LAIS

What LAIS does

LAIS (Laboratório de Inovação Tecnológica em Saúde) is a health technology innovation laboratory headquartered inside the Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes (HUOL) in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and structurally affiliated with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Founded in 2011 and designated as a WHO Collaborating Center for Technology Development and Health Innovation, LAIS develops digital health platforms, telemedicine infrastructure, and biomedical devices for the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). Its core technology stack integrates digital health, telemedicine, artificial intelligence applied to medical text, data science, and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), built on HL7 FHIR interoperability and integration with the national Rede Nacional de Dados em Saúde (RNDS).

The product portfolio is organized around named programs that operate inside SUS workflows: AVASUS provides distance learning for SUS professionals; Sífilis Não addresses syphilis prevention; revELA and ELA Home Care deliver remote monitoring and care for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients; RegulaRN and Core Saúde MG manage hospital regulation and patient flow in Rio Grande do Norte and Minas Gerais; RN+Vacina manages vaccination campaigns; CoronavirusRN provides pandemic surveillance; SALUS hosts health management dashboards; and Fiscaliza RN applies computational intelligence to SUS auditing. Medical device R&D includes Caneta à Plasma (low-temperature plasma treatment), Autonomus, and Olho Biônico (bionic vision prosthesis). LAIS also operates the NITS nucleus for patents, partnerships, and technology transfer, and maintains a scientific repository documenting 440+ articles, 75 books, 133 registered software programs, 12 patent applications, and 452+ outreach activities. Leadership rests with Executive Director Ricardo Valentim, recognized four consecutive times as one of the 100 Most Influential in Health in Brazil.

LAIS does not operate a commercial sales motion. It is funded primarily through Brazilian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education research grants executed via TED (Termo de Execução Descentralizada) agreements, supplemented by international cooperation funding (including an EU-approved joint project with the University of Coimbra) and institutional support from UFRN and HUOL. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The customer base is entirely public-sector, spanning federal ministries, state health departments (Rio Grande do Norte, Minas Gerais), municipal governments, university hospitals, and multilateral partners including PAHO/WHO and EBSERH. LAIS reaches an international footprint through research collaborations with universities in Colombia, the United States (Johns Hopkins), Spain, France, Canada, and Portugal.

Name

LAIS

Legal name

Laboratório de Inovação Tecnológica em Saúde

Website

https://lais.huol.ufrn.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

LAIS is a WHO-recognized health technology innovation laboratory at UFRN and HUOL in Brazil, building digital health platforms, telemedicine tools, and biomedical devices for the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and its federal and state partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Health Platforms

NAICS

Administration of Public Health Programs (92312), Software Publishers (513210), Health Care and Social Assistance (62)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Data, Vital Statistics & Population Health Informatics (BPAIAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

SaMD – Monitoring, Triage & Risk Stratification Software (HLACANAE), Virtual Nursing, Telemonitoring & Command Center Platforms (HLACAFAH), Virtual Specialty Care Platforms (tele-stroke, tele-ICU, tele-derm, tele-cardiology) (HLALABAD), Consent, Documentation & Certification (Records/Passports/Proof of Vaccination) (HLAJAHAM)

Keywords

• Digital health platforms
• Public health innovation
• Telemedicine systems
• Health technology research
• Hospital regulation software

Headquarters

HQ city

Natal

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

LAIS develops and deploys digital health software platforms, telemedicine systems, and medical devices for the Brazilian public health system (SUS). Its portfolio includes hospital regulation platforms (RegulaRN, Core Saúde MG), vaccination management (RN+Vaccine), disease surveillance (CoronavirusRN, Observatório da Dengue), distance learning (AVASUS), public health intervention projects (Sífilis Não, revELA), and telehealth services (Telessaúde-RN), along with medical device research in plasma technology, bionic vision, and autonomous health systems.

Product overview

LAIS (Laboratório de Inovação Tecnológica em Saúde) is a health technology innovation laboratory affiliated with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes. The organization operates as a multi-platform portfolio comprising digital health solutions, medical devices, and telehealth systems. Core products include AVASUS (distance learning environment for SUS), Sífilis Não (syphilis prevention), revELA Project (ALS care), RN+Vaccine (vaccination management), RegulaRN and Core Saúde MG (hospital regulation), CoronavirusRN (pandemic tracking), SALUS (health indicators), and Fiscaliza RN (SUS auditing). Medical device offerings include Caneta à Plasma (plasma pen), Autonomus, and Olho Biônico (bionic eye). The Scientific Repository documents 133 registered software programs and 12 patent applications. The NITS (Technology Innovation Nucleus) manages intellectual property and partnerships. LAIS emphasizes 'humanitarian science' combining technology with health and education for public system development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sífilis Não: Project addressing syphilis prevention and control in Brazil
• revELA Project
• AVASUS
• CoronavirusRN
• RegulaRN
• RN+Vaccine
• SALUS
• Fiscaliza RN
• Osseus

Products and services

• AVASUS (Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem do SUS) Virtual Learning Environment for SUS providing distance education resources and courses for healthcare professionals across Brazil's public health system.
• Sífilis Não Project for rapid response to syphilis in care networks, focused on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of syphilis across Brazil.
• revELA Project Project focused on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ELA/ALS) care, including home care monitoring, rehabilitation, and comprehensive patient support.
• RN+Vaccine Vaccination management system for Rio Grande do Norte state, improving vaccine coverage and immunization tracking.
• RegulaRN Hospital regulation system for SUS in Rio Grande do Norte, managing patient referrals and bed allocation across the healthcare network.
• CoronavirusRN COVID-19 monitoring and surveillance system for Rio Grande do Norte, tracking cases, hospitalizations, and pandemic indicators.
• SALUS Health management platform with indicators dashboard for monitoring public health metrics and outcomes.
• Fiscaliza RN SUS auditing platform using computational intelligence methods and tools for audit processes in the Brazilian health system.
• Osseus Bone tissue engineering research project for tissue regeneration applications in healthcare.
• Caneta à Plasma (Plasma Pen) Medical device using low-temperature plasma technology for biomedical treatment applications including wound healing.
• Autonomus Autonomous medical technology device developed by LAIS for health applications.
• Olho Biônico (Bionic Eye) Bionic eye project for visual impairment treatment and assistive technology development.
• Telessaúde-RN Telehealth platform providing remote healthcare consultations, telediagnosis, and continuing education for health professionals in Rio Grande do Norte.
• Core Saúde MG Hospital regulation system for SUS in Minas Gerais state, making hospital regulation faster and more efficient.
• Repositório Científico do LAIS Online scientific repository providing access to LAIS publications, books, patents, software programs, and outreach activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Core Saúde MG platform makes SUS hospital regulation in Minas Gerais faster and more efficient
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature12 records

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary institutional host of LAIS. UFRN provides academic infrastructure, research personnel, and institutional framework for LAIS activities within the university system.
• Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes (HUOL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity hospital serving as LAIS headquarters location and primary clinical implementation partner for health technology projects.
• Empresa Brasileira de Serviços Hospitalares (EBSERH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian Hospital Services Company managing university hospitals, providing the hospital infrastructure network for LAIS technology deployment.
• Pan American Health Organization / Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde (PAHO/WHO)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLAIS is designated as a WHO Collaborating Center for Technology Development and Health Innovation. PAHO/WHO provides international recognition, technical guidance, and collaborative framework for global health technology initiatives.
• Ministério da Saúde (Brazilian Ministry of Health)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government funding and implementation partner. Ministry provides research grants via TED agreements for national health technology projects including telediagnosis, telessaúde, and health economics research.
• Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazil's unified public health system as the primary implementation environment and beneficiary of LAIS health technology platforms and innovations.
• Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Brazilian public health research institution collaborating on health innovation and research initiatives.
• Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian health regulatory agency collaborating on regulatory frameworks for health technology and digital health solutions.
• Ministério da Educação (Brazilian Ministry of Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry providing institutional support and funding for LAIS educational technology and distance learning initiatives.
• Secretaria de Educação a Distância (SEDIS/UFRN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistance education secretariat collaborating on AVASUS platform and other digital learning initiatives.
• Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean university partner collaborating on international research projects. European Union approved funding for joint project developed by LAIS/UFRN and University of Coimbra.
• Universidade Aberta de PortugalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortuguese open university collaborating on open and distance education research and health technology innovation.
• Universidade Autônoma de BarcelonaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish university collaborating on health technology and innovation research.
• Universidade Complutense de MadridminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish university collaborating on academic research and health technology exchange.
• Universidade de LorraineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench university collaborating on health research and technology development.
• Universidade de Athabasca (Canada)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanadian open university collaborating on distance education and open learning research.
• Conselho Internacional de Educação Aberta e a Distância (ICDE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Council for Open and Distance Education providing global network for open and distance learning collaboration.
• Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (UERN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState university in Rio Grande do Norte collaborating on regional health education and technology initiatives.
• Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal rural university in the semi-arid region collaborating on health and agricultural technology research.
• Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal institute for technical education collaborating on technology and innovation education.
• Prefeitura do Jaboatão dos GuararapesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal government collaborating on local health technology and public health initiatives.
• Prefeitura de Campo Grande (MS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal government of Campo Grande collaborating on health management and digital health projects.
• Prefeitura Municipal de Viana (ES)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal government collaborating on local health technology initiatives in Espírito Santo state.
• Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Dispositivos Médicos (ABIMO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian medical devices industry association collaborating on medical device innovation and development.
• Instituto Capixaba de Ensino, Pesquisa e Inovação em SaúdeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCapixaba institute for education, research, and innovation in health collaborating on regional health technology initiatives.
• Johns Hopkins University (USA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrestigious US university collaborating on health technology research. Professor Lúcio Gama from Johns Hopkins visited LAIS and praised the quality of scientific and social work.
• Universidade Nacional da ColômbiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational University of Colombia collaborating on international health technology projects. Professor María Guzman visited LAIS to learn about projects and take ideas back to Colombia.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• OpenMRS: OpenMRS is an open-source electronic medical record platform developed by a global community and deployed in low-resource settings, including via PAHO/WHO programs. Highly comparable to LAIS in mission, open-source model, and focus on serving public health systems with digital health software.
• Conexa Saúde: Conexa Saúde is one of Brazil's largest telehealth platforms, connecting patients with physicians virtually. Direct competitor in the Brazilian telehealth market where LAIS's Telessaúde-RN operates, and comparable in serving both public and private healthcare demand.
• DHIS2 (HISP Centre, University of Oslo): DHIS2 is the leading open-source health information management platform used by ministries of health in 80+ low- and middle-income countries. Directly comparable to LAIS as both build open, interoperable health information systems for public health authorities and serve government customers with population-scale data platforms.
• Regenstrief Institute: Regenstrief is a US-based health informatics research institute affiliated with Indiana University that operates a statewide health information exchange. Its university-affiliated research model, FHIR-based interoperability work, and population-scale data networks closely mirror LAIS's structure and mission.
• MV Sistemas: MV Sistemas is Brazil's leading hospital information systems vendor, serving over 1,000 healthcare institutions including EBSERH-affiliated university hospitals. Direct competitor to LAIS for digital health platform contracts within the Brazilian public health system.

Broad incumbents

• Teladoc Health: Teladoc is the world's largest commercial telehealth provider, offering virtual care across multiple specialties. While much larger and commercial, it competes in the same virtual care category as LAIS's Telessaúde-RN platform and provides a benchmark for telehealth scale.
• Health Catalyst: Health Catalyst provides healthcare data and analytics platforms to health systems. Comparable in delivering population health insights and analytics (akin to LAIS's SALUS and Fiscaliza RN), but as a commercial incumbent rather than public-sector specialist.
• Epic Systems: Epic is the dominant US electronic health record vendor serving large hospital systems. Comparable as a comprehensive health IT platform provider but operates at vastly greater commercial scale and is not focused on public health or low-resource settings.
• Oracle Health (formerly Cerner): Oracle Health offers large-scale hospital information systems and population health platforms globally. Overlaps with LAIS in hospital IT and health data interoperability but targets commercial hospital customers rather than public health systems.

Others

• Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz): Fiocruz is Brazil's leading public health research institution and a named LAIS partner. Functions more as a research collaborator than direct competitor, but shares the public-sector health innovation mandate and represents an adjacent ecosystem participant.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/LaisHuol
• Xx.com/laishuol
• Facebookfacebook.com/LAIS.HUOL
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lais

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LAIS