Early-Stage Healthcare Deal Sizes Reach Two-Year Highs

The report below details early stage (angel – Series A) healthcare financings in October 2014 using the data captured by CB Insights.  It analyzes the following about early stage healthcare financings:

• Overall financing trends
• Investments by US region
• Mean & median deal sizes
• The month’s largest deals
• The most active VCs

OCTOBER EARLY-STAGE HEALTHCARE FUNDING DOWN YoY

Early-stage healthcare deals and dollars both fell slightly versus the previous month, while funding was down 26% versus the same month a year prior.

EAST COAST REMAINS DOMINANT

Eastern US healthcare companies garnered the bulk of early-stage deals, accounting for 47% in October, with healthcare hub Massachusetts leading the way.

SILICON VALLEY DOLLAR SHARE SKYROCKETS

Early-stage tech funding share to Silicon Valley healthcare companies jumped drastically in October 2014 versus the same month a year prior, behind Imago Biosciences’ $26.5M Series A.

EARLY-STAGE HEALTHCARE DEAL SIZE REACHES TWO-YEAR HIGH

October set a new two-year high for median deal size at $5.03M. This was the second straight month of growth as September’s median total was 80% higher than the previous month’s.

HEALTHCARE ANGEL DEAL SIZE REMAINS RANGE BOUND

Angel deal sizes in healthcare have remained relatively range bound since June.

SEED DEAL SIZES REACH TWO-YEAR HIGH

Both median and average healthcare seed rounds reached two-year highs in October, behind UK-based Magnus Life Science’s $25M super-sized financing. No other seed deals in healthcare in October were greater than $10M.

SERIES A ROUNDS DOWN YoY IN OCTOBER

After an average Series A peak in December 2013 due to Juno Therapeutics’ $120M financing, average healthcare rounds are down 25% YoY in October, and 7% on a median basis.

MEDICAL DEVICES FALL TO LOWEST DEAL SHARE IN TWO YEARS

Medical devices accounted for just 15% of all early-stage healthcare deals in October 2014, its lowest share of the past two years. The contribution of other life science categories (disease diagnosis, drug manufacturing, etc.) accounted for 31% of all early-stage healthcare deals, a two-year high, highlighting the diversity of companies being funded within the healthcare space.

BIOTECH FUNDING SHARE RETURNS TO NORMAL

After September saw Adaptimmune raise $104M and push biotech to a 73% funding share, October fell back down to 38% as biotech and medical devices accounted for over 50% of early-stage healthcare dollars for the 4th straight month.

SERIES A DOMINATES DEAL SHARE

Series A rounds accounted for 69% of all early-stage healthcare investments in October, higher than any month in the past two years. Angel investment share fell for the third straight month, and was down from 16% in October 2013.

TOP 10 DEALS CUMULATIVELY RAISE $188M

Four early-stage companies raised rounds of $20M+ in October including Imago Biosciences who raised a $26.5M led by Clarus Ventures. Also of note, four of the top ten deals were in international companies including Magnus Life Science, Highland Therapeutics, Levicept, and Forendo Pharma.

NOVARTIS VENTURE FUNDS & ATLAS ARE MOST ACTIVE

Few VCs made multiple early-stage healthcare investments in October, but Novartis Venture Funds and Atlas Venture both were among the most active, with 3+ investments each.

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