Billy's father, William "Bill" L. Evans, co-runs Evans Hotels. He has held influential roles in San Diego, including District Chairman for the San Diego Tourism Marketing Board and board member of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Convention Center Corporation Board and the San Diego Historical Society, cementing the family’s role in shaping the city’s tourism landscape.
Billy, a La Jolla native and MIT graduate, grew up immersed in this legacy. Now 33, he's venturing into biotech with Haemanthus Lab, named after the blood lily flower. According to investor materials obtained by The New York Times and NPR,, the company aims to revolutionize diagnostics, starting with pet testing before expanding to humans, using a device that analyzes blood, saliva, and urine with lasers and deep learning. The Haemanthus device's physical design even bears a striking resemblance to Theranos' infamous Edison machine - complete with a digital display and inner laser system.
Despite the company's ambitious promises, what appears to be Haemanthus's own website suggests a lack of polish - or worse, a rush to appear legitimate without substance. The landing page features generic, boilerplate language that hasn’t even been customized: "Specializing in [insert field of specialization, e.g., biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics]," the site reads, ending with an awkward double period. It’s the first thing visitors see when navigating to the site, raising questions about the company’s credibility and attention to detail - particularly striking for a startup that claims it's on the cutting edge of diagnostic science.
The startup's ties to Holmes, who is serving an 11-year sentence with a February 2032 release date for defrauding investors through Theranos, raise red flags. Theranos' failed technology led to false diagnoses and a $9 billion collapse. Haemanthus has already raised $3.5 million from friends and family, with plans for $15 million more. The company says it hopes to bring its product to consumer markets within a few years and eventually raise $70 million to develop its human-facing technologies. Despite the parallels to Theranos, investor presentations for Haemanthus make no mention of Evans' connection to Holmes.
Though Haemanthus's early focus is on veterinary diagnostics - a growing multibillion-dollar market - Evans' ultimate goal is reportedly a stamp-sized wearable device for human health tracking. The startup claims to be using Raman spectroscopy, a light-detection technique previously used in military and medical settings, to power its AI-based analytics. Yet despite these lofty ambitions, some prominent venture capital firms have declined to invest, citing concerns about scientific rigor and regulatory clarity.
Evans, who previously worked at Luminar Technologies before relocating to Austin, Texas, where Haemanthus is now based, leads a team of about 10, many from Luminar. While Holmes is not formally involved in the company, sources confirm she is advising Evans from prison in Texas. Despite public fallout and a failed appeal of her conviction, Holmes has expressed interest in reentering the healthcare space upon release, saying she is still writing patents and working on inventions while incarcerated.
SanDiegoVille’s 2021 reporting on the Evans-Holmes connection prompted a swift reaction: the Instagram accounts for Catamaran Resort & Spa, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, and Bahia Resort blocked quickly us. This underscores the family's sensitivity to scrutiny as their San Diego legacy now intersects with a controversial biotech venture.
Given the couple's history and the staggering fall of Theranos, the reemergence of Holmes-adjacent diagnostics raises profound questions. Is Haemanthus a legitimate innovation in healthcare? Or is this prominent San Diego family once again linked to a high-stakes, high-risk biotech drama? For now, the Evans name remains etched into both the hospitality legacy of San Diego and the unfolding narrative of one of the tech world's most infamous scandals. Whether Haemanthus will rise as a phoenix or fall like its predecessor remains to be seen.
We reached out to William L. Evans and Evans Hotels Chief Marketing Officer Ilsa Butler for comment to include in this article but did not receive a response by the time of publishing. We also attempted to contact a representative from Haemanthus and Billy Evans through email.
Originally published on May 11, 2025.
