Our timeline visualizes digital health company exits valued at $1B+ at acquisition or IPO, from Fitbit's $4.1B public offering to Roche Holding's massive purchase of Flatiron Health.
From cancer therapeutic startups to telemedicine platforms to new kinds of tech-enabled health insurers, companies in the digital health space are attracting investor attention. In 2018, digital health startups raised a record $14.8B in funding across nearly 1,500 deals, with deals and funding increasing nearly every year since 2014.
Digital health startups are also seeing high levels of exit activity in recent years: while exits have been slower in 2019, last year saw a record number of exits in the space.
Since 2011, 16 digital health companies have exited via an IPO or M&A deal valued at $1B+ — 9 of which have happened since 2018 (as of 9/12/19). Using CB Insights data, we visualized these exits together in one timeline.
Our analysis considers first exits since 2011 only. For more on billion-dollar exits, see Visualizing Tech Giants’ Billion-Dollar Acquisitions.
Please click to enlarge.
Key takeaways
Ping An Good Doctor is the highest-valued exit on our list. The Shenzhen, China-based healthcare platform went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at a valuation of $7.5B in May 2018.
Two more IPOs round out the top 3 exits: life sciences-focused cloud software company Veeva Systems ($4.4B valuation at IPO, 2013) and wearable fitness sensor Fitbit ($4.1B, 2015). Billion-dollar IPOs outpace $1B+ M&A deals, and also trend larger — 4 of the top 5 digital health exits have been public offerings.
The largest M&A deal in our graphic is healthcare data and analytics company is Truven Health Analytics, which was acquired by private equity firm Veritas Capital for $1.25B in 2012. IBM later acquired Truven Health for $2.6B in early 2016. Veritas Capital is the only company responsible for a second $1B+ health exit, acquiring Virence Health Technologies for $1.05B in 2018.
Cancer-focused startup Flatiron Health, which was acquired by pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding early last year, also appears on our list of billion-dollar AI exits.
3 companies reached unicorn valuations prior to exiting: Ping An Good Doctor ($3B valuation), NantHealth ($2B), and Flatiron Health ($1.3B).
| Company | Valuation at Exit ($M) | Exit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Ping An Good Doctor | $7,500 | IPO |
| Veeva Systems | $4,400 | IPO |
| Fitbit | $4,100 | IPO |
| 10X Genomics | $3,600 | IPO |
| Livongo Health | $2,490 | IPO |
| Flatiron Health | $2,125 | Acquisition (Roche Holding) |
| NantHealth | $1,690 | IPO |
| Guardant Health | $1,588 | IPO |
| GoHealth | $1,500 | Acquisition (Centerbridge Partners) |
| Castlight Health | $1,400 | IPO |
| Truven Health Analytics | $1,250 | Acquisition (Veritas Capital) |
| Ability Network | $1,200 | Acquisition (Inovalon Holdings) |
| 111 | $1,100 | IPO |
| CoverMyMeds | $1,100 | Acquisition (McKesson) |
| Virence Health Technologies | $1,050 | Acquisition (Veritas Capital) |
| Teladoc Health | $1,037 | IPO |