Spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Swiftarc Ventures raises a $75 million fund focused on telemedicine and digital health.
“Much of ongoing patient care can leverage available and upcoming modern technology — and there’s no reason healthcare needs to be stuck in the middle ages,” Swiftarc Ventures president Fabian Urquijo said in a statement. “Our brain trusts thoughtful investors and stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem, including leading physicians, healthcare administrators and technologists – all of them are a testament to our timing to give modern telemedicine a deliberate and platform-based boost in select key areas.”
WHAT IT IS FOR
The fund, dubbed Swiftarc Telehealth, will initially focus on obesity, mental and behavioral health, and pediatrics, sectors that the VC firm sees as “relatively overlooked” in the delivery of telehealth.
Swiftarc said it spent a year examining the space to decide on these clinical focus areas, considering the overall addressable market –current and projected adoption, reimbursement landscape, and regulatory environment.
The VC will also consider companies in remote patient monitoring, chronic care management and in-home diagnostics.
“We feel good about serving in areas of healthcare that have historically been underserved. Being curious, impactful and thoughtful are the three core principles we started with.
“Our goal is to fundamentally disrupt outdated standard models of healthcare delivery and find innovative solutions to improve access to quality care and ultimately reshape the patient care experience forever,” said Sid Jawahar, Founder and Managing Partner from Swiftarc Ventures, in a statement.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
use of telemedicine skyrocketed during the pandemic as providers and patients avoided unnecessary face-to-face interactions. The digital health sector has also made investments. A report by CB Insights revealed that startups received $57.2 billion in funding worldwide in 2021.
Mental and behavioral health is a highly competitive field. Last year, meditation app Headspace and digital mental health company Ginger merged into Headspace Health. The combined company recently announced the acquisition of Sayana, another player in the mental wellness space. Last week, employer-focused mental health company Lyra Health raised a whopping $235 million in Series F funding.
Weight management is included in platforms like Omada Health, DarioHealth, One Drop and Onduo, which also include the treatment of comorbidities such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Players in the field of paediatrics includeBrightline, DotCom Therapy, Goodside Health, Brave Care and KixCare.
