The Ghost of Theranos: Why Billy Evans’ $20M Startup Already Has a Corpse

(SeaPRwire) –

Billy Evans is trying to sell blood tests with a laser pointer. Haemanthus, his Austin-based startup, has raised $20 million, holds a patent, and boasts about molecular diagnostics. What it lacks is a product. The company has no FDA clearance, no published clinical data, and no device a doctor could actually use tomorrow. Evans met Elizabeth Holmes in 2017 when Theranos was already burning. They have two children together. He calls her his wife. She says they were never legally married. Now A24 dropped a documentary called *You Can See Everything*, and the press is asking the question everyone is thinking. Is this Theranos 2.0?

Haemanthus claims its technology uses Raman spectroscopy to scan blood, saliva, and urine for biomarkers like glucose and hormones. The technique is decades old. Forensic labs use handheld Raman devices at crime scenes. Researchers can analyze substances through plastic bags without opening them. Blood is a harder problem. The target molecules are present in tiny amounts. Their signals are faint. Other components in blood produce stronger signals that drown them out, according to a review in *Applied Spectroscopy*. The company says its approach is fundamentally different from Theranos. Holmes tried to miniaturize existing tests. Haemanthus writes on X that it is doing something else entirely. A patent granted in January 2025 lists former CTO Joseph LaChapelle as one of two inventors. LaChapelle resigned on March 16, 2026, citing a conflict of interest with a stealth startup he founded before joining Haemanthus. Evans told Forbes he let the CTO go. The company denies Holmes is involved. The documentary shows them on fundraising calls together.

Here is what the money tells us. Haemanthus raised $3.5 million from friends and family initially. In spring 2025, it approached wealthy investors in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area for another $15 million. Investor materials described a wearable device for humans that would take three years and $70 million to develop. *WIRED* reports the company has now received as much as $20 million. Evans claimed early Palantir employees had invested. The company has yet to launch a commercial product or disclose independently validated diagnostic results. A UC Irvine chemistry professor, Eric Potma, consults for the firm but declined to discuss specifics. The veterinary angle is deliberate. The FDA does not require premarket approval for animal devices. That market is far less regulated. The company is buying time.

The documentary muddies everything further. It shows Evans telling Nathan Fielder, “The idea is to put the band back together and do it all again.” Forbes notes those calls may have been for a different project. A source close to Evans told *New York Magazine* the film depicted a separate venture aimed at making medical testing cheaper without conventional chemical methods. That project was shelved when a panel of tests still cost several hundred dollars. Evans asked for a share of the documentary profits. Fielder says they reluctantly agreed. Evans has acknowledged the film may backfire. He told the All-In Summit before seeing the cut that he might think it was the dumbest thing he has ever done. The truth is simple. Evans has patents, investors, and a missing CTO. He has no product. The market does not care about your laser. It cares about whether your test works. Haemanthus has not proven that yet.