ORLANDO ― Personalized health and wellness are the top areas where investors are placing their money, according to Polina Hanin, academy director at StartUp Health, speaking at Sunday’s Venture+ Forum HIMSS17.
“It’s based on the catalyst of healthcare reform,” Hanin said. “We have to put power in patients’ hands.”
Patient and consumer experience brought in $2.8 billion in investments in 2016, with an average deal size of $17 million and areas of focus that include nutrition and fitness as well as de-stigmatizing behavioral health issues.
“The biggest deals have shifted. Based on the larger deals, a lot of money is front-loaded into patient and consumer experience,” Hanin told a full room of investors and entrepreneurs at the forum.
"We think every entrepreneur is going after a moonshot,” she said.
But where there are winners, there are losers, and in this scenario, that means electronic health record platforms are at the bottom of the investment pool.
“No new EHRs are being developed,” Hanin said.
Also on the decline is provider acquisition of technology companies, she said. Insurers are investing more in technology acquisitions because it’s easier for payers to deploy and run pilot programs, Hanin said.
According to Hanin’s data, the three top cities for investment in the United States in 2016 were San Francisco, Boston and New York, and for the second year in a row, GE Ventures was the most active investor, followed by Khosla Ventures, StartUp Health, Andreessen Horowitz and BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners.
The big players are not just dabblers, Hanin said. Some are investing in six or more companies.
Digital health has led the way to a golden age of entrepreneurship, according to Hanin. In 2010, digital health companies received a $1 billion investment, which grew to $8.1 billion by 2016.
This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.