Digital healthcare: patient-first?

After a year where healthcare has been in the spotlight, European healthtech and digital healthcare startups are now worth a combined $41B, according to a new report us, Dealroom.co, and INKEF Capital, up from $8B in 2015. 

It’s been said that Covid-19 brought “10 years of market evolution in 10 weeks” within healthcare and technology adoption, but according to this new report, the biggest changes are still yet to come in the next two years and beyond. 

Spending more for less

Global healthcare expenditure is now around $8 trillion, of which $2 trillion is spent in Europe and $3.5 trillion in the US. Ballooning healthcare costs are putting a strain on government finances, but also on the outcomes of patients.

Patients increasingly receive lesser outcomes, at higher direct (out-of-pocket, insurance) and indirect (tax, co-payments) costs. 

An ageing population, chronic diseases, obesity, and rising costs of drugs, met by a complex market that has been slow to adopt technology, means there are potentially huge savings to be made in the largest consumer category. VCs are certainly betting on Healthcare being the next big digital frontier.

5x in 5 years

Europe’s healthtech companies are now worth a combined $41B, up from $8B in 2015. Drug discovery, telehealth and online pharmacy startups have so far accrued the most value in European healthtech.

A herd of digital healthcare unicorns

So far some of the world’s most successful startups have emerged in markets where consumers direct relatively low amounts of their spending. Healthcare by comparison is one of the largest consumer categories, yet remains largely undigitized at almost every level of the value chain and patient journey.

Europe is already starting to see big Healthtech companies emerge in telehealth (Babylon, Kry), operations software (Doctolib, Docplanner) and insurance (wefox). And any market in the trillions could certainly support a European multi-decacorn.

The future of healthcare

Of course the pandemic has had a drastic effect on healthcare and healthtech, in particular accelerating the adoption, demand and trust for telehealth and other patient-interface level solutions. But there are broader industry digitization shifts that will have a bigger impact still on our collective healthcare.

Political and regulatory innovation, combined with technological advances can enable improved outcomes and cost-efficiency in healthcare, well beyond the pandemic. Our healthcare is set to become more proactive, looking to prevent illness or catch and diagnose ailments earlier. We’ll be empowered through personalised, decentralized care, with more power being put in the patient’s hands along the patient’s journey. And outcomes will become a focus of spending. Digital solutions can enable evidence-based outcomes and drive value-based spending.

Healthcare may have been slow to adopt digitization, but its impact here has the potential to be more meaningful than anywhere else. Digitalization will literally save lives.

Learn more about our portfolio companies mentioned in this digital healthcare report

About Dealroom.co

Dealroom.co is the foremost data provider on startups, growth companies and tech ecosystems in Europe and around the globe. Founded in Amsterdam in 2013, Dealroom.co now works with many of the world’s most prominent investors, entrepreneurs and government organizations to provide transparency, analysis and insights on startups and venture capital activity.

About MTIP 

MTIP is a fast-growing pan-European healthtech growth capital investor, based in Basel Switzerland. We invest in digital health and digitally connected medical device companies, with offerings that provide clear health-related economic benefits. Our entrepreneurial investment team, which has complementary private equity skills and exceptional deal-making capabilities, actively works with our portfolio companies to boost growth. MTIP efficiently deploys capital to unlock value and generate attractive returns for our investors.