The top 10 digital health deals of 2022
The top 10 digital health deals of 2022 unknown
It was an eventful year for digital health funding and merger and acquisition activity. Here are our picks for the most important deals of 2022. These deals aren’t just about the highest price tag, but they also represent larger trends happening within the industry. Our regularly scheduled funding and deals roundup will be back next week. Happy New Year!
1. Amazon announces intent to acquire One Medical for $3.9 billion
Amazon took a $3.9 billion step toward expanding its primary care offerings this past July. The acquisition of One Medical, a membership-based primary care company, revealed Amazon’s continued dedication to disrupting healthcare. Experts said the One Medical acquisition was also related to the shuttering of Amazon Care. In September, the Federal Trade Commission said it planned to review the deal, which could delay completion.
2. CVS Health announces intent to acquire Signify Health for $8 billion
Pharmacy giant CVS Health staked its claim in the home healthcare space in September when it announced its intentions to acquire Signify Health, the nation’s largest home health risk assessment provider. CVS’s $8 billion proposed deal for Signify reportedly outbid Amazon, UnitedHealth Group and Option Care Health. The Justice Department requested more information about the deal in October.
3. DispatchHealth nabs $330 million round
Speaking of home healthcare, Dispatch doubled down on its expansion plans with a funding round of $330 million in November. The round was one of the biggest all year and was particularly notable since it happened after the market had reset. While the round won’t fund a significant geographic expansion, the home health tech company plans to further integrate itself in existing markets. DispatchHealth works with providers to bring certain services and follow-up appointments into the home. Dr. Mark Prather, the company’s CEO, said this funding infusion will likely be its last private round.
Cleerly, a company that uses AI to examine heart disease progression, landed a $192 million Series C round in July. The round was led by T. Rowe Price and Fidelity and more than doubled the company’s total funding. Cleerly is an example of the growing interest investors have in startups offering AI-enabled clinical decision support companies. Cleerly said it would use the capital to fund current and additional clinical trials and increase commercial reach.
5. Transcarent continues supercharged growth with $200 million round
Digital health and benefits management startup Transcarent raised $200 million early in January, which shows it can help to have Glen Tullman as CEO. Tullman was the former CEO of Livongo until it was sold to Teladoc Health for $18.5 billion in August 2020. He started Transcarent, which offers self-insured employers a digital app connecting employees with a doctor, in October 2020. In just over a year, the company raised nearly $300 million in funding at a valuation of more than $1.6 billion. Northwell Health, Intermountain Healthcare and Rush University Medical Center joined a long list of venture capital firms on the deal.
6. Homeward grabs $70 million in first year of existence
Speaking of Livongo veterans, Dr. Jennifer Schneider launch Homeward in 2022 with a total of $70 million in funding. Schneider, the former Livongo president, said the tech-enabled startup will target rural health patients. The company launched in March with $20 million in seed funding and followed that with $50 million Series B in August. Homeward said it would use the funds to drive its expansion efforts through value-based contracts with health plans. The company uses a combination of mobile clinics, at-home care and remote patient monitoring to provide care for patients. In June, it partnered with pharmacy chain Rite Aid.
7. Clarify Health receives $150 million
Unicorn status was harder to come by in 2022 than 201, but Clarify Health joined the club after nabbing a $150 million Series D funding round in April. The value-based analytics company said it was using the funds to scale up its value-based payments platform. In March, it acquired Embedded Healthcare, a behavioral change platform company, for an undisclosed price. The Series D round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which was joined by BlackRock, Memorial Hermann Health System, Insight Partners, Spark Capital, KKR, Aspenwood Ventures, Rivas Capital and Sigmas Group.
8. FOLX Health, Hey Jane headline companies targeting underserved and at-risk populations
While neither deal will crack a list of the year’s largest deals, both companies reveal how digital health can increase access to underserved populations. FOLX Health, a digital healthcare service provider primarily serving LGBTQIA+ patients, secured a $30 million Series B funding round in October to build out new product offerings and launch expert-led patient support groups. Hey Jane, a telemedicine abortion clinic, secured $6.1 million ‘Roe Round’ after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
9. GoodRX sheds technology for $19.5 million as public market struggles mount
Public markets have not been kind to digital health companies in 2022. Many entered with splashy valuations but fell short of expectations. Few are more indicative of that struggle than GoodRX, a consumer drug pricing and digital health company. As it struggled to deal with the decreasing revenue from its prescriptions transactions business, the company sold its backend virtual technology to Wheel Health, a virtual health platform and provider network, for $19.5 million in cash. The company’s total revenue dipped 4% in the third quarter.
10. Reify Health grabs $220 million in funding, valued at nearly $5 billion
The cloud-based clinical trial software company’s round nearly doubled its valuation. It’s second major funding round in less than a year, the company matched its Series C round from August 2021. Many experts say clinical trials are ripe for disruption as pharma companies look to bring drugs to market faster and with a larger breadth of data. The company said it would use the funding to improve diversity in trial participation.