By 2015, adults aged 50 to 75 will make up 40 percent of the adult population. That has been a significant trend that has influenced the type of technologies startups are developing. A report by Start Up Health and the AARP revealed that investment in digital health companies that include technology of interest to Americans in the 50+ market rose 28 percent in the past year to $928 million by the end of the third quarter this year. But which categories attracted the most investment or saw the most deal activity? Here are a few indications.
Early-stage deals drove investment growth trends in the 50+ segment. The number of deals in this area have grown from $72 million in 2010 to $335 million by the end of September 2013.
Navigating the healthcare system attracted the most funding and deal activity — 78 deals generated $384 million in funding. Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jeff Arnold’s business Sharecare raised the most in this category with $68.2 million. Among its products, it offers a health risk assessment — the RealAge Test — and a social Q&A format tapping health and wellness experts to help “simplify” the search for information. Other notable investments in this category included Startup health insurer Oscar which raised $40 million, Pokitdoc netted $4 million and Caremerge which raised $2.1 million.
Vital sign monitoring had the largest average median deal size. Among the companies in this space, Proteus raised $62.5 million in a Series F round, Watermark Medical raised $32.2 million. Mc10 raised $18 million in a series D and Basis raised $11.5 million in a Series B round .
Emergency detection and response generated the second most deal growth. Intelomed raised $4 million in a series A, Podimetrics raised $2.5 million in a seed round, HotDot raised $3.2 million in a Series A, and Zephyr raised $2.5 million in a Series A.
Medication management/adherence is seen as an emerging category in digital health with companies such as My Meds and Me, MediSafe, ZappRx and HealthPrize.
