Elizabeth Holmes, 41, is currently in prison for defrauding investors through her infamous blood-testing startup Theranos.
Now, her partner and the father of her two children, Billy Evans, has founded a blood-testing startup—but the company insists it isn’t Theranos 2.0.
Related: ‘It’s Been Hell’: Disgraced Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Says Prison Life Involves Reading ‘Harry Potter’ and Working for 31 Cents an Hour
The New York Times reports that Evans, 33, is working on a new company called Haemanthus, Greek for “blood flower,” which focuses on detecting diseases through small samples of blood, urine, and saliva. According to investor materials viewed by The Times, Evans has raised $3.5 million for the startup from friends and family and is reaching out to investors in Austin and San Francisco for an additional $15 million in funding this spring.
Haemanthus was incorporated in February 2024 and is focused on animal tests and pet health care before expanding to humans.
Earlier this month, the startup received its first patent for a small, box-like machine that uses lasers to process blood, saliva, or urine samples. According to marketing materials, the machine can identify cancers, infections, and illnesses to make diagnoses with laser technology. Haemanthus’ marketing materials outline its long-term goal of eventually developing a small, wearable version of the machine for humans.
Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans. Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images
Holmes’ company, Theranos, also attempted to diagnose diseases from a small sample of blood using a box-like machine, the Edison. The company, which Holmes founded in 2003, had a $9 billion valuation by 2015 but gained infamy after Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou exposed that its technology yielded inaccurate readings and depended on third-party technology to perform its tests.
The startup collapsed in September 2018, and in November 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison after being found guilty of defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. She began serving her sentence in May 2023.
Holmes met Evans in 2017, and the couple now has two children.
Sources told NPR that though Holmes is imprisoned in a federal facility in Bryan, Texas, she has been giving Evans advice on Haemanthus.
Related: Elizabeth Holmes ‘Giggles’ About Her Faux Deep Voice and Recalls ‘Sleeping in Walmart Parking Lots’ in RV Ahead of Trial
The startup denies the claims. Haemanthus turned to X over the weekend to clarify that “this is not Theranos 2.0” and that Holmes has “zero involvement” in the company.
“We’ve learned from her company’s mistakes, but she has no role, now or future,” the startup wrote in an X thread on Sunday.
The startup says it takes a “fundamentally different” approach from Theranos by using lasers to process blood and other fluids.
“Theranos attempted to miniaturize existing tests,” Haemanthus wrote on X. “Our approach is fundamentally different. We use light to read the complete molecular story in biological fluids, seeing patterns current tests can’t detect.”
3/ 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. NYT & @NPR implied otherwise. We’ve stayed quiet to build real tech, not conceal. Demonstrating, not promising.— haemanthus (@haemanthusinc) May 11, 2025
Haemanthus has about 10 employees under Evans, The New York Times reports.
Holmes is expected to be released from prison on August 16, 2032.
