There are four things that entrepreneurs need to demonstrate to investors to have fundraising success: a large total addressable market, strong unit economics and product-market fit, a world-class team, and a compelling plan for the future.
I didn’t make it to this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, so I reached out to leaders from across the industry to hear how it went and learn about their takeaways from the event. This is a list of the nine most interesting responses that I received.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
In 2023, digital health fundraising took on a bit of a different shape, according to a new Rock Health report. Startups tried out some creative ways to keep their businesses afloat — including series extension rounds, unlabeled fundraises and silent deals from existing investors.
NewSpring has closed on its fourth healthcare fund, which raised more than $180 million. It has already made six investments, including Healthworks and BetterNight.
Virtual care company TytoCare recently raised $49 million in growth financing, taking its total funding to date to $205 million. CEO Dedi Gilad declared that his company was founded to solve a fundamental problem with traditional telehealth services: people do not trust them, so they do not use them.
The digital health sector has entered a new era when it comes to funding, and startups in this space must quickly adjust to an investment landscape that is characterized by lower check sizes, fewer deals and smaller cohort of investors. If things continue at the pace the sector has maintained throughout the first half of the year, 2023 will mark the field's lowest yearly fundraising total since 2019, according to a new report.
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Two VCs from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund recently offered fundraising advice for digital health companies. They told these firms to expect slower funding timelines, urged them not to be afraid of down or flat rounds, and advised them to spend time nailing down the specifics of their growth narrative.
Healthcare IT companies experienced a bounceback in venture capital deal activity during Q1 of 2023. Rebecca Springer, PitchBook ’s lead healthcare analyst, said she is optimistic that healthcare IT startups will be able to keep this momentum going, especially those focused on staffing and value-based care enablement.
Global funding for digital health companies finally stabilized in Q1 of this year. The sector raised $3.4 billion — this marks the first time the digital health world didn’t experience a quarter-over-quarter funding decline since Q4 of 2021. By holding steady, digital health startups defied the dwindling fundraising totals seen across the broader venture capital landscape, where funding dropped by 13% quarter-over-quarter.
Zus Health — Jonathan Bush's health data platform that provides patient information at the point of care — recently closed a $40 million funding round. It also announced a partnership with Elation Health, a company that sells its EHR and other technology solutions to primary care providers. Elation will be integrating Zus' API into its own data collaboration systems.
We will highlight Build My Health's revenue practice management tools, which could help physician practices add up to $250,000 to their practices.
Last year’s digital health investment trends have left some startups feeling uneasy about their ability to raise capital in the new funding environment. Venture capitalists think companies that have a demonstrable return on investment and serve multiple stakeholders will probably have the easiest time securing capital, while point solutions and startups in crowded markets will face a tougher environment.
As macroeconomic forces continue to negatively impact the healthcare sector, health tech experts predict that 2023 will be another slow year for the IPO market. However, they think consolidation deals will continue to be a constant, according to a new report.
Carallel, a startup that provides digital tools to support family caregivers, recently raised $8.2 million in Series A funding. The Chicago-based company's services are offered as a benefit by health plans and employers.
There are currently 97 global digital health companies that are considered unicorns. But getting caught up with the idea of digital health unicorns isn’t very sustainable, according to Emilly Melton, managing partner at Threshold Ventures. Instead of focusing too much on their valuations, she recommended that startups simply focus on getting the capital they need in order to reach the next stage of inflection.
Jonathan Bush has three rules he thinks digital health startups should follow as the country prepares for a likely recession. They should ensure their technology accomplishes a task that healthcare stakeholders need fulfilled, be very clear about how they can make more money doing their job than their competitors, and find "people who are unhinged enough" to try their product.