Despite the pandemic’s deleterious public health and economic effects, COVID-19 has been a major catalyst for funding in the healthcare space. Global healthcare investment hit a record high last year with $80.6 billion in equity funding across more than 5,500 deals, according to previous CB Insights research.
A pivotal question for the industry is how much investor interest will remain as the pandemic begins to abate. As coronavirus vaccines continue to roll out in the U.S., tamping down on new COVID-19 cases in some areas, industry is now shifting to look to the long-term effects, especially around digital health and the continued role of telemedicine in care delivery, experts say.
But worries about winnowing funding are unlikely to come to fruition anytime soon, if the first quarter is any indication.
In the first three months of 2021, global health funding smashed records for both funding amounts and number of deals. Overall, the deal count grew by 9% to more than 1,500 deals in the first quarter, the second-highest total in the past 12 financial periods, CB Insights found.
Other market forces contributed to the unrivaled funding levels, with a growing focus on managing the high-needs, high-cost Medicare and Medicaid populations resulting in a growing number of population health efforts and the ongoing shift toward consumerism creating traction in patient engagement and flexible billing products.
