How purpose drove Hayley Saddington to medtech success

Entrepreneur Hayley Saddington explains how a childhood trauma was the genesis for founding two medtech ventures to improve healthcare access and digital rehabilitation

A childhood trauma transformed into an entrepreneurial purpose has driven Hayley Saddington to build two healthcare technology companies. When Ms Saddington’s father experienced a farming accident that required amputation, the seven-year-old witnessed firsthand the challenges of accessing healthcare in rural areas.

“We started to have to go to a lot of medical appointments and the follow-up, you know, post amputee. It was at that point I was like, ‘Okay, it’s so disruptive’. We were 500 kilometres from the nearest hospital that could help, so really sort of looking at what we could do to get them the care at ease was inground very early,” said Ms Saddington. This experience as a child became the catalyst for her future entrepreneurial ventures, as founder of Halo Medical Devices and then Peak Medical, a digital rehabilitation technology company that incorporates artificial intelligence into medical software solutions.

Ms Saddington, who was recently interviewed by Dr Juliet Bourke, Professor of Practice in the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School for The Business Of, a podcast from UNSW Business School, explained that a deep sense of purpose later guided her to identify a critical gap in physiotherapy practice while studying at university.

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She recalled observing physiotherapists using outdated tools for measuring range of motion. “Having the background of experiencing a loved one who needed this kind of physiotherapy tool – it was the only tool we would use to get a range of motion on a body. It was protractor-like, very archaic, often up to 30 degrees out and this is what we use as a gold standard on our loved ones,” she said.

Personal investments and building a medtech company

Ms Saddington’s journey began with a deeply personal investment. Before she started Halo and Halo Medical Devices, her partner at the time had passed away, which she described as a pivotal moment for her. This left her with a small inheritance, which she leveraged for an initial investment. “I used that small amount to start Halo, and I matched that with a grant that I applied for, which doubled it, and I was really careful on where every dollar went because it was money from the heart,” she said.

The development process started modestly. “We went to Bunnings and I brought some parts for this very manual, analogue-looking device, which evolved into this beautiful looking, white Halo with lasers,” Ms Saddington said. The path to market required learning multiple business aspects: “There’s all the other elements of the business, how do you name it? What product do you go with? What company name? How do you place this through the regulatory submission? How do you write a grant? And I Googled a lot of that.”

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She initiated sales through personal outreach, and at 6am in the morning she would take the units around to physiotherapists who would open early, and ask them if they would like to try them for the day. This process slowly generated customers and positive testimonials, according to Ms Saddington, who explained that this initial grassroots sales approach then broadened through distributors to get the product out to physiotherapists.

Navigating growth through strategic risk-taking

A significant milestone came with an appearance on Shark Tank, though the experience offered unexpected lessons. “We didn't spend hours rehearsing. I sort of rocked up to the studios and I knew my product so intimately,” Ms Saddington said.

While a deal was proposed on the show, it didn't materialise. "Even before we entered the due diligence process, we were told by one of those sharks that they need to be seen to invest in female leaders, and this will probably be the end of it because that had been visualised on TV," she revealed.

Despite this setback, Ms Saddington pursued international opportunities. She spent a week in New York and lined up as many appointments as she could – one of them being with an NBA team. “I talked to the athletic trainers who got what we were doing really, really quickly and I left a unit with them," she said. Her approach to networking proved effective: "You're only ever two or three points of separation from them. And I think if you are authentic in your approach and you clearly establish why you're going to help them, people are pretty open in connecting you."

This strategy led to broader success, she added: “We then were in the major baseball league as well. The codes over here as well – the AFL and the Roosters. So it kind of cascaded because it’s a small world, the elite sports, and they all like accuracy and ease.”

Evolving business models in healthcare technology

Ms Saddington’s second venture, Peak Medical, represents an evolution in both business model and personal priorities. “Peak Medical is an AI rehabilitation platform for care – for anyone who needs it, anywhere, anytime. It’s clinical advice using artificial intelligence in the home,” she explained.

The platform is designed to address critical gaps in patient care, and the shift from hardware to software came from recognising market challenges: “Peak was something unique in the sense that it was a clear medical software,” she said. “Halo was a medical hardware. I decided to move away from the medical hardware element because logistics and the world shut down a little bit over covid, and it was hard to get parts. It was hard to get shipments delivered... software’s the answer. It just has no barriers. We can get it anywhere, anytime. We can run updates. It’s highly scalable.”

The venture also reflects Ms Saddington’s approach to measuring success. With Halo, for example, she defined success by financial metrics, such as units sold, multiples of revenue, and how much she could exit the business for. With Peak Medical, she says she has taken a more balanced perspective: “Success is more about, as a CEO, am I there with my four-year-old each night? Yes, we have financial metrics, but there’s a more holistic approach in the second company,” she said. “Maybe because it’s my second company, maybe it’s because I’ve changed as a person and very much grown.”

Key takeaways for business professionals

For other aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs, Ms Saddington’s journey offers several practical insights. For example, she emphasised the importance of maintaining connection to purpose while building scalable solutions. "Healthcare equality is the heart of Peak and those patients who I connect with every day," she said.

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Her experience also taught her to balance external advice with internal wisdom – "just to listen to my own intuition. At the beginning of my career, I hadn't done anything before in the health tech space,” she said. “If I had anchored to my intuition a little bit more it perhaps would have streamlined."

For those starting their entrepreneurial journey, Ms Saddington said it is important to think beyond immediate constraints. "Think bigger. And that can only be encompassed or enabled if you personally, as a person, can think bigger," she said. She advocates working with mentors who can expand your perspective while maintaining authentic connections with customers and stakeholders.