Global healthtech VC funding in 2015 hit a record high of $4.5 bn

New Delhi : HealthTech venture funding globally reached a record USD 4.5 billion in 2015, a jump of 4 per cent from 2014, and this trend is expected to continue this year with more funding activities likely in Asia Pacific region, says a report.

The last three years have seen a surge in healthtech startups in Asia Pacific, driven among others by a growing middle class affluence and health awareness, the need for chronic disease management and the growing demand for senior healthcare products and services.

According to Baker & McKenzie's report in partnership with The Propell Group titled, 'Powering the Future of Healthcare in Asia Pacific', China, India and Singapore are the hubs for healthtech startups.

China, India and Singapore have become hotbeds for healthtech startups in the region with most of them falling under the categories of 'Navigating the Healthcare System,' 'Patient Engagement' and 'Consumer Health and Wellness', the report said.

"There has been a notable increase in healthtech funding activities outside of the US, particularly in China and India in the past 18 months, where the need for affordable solutions is more acute. We can expect this trend to continue, particularly in the areas of digital therapeutics, data and analytics, and diagnostics," Julien de Salaberry, the founder and CIO of The Propell Group, said.

While 'Healthcare Consumer Engagement' continued to attract the most funding with USD 629 million, 'Wearables & Biosensing' and 'Personal Health Tools & Tracking' entered the top three most popular subsectors, attracting USD 499 million and USD 409 million respectively.

Meanwhile, consolidation in healthtech sector continued to pick pace in 2015, with the year seeing 187 M&A transactions, nearly doubling that of 2014 (95 deals), including a few headline-grabbing deals such as IBM's USD 1 billion acquisition of Merge Healthcare and Emdeon's USD 910 million acquisition of Altegra Health.

"We believe this flurry of M&A and funding activities in healthtech sector will stay strong in 2016, which will give rise to a whole suite of legal issues," Ben McLaughlin, Head of Baker & McKenzie's Asia Pacific Healthcare Group, said.