Gross Margin for HealthTech at Series B
About This Metric
Revenue minus cost of goods sold, expressed as a percentage. For SaaS, this is typically 70-85%.
Higher is better · Unit: percentage
How to Improve
Ehsan's Analysis
HealthTech gross margins are compressed by two costs other software companies do not face: clinical validation and regulatory compliance. A pure SaaS company spends $0 on validating that its product produces correct outputs. A healthtech company processing medical images or making clinical recommendations must continuously validate accuracy, maintain FDA clearances, and carry professional liability insurance. These costs sit in COGS, not OpEx, reducing gross margins to 55-65% versus 75-85% for standard SaaS. The healthtech companies with 70%+ gross margins (Veeva, Doximity) sell information and workflow tools, not clinical decision support. The margin lesson: if your healthtech product's output influences clinical decisions, budget 15-20% of revenue for ongoing validation and compliance. If your product is a workflow tool that happens to serve healthcare (scheduling, billing, communication), you can achieve standard SaaS margins.
Ehsan Jahandarpour
AI Growth Strategist & Fractional CMO · Forbes Top 20 Growth Hacker · TEDx Speaker · 716 Academic Citations