AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global communications and research firm, released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the Digital Health (Healthcare Information Technology) sector for the first quarter of 2019. Mercom’s report covers deals of all sizes from across the globe.
Venture capital (VC) funding, including private equity and corporate venture capital into Digital Health (Healthcare IT) companies in Q1 2019, came to $2 billion (B) in 149 deals versus $1.4B in 142 deals in Q4 2018. VC funding in Q1 2019 fell 19% versus in Q1 2018 when nearly $2.5B was raised in 187 deals.
Since 2010, Digital Health companies raised ~ $37B in VC funding.
Total corporate funding for Digital Health companies - including VC, debt, and public market financing - totaled $2.2B in Q1 2019.
Chart: Digital Health VC Funding Q1 2018-Q1 2019
“Funding levels were down versus last year in Digital Health in the absence of larger deals. M&A activity was also flat. However, Digital Health public equities experienced a turnaround in Q1 with 66% of them beating the S&P 500 versus Q4 2018 when 63% of the equities we tracked performed below the S&P 500. Favorable market conditions have prompted several companies to announce IPO plans,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.
Chart: Top Funded Healthcare IT/Digital Health Categories in Q1 2019
Top funded categories in Q1 2019 included: $557M raised by Data Analytics companies, mHealth Apps with $392M, Telemedicine with $220M, Healthcare Booking with $177M, Clinical Decision Support with $107M, Mobile Wireless with $90M and $80M for Healthcare IT Service Providers.
Chart: Digital Health VC Funding By Amount in Q1 2019 (US$ in Millions)
There were 48 early-round deals in Q1 2019.
The top VC deals in Q1 2019 included: $170M raised by Doctolib, $100M from Health Catalyst, $88M raised by Calm, and $80M by Taimei Medical Technology.
Chart: Digital Health - Top VC Funding Rounds in Q1 2019
A total of 371 investors participated in funding deals in Q1 2019 versus 412 investors in Q1 2018. There were 16 FDA and CE approvals issued to Digital Health companies in Q1 2019.
Digital Health VC funding deals were distributed across 17 countries in Q1 2019.
In Q1 2019, there were 45 M&A transactions involving Digital Health companies versus 48 M&A transactions in Q1 2018.
The top disclosed M&A transaction in Q1 2019 was the $195M acquisition of Voalte by Hill-Rom Holdings.
Chart: Top Digital Health M&A Transactions in Q1 2019 By Disclosed Amount
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Mercom Capital Group, LLC is a global communications and research firm focused on digital health, cleantech and financial communications. Visit: www.mercomcapital.com, signup to get weekly market intelligence reports.