The level of venture capital flowing into digital health startups has increased 120 percent over the year to reach more than $4 billion, according to a forthcoming report from Rock Health.
The San Francisco-based accelerator released a preview of some highlights, with a full report due out Jan. 1.
The numbers could change slightly, with the final week of December still being tallied, according to Rock Health. But as it stands, 2014 was an excellent year — the yearly 120 percent growth in funding represented an actual growth of $2.2 billion and funding through the first half of the year exceeded the total amount of funding in 2013.
Compound annual growth in funding increased by 44 percent, while 287 companies have been funded, which is 107 more than the year prior for a year-over-year growth rate of 58 percent.
Rock Health’s figures don’t include deals less than $2 million, so the full numbers are sure to be even higher.
The most popular categories funded in digital health include analytics and big data, healthcare consumer engagement, digital medical devices, personalized medicine, telemedicine and population health management
“Categories we believe will continue to see significant growth in 2015 include telemedicine, payer administration, and personal health tools/tracking, digital therapies, healthcare consumer engagement, and hospital administration,” rock Health said in a preview of the report.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Rock Health has more than 50 startups in its portfolio. Check back later this week for the full report.
