4 Trends in Wellness Tech in 2022 Immediately after Funding Almost Halved

• VCs poured $13.5 billion into healthtech startups in 2022 — down nearly 50% from 2021.
• Individualized solutions and extensive-time period treatment had been named by buyers as important priorities this year.
• Insider spoke to buyers and founders who mirrored on the condition of healthtech in 2022. 

“Persons are constantly heading to need to have healthcare,” Dr Kit Latham, cofounder and CEO at health care automation startup Credentially, advised Insider. 

It is really a sentiment that rang true in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought healthtech startups to the frontlines as healthcare providers struggled less than the pressure of significant waitlists and staff members shortages. Healthtech founders bagged $25 billion from investors far more delicate to health care issues, and 2022 looked to be very similar.

But a global slump and the tech downturn modified all of that, and funding into health startups fell by nearly 50% to $13.5 billion this calendar year.

Each individual sub-sector in healthtech experienced a fall in funding, with women’s health and fitness and medical trials startups dealing with the most important slash in funds.

“I feel the fall in telehealth financial commitment illustrates how own health care is,” reported Julia Hawkins, typical associate at LocalGlobe. “Digital care was incredibly significant to offer all through COVID, but we know that numerous individuals will carry on to want in-person treatment. Telehealth is a resource and enabler but are not able to absolutely switch in person care.”

AI-driven drug growth and mental wellness startups also boomed in the course of COVID-19 but have viewed a funding dropoff in 2022. “With complete £ invested into well being tech declining yr on year, I never think we can level to the ecosystem maturing,” she added. “We have a extended way to go.”

In spite of the slowdown, investors and founders nonetheless describe 2022 — which oversaw healthtech startups interact in more collaboration with healthcare techniques — as a transformative calendar year.

These are their important takeaways from the 12 months.

1. Tech that served underrepresented groups was spotlighted

From menopause to psychological wellbeing, wellbeing conditions that ended up billed as ‘taboo’ pre-pandemic have appear to the forefront this year. 

Electronic wellbeing platforms afforded individuals with an enhanced degree of privateness, and became a good avenue to cater to “selected underserved goal groups, these as in mental wellbeing and in femtech” — which “continued to have a robust financial investment topic,” said Gordon Euller, typical companion of APEX Ventures Health care Fund. 

Startups featuring personalised treatment plans for niche troubles or demographics, such as menopause app Vira Overall health, mental well being system MyMynd, and men’s wellbeing platform Numan, all elevated money this calendar year. 

In Europe, disorders this sort of as “that tended to be underserved by constrained health and fitness devices” began remaining “supported by staff positive aspects providers,” additional Dr Molly Gilmartin, investor at AlbionVC.

2. The telehealth current market matured substantially

The prominence of extensive Covid, which has an effect on an estimated 17 million people in Europe, highlighted the need for much better solutions to chronic healthcare difficulties. As stress on healthcare providers throughout Europe mounted, viable prolonged-expression treatments turned a even bigger precedence for traders. 

Telehealth startups burgeoned in the wake of Covid-19 as they crammed gaps in healthcare techniques globally. By 2021, startups this kind of as Kry and Alan bagged unicorn valuations as VCs poured $1.1 billion into the sector.

Despite the fact that this sank to $851 million in 2022, telemedicine startups are nevertheless “poised to improve throughout the globe”, according to Euller. “The technologies in this location are pretty experienced,” he extra.

Chris Bischoff, handling director at venture money company Basic Catalyst, added that the agency takes a “very long-time period watch” when analyzing how the ecosystem is maturing, but billed telehealth startups Alan, Kry, and Doctolib as the “first-era of winners” this 12 months. 

Eyal Rabinovich, investor at Eight Roadways, also considered the introduction of the DiGA (Electronic Overall health Application) in Germany as an vital benchmark for the telehealth sector. The act enables “a smoother path” for clients to reimburse their use of electronic health and fitness platforms, showcasing how startups and community overall health solutions have progressively commenced to work collaboratively.  

3. M&A action surged

Amid the worldwide IPO slowdown, M&A frenzy hit the continent — especially in the past quarter of 2022 — with $39 billion in healthtech acquisitions in Europe in 2022, for every Dealroom. And it is a trend which is anticipated to keep on nicely into 2023. 

Some hefty promotions included AstraZeneca’s acquisition of Neogene Therapeutics for $320 million, and Arcutis nabbing Ducentis Biotherapeutics for $400 million. 

Latham “anticipated the ongoing expansion of M&A” in the coming year – introducing that he “would not be stunned to see much more US acquisitions of United kingdom and European healthtech, if the dollar continues to be potent.”

4. Generalist VCs started off moving into healthcare investing 

Healthtech startups generally offer clinical-grade treatment options, and so verifying the science is an significant aspect when conducting because of diligence — a feat that well being-focused funds may well find a lot easier. But this year has viewed more generalist VCs enter the participating in discipline.

“A lot of generalist investors are now building a extensive-time period bet on healthtech in basic,” Gilmartin informed Insider. 

Founders have noticed this trend. Henry Majed, cofounder of mental overall health startup MyMynd, observed an inflow of generalist VCs enter the mental health and fitness sector right after lots of healthtech heavyweights had invested in the 1st-era of startups.

“Generalist VCs are transferring into psychological overall health and wellbeing now,” he explained. “They were being waiting for that shakedown to come about, to seem for the ideal players in the sector.”