Important Industry News
August 2017 Healthcare IT Update
Funding for healthcare companies hits a record high but number of deals fall.
Startup Health reports that $6.5B has been raised to date by digital health companies, $3.8B alone in the second quarter. Grail, with a $900 million raise and Outcome Health with a $500 million raise dominated the ranking. Clearly bets are getting bigger in this industry. That said, the underappreciated sub sector, Education and Training, had the largest average deal size, at $156 million, and Patient/Consumer experience had the most deals, with 56 companies.
Fujifilm wins $760 million imaging contract with DoD.
This is a 10 year contract which also includes VA as a customer. The contract will be a key cornerstone in the MHS Genesis transition, a project that will replace the current EHR system used by DoD and VA as a part of the ongoing Cerner EHR overhaul. Over 9.4 million DoD beneficiaries and 250,000 military personnel are covered under the contract.
Oscar and Humana join hands to cover small businesses in Nashville, TN.
Since its inception, Oscar Health prided itself that it was a new kind of insurance company and not beholden to the legacy of the over bloated established players. Now the company has joined hands with one of the largest insurance companies to cover the small businesses in Nashville. Not only does this give Oscar a new territory to cover, but is also serves as a training ground for the company to diversify out of the individual market.
Oscar has raised $720 million since its inception in 2012. In the latest announcement, Oscar recorded a $57 million loss for the first half of 2017 vs. $86 million for the same period in 2016. The company has 90,000 members in NY, CA and TX.
Jawbone shuts down after defaulting on its $300 million loan with Blackrock.
One of the most-hyped mobile and wearable device health unicorns has fallen. Jawbone raised over $900 million since its inception in 2007. The company was surely one of the most visionary pioneers in the mobile health space. After liquidation of its assets, Jawbone Health Hub will emerge as the only remaining operation. The Newco will be working on clinically-focused wearables; a competency it acquired from its take over of Spectros which makes molecular sensing devices and software. Khosla Ventures, Kuwait Investment Authority, Andreessen Horowitz are amongst some of the investors that backed the company.