’s notorious Theranos machines.
Fortune could not reach Evans for comment by press time.
Holmes plans to re-enter the biotech space
Holmes is still planning to return to the healthcare sector despite her public fall from grace.
In a February interview with People magazine, Holmes said she is aiming to reenter the biotech industry after her release from prison and has been drafting patents for new inventions during her incarceration.
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.
After self-surrendering to a minimum-security federal facility in Bryan, Texas, in May 2023, she has seen multiple unsuccessful appeals, including a recent unanimous denial by the Ninth Circuit in May 2025.
Her projected release is currently set for April 2032.
