Digital health funding reached nearly $700 million in the first quarter of 2014, according to a Rock Health report that only looked at companies that raised more than $2 million. The total funding this quarter grew 87 percent compared to the first quarter of 2013.
Rock Health looked at around 68 investments for its first quarter report. California-based companies received 32 percent of the funding. Florida-based companies raised close to 23 percent of the total funding beating out Massachusetts, which has raised around 11 percent. Utah and Virginia were the next two on the list.
In 2013, Rock Health said the average deal number was around $10 million, but this quarter alone the average deal size is $13 million. Last year, Rock Health identified big categories that saw a lot of funding: electronic health records, data aggregation and analysis, digital medical devices that focus on disease, consumer-oriented wearables and biosensing products, population health management, and healthcare consumer engagement, such as purchasing health insurance.
This quarter, Rock Health has identified some new categories that have been getting funds, including payer administration, telemedicine, alternative health tools, and care coordination. The only repeat category was big data.
The companies that raised the most money were MedHOK, a healthcare platform that raised $77.5 million, MindBody, a scheduling portal for health and wellness that raised $50 million, Health Catalyst, a data storage company that raised $41 million, and Voalte, developer of a communication system for nurses and other healthcare professionals that raised $36 million.
Crowdfunding, Rock Health notes, "lost some momentum", raking in $780,000 from 43 campaigns this quarter. In contrast, last year, crowdfunding campaigns brought in $9.2 million from 120 campaigns, though it's worth noting that the top two 2013 campaigns, Misfit Shine and Scanadu Scout, made up a total of $2.5 million between them.
Indiegogo is still the larger platform for crowdfunding and made up 77 percent of all campaigns. This translates into 89 percent of all crowdfunding money. The campaign success rate is currently at 23 percent this year.
