Total digital health funding in 2013 reached $1.92 billion, according to an end-of-year report from Rock Health, a digital health startup seed fund. That figure represents 35 percent growth since 2012, and more than 100 percent growth since 2011.
Overall, 195 digital health deals above $2 million took place in 2013, according to the report. Six themes emerged in 2013 which represented nearly 50 percent of last year's funding:
- EHR/clinical workflow
- Analytics/big data
- Digital medical devices (clinically-oriented products with specific disease/condition focus)
- Wearables/biosensing (consumer-oriented products with generalized biosensors)
- Population health management
- Healthcare consumer engagement (purchasing of health insurance, healthcare services and products, intended for B2B and B2C markets)
The report also points out that 27 separate investors made three or more digital health investments in 2013, versus only eight in 2012. What's more, crowdfunding for digital health startups is on the rise, according to the report; in 2013, Rock Health tracked 120 campaigns raising $9.2 million, 85 percent of those on Indiegogo, the "go-to digital health crowdfunding platform."
In July, it was reported that VC funding for health IT in 2013 was already almost equal to 2012's total, with $623 million raised in the second quarter.
But is digital health all talk and no action, with a lot of duplication? One Forbes contributor fed up with one wearable technology invention after another, said he thought so last fall.
Meanwhile in October, the Cleveland Clinic this week named its top 10 medical innovations of 2014; health IT had a solid presence on the list with usable, scalable products and ideas.
To learn more:
- see the full report from Rock Health
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