Venture capital funding in the health IT market, including mobile health, picked up strongly in Q1 2013 thanks to funds flowing into consumer services, according to new figures from consulting firm Mercom Capital.
A total of $493 million was raised in the first three months of this year compared to $236 million in the same period in 2012, the firm said. Sequentially, funding also showed an improvement over the $301 million raised in Q4 2012.
As well as total funds, the number of deals increased to 104 in Q1 2013 from 30 a year ago. In Q4 2012 the number of deals was 51.
“The trend we began to see last year of VCs investing in consumer-focused companies like mobile health, telehealth, personal health, social health, and scheduling, rating & shopping has become much more pronounced,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.
Of the top five fundraisings in Q1 2013, two had an obviously mobile aspect. Nantworks, the investment vehicle whose portfolio includes mhealth ventures, raised $31 million, and Fitbit, a fitness and health tracker company, received backing of $30 million.
Mercom Capital also tracked M&A activity during Q1 2013. There were 46 deals in the quarter. Health information management companies attracted the most acquirers with 22 transactions. The largest disclosed transaction was Athenahealth’s acquisition of Epocrates, a mobile health company which develops point-of-care medical applications, for $293 million.
Date: April 30, 2013