After years of record-breaking venture funding, digital health finally hit its stride in a year when everyone expected funding to decline. In the first half of 2016, slightly over $2B filled company coffers–on track with both 2014 and 2015.
Thanks to ongoing advancements in the field of genomics and unprecedented interest from a range of stakeholders including health systems, researchers, the government, and the general public, genetic testing has the potential to reshape healthcare through personalized interventions. Delivering on the promise of genomics is dependent upon three main factors, most of which are within the purview of digital health.
Biases can happen at any stage of employment by even the most ‘progressive’ of employers—from hiring to performance reviews. They skew the balance in not just who is on your team but who makes up leadership—and how and what decisions are made for the company. So what can you do to overcome unconscious prejudice?
Funding
If you spent the first quarter of this year listening to investors, founders, or the tech media, you heard the same thing we all did: the market is experiencing a correction (or downturn, depending on your perspective), valuations are crashing, and VCs are generally acting with more caution. While some of that may be true for the tech industry at large, digital health may be immune. Our data shows digital health funding experienced an uptick with 13% TTM growth and almost 50% YoY growth (when compared to 2015’s first quarter—a record year itself). Total funding for Q1 2016 reached $981.3M, the highest first quarter total since we started tracking deals in 2011.
2016 marks our seventh consecutive year attending SXSW, and this year we’re especially jazzed to have our co-founder and Managing Director Halle Tecco take the spotlight in a featured talk with CNN’s Sara O’Brien to discuss the past five years of Rock Health and digital health! As usual, we took the guesswork out of planning your schedule, and compiled a list of can’t-miss healthcare events for you while you’re “getting weird” in Austin.