Souce: Sifted
Healthtech takes the lead
June and May 2022 were two months in a row when fintech drew in fewer seed-stage investments than healthtech. Increases are visible across all sectors. In June, 10% more companies (227) gained seed-stage financing compared to May (227) and 36% more than in April (184), Sifted reports. An even more significant leap is observed in value: €595 million in June compared to €442 million in May (see the graphic).
The average round size also increased, from 1.9 million Euro in May to 2.3 million Euro in June, with the three largest rounds all involving healthtech companies. Investors were attracted to innovations in drug discovery using quantum physics, among others.
Why is healthcare so appealing to investors in 2022?
The health care and financial industries have many parallels: much of the banking and healthcare systems have been in place for decades, and both sectors are strategic to national economies. Hence the strong regulation that has so far been an obstacle to innovation.
Until now, fintech had been maturing much faster, attracting the focus of investors. While it is still too early to talk about a trend reversal, the reversal of the current course in May and June 2022 is one signal in favor of healthtech.
The sector is in the midst of a profound transformation – the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the impetus for the shift to facilitate the adoption of innovations in life sciences and healthcare.
Most importantly, however, a new mind shift is boosting startup collaboration with health providers and payers. Legislative and cultural barriers are also disappearing, opening up opportunities not available before the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been reflected in the massive increase in healthtech financing in 2021 versus 2020.
Startup innovations are maturing and are fit for a holistic approach to patient and population health. The market’s attractiveness is also turned up by the growing interest from big tech like Amazon, Apple and Google introducing medical and wellness offerings for their customers.
Healthcare is intensively exploring the possibilities of technology. This will be further supported by national strategies focused on further digitalization and data sharing in the health ecosystem.
Healthtech is no longer seen as a separate add-on to healthcare. Instead, it has become an essential part of healthcare modernization.
Read the full Sifted article here.
