VC investments in health IT, digital health soar to $1.62 bn: Mercom report

Health appointment booking companies attracted funds worth $315 mn from venture capital firms

Venture capital (VC) funding into the global health information technology (IT) and digital health segments in the first three months of 2017 grew over the preceding quarters to $1.62 billion in 165 deals. Indian firm Practo, backed by various fundraising projects during the period, emerged as one of the global leaders in the segment, according to data compiled by the Mercom Capital Group. 

Health appointment booking companies such as Practo and Doctolib bagged investments worth $315 million, the highest in the sector. The mobile wireless, data analytics and telemedicine segments also attracted investments from VCs, Mercom Capital's data revealed.

The last quarter of 2016 had recorded investments of $845 million in 159 deals, while the quarter before that had posted a higher number of 177 deals with disclosed investments of $1.25 billion. During the second quarter of 2016, there had been 140 deals with a total disclosed amount of $1.59 billion invested by venture capital investors into the health IT and digital health segment. 

The first quarter of FY16 had seen VCs investing $1.36 billion into the segment in 146 deals.

The top-funded categories in the segment include health care appointment booking ($315 million), mobile and wireless health care models ($230 million) and data analytics ($193 million), followed by population health management ($115 million), telemedicine ($112 million) and social health network ($102 million), added the report.

The booking category also saw a $200-million fundraising by Hudong Feng Technology (Haodaifu) and another $28-million one by Doctolib.