Last year was a banner year for digital health, and in 2013, it can only get better as the trends in healthcare are increasingly digital-based. In 2012, tech companies poured $1.4 billion into digital health companies, a 45 percent increase from 2011, according to a recent year-end report from healthcare technology accelerator Rock Health.
Fifty-six percent more deals occurred in 2012 for digital health than in 2011. Rock Health's report indicates that compared to the declining investment in traditional healthcare, software and digital health funding is on its way up. Another impressive number is 134, the number of digital health companies that each raised $2 million in 2012.
Personal health tools and tracking, health consumer engagement, EMR/EHR and hospital administration all are moving toward digital, comprising one-third of all digital deals made in 2012.
Overall, 179 organizations invested in digital health companies, with most only engaging in a single deal. Eight investors, however--including Qualcomm Ventures, Aberdare Ventures and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund--invested in three or more digital health companies.
Notable digital wellness startups such as PingMd, wello, BreakThrough and BeyondLucid individually raised up to $1.3 million to fund their programs. As FierceMobileHealthcare reported in August 2012, the market for embedded health monitoring-gadgets is slated to hit 170 million devices by 2017.
The digital health market's rapid expansion is good for the job market; too, with hundreds of positions open across the country in digital health startups, according to the report.
To learn more:
- check out the RockHealth slideshow report