Health IT, Startups

Patient empowerment brings in funding as digital health deal volume trends upwards

A digital health funding report from StartUp Health notes that there have been 414 deals thus far in 2018, up from 344 deals at the same point in 2017. Additionally, it highlights how patient empowerment is the most funded function (or a company's main activity) so far this year.

A midyear funding report from StartUp Health casts a positive light on the digital health investment landscape thus far in 2018, noting that there has already been $6.1 billion raised in 414 deals. This compares to 344 deals at the same point in 2017.

Meanwhile, an interest in patients seems to be taking center stage. Patient empowerment is the most funded function (or a company’s main activity) so far this year, according to the report. The category involved 104 deals and a total of $1.04 billion raised. Patients are also the second most funded end users, coming in only behind providers.

Aside from patient empowerment, StartUp Health found the other most funded functions include biometric data acquisition ($1.02 billion), clinical workflow ($810 million), admin workflow ($752 million), wellness ($542 million), population health ($491 million), research ($484 million), insurance ($442 million), personalized health ($423 million) and education ($133 million).

The largest deals of 2018 so far involve companies that fall within these categories. Grail’s $300 million fundraise, for instance, falls in the biometric data acquisition bucket. Another top deal was Oscar Health’s $165 million round, which belongs in the insurance category. The report put Collective Health and its $110 million round in insurance as well, while Livongo’s $105 million fundraise went in the population health bin. The only deal that fell in the patient empowerment category was Iora Health’s $100 million Series E round.

Within the United States, the top funded city is the San Francisco Bay area, with 77 deals and $2.2 billion raised thus far in 2018. New York City came in second place, with 46 deals and $634 million, while Boston ranked third, amassing 24 deals and $498 million. In terms of dollars raised, a few other cities have done fairly well, including Chicago ($165 million), Minneapolis ($137 million) and Denver ($117 million).

Internationally speaking, China is a focal point for digital health investing. According to StartUp Health, four of the top 10 international metro hubs are Chinese cities. These include Beijing ($141 million), Zhenjiang ($100 million), Shanghai ($105 million) and Hangzhou ($75 million).

Other cities around the world are also raking in the dough. At the midyear point, London has seen 11 deals and $173 million. Bengaluru claims 10 deals and $91 million, while Stockholm has nine deals and $69 million.

As far as investors are concerned, the most active ones so far are Khosla Ventures (10 deals this year), NEA (nine deals), Founders Fund (eight deals) and Thrive Capital (six deals). StartUp Health points out that all the top investors made more investments during the first half of 2018 than they did in the first six months of 2017.

Additionally, the report notes that there have been 754 unique investors in digital health this year, versus 583 at the same point in 2017.

Photo: Topp_Yimgrimm, Getty Images

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