Global VC funding in healthcare IT space touch $493 mn in Q1

Out of the total kitty, Indian Healthcare IT companies raised $10.5 mn in VC funding in Jan-Mar 2013

Global venture capital (VC) funding in the healthcare IT sector continued to gain momentum and touched $493 million in the January-March quarter, with Indian firms raising $10.5 million during the period, says a report.

According to Mercom Capital Group llc, a global communications and consulting firm, the Healthcare IT sector raised $493 million through 104 funding deals in the March quarter compared to 51 in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Out of the total kitty, Indian Healthcare IT companies raised $10.5 million in VC funding in the first three months of this year, Mercom Capital said.

"The trend we began to see last year of VCs investing in consumer-focused companies like mobile health, telehealth, personal health, social health, and scheduling, rating & shopping has become much more pronounced," Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu said.

The top VC funding deals in the first quarter of this year was led by Health Catalyst, a provider of healthcare data warehousing which raised $41 million, followed by $40 million being raised by xG Health Solutions, a spinoff of Geisinger Health System that offers population health data analytics and patient and population-focused care management.

"The enormous market opportunity in consumer-focused health has appeared to pique the interest of investors and is likely to continue to grow as witnessed by the surge in VC activity," Prabhu added.

Meanwhile, there were 46 M&A transactions this quarter. with Health Information Management (HIM) companies attracted the most acquirers with 22 transactions, followed closely by service providers with 11 acquisitions.