04 May 2022
Ones to watch - the digital health startups backed to make waves in oncology
What is possible when it comes to fighting cancer is becoming a major question within digital health, as companies and investors focus on applying digital innovation to the leading cause of death worldwide.
Last month, we looked at the issues as digital tech takes the plunge into oncology - which you can read here.
As investment in the sector increases, we look at some of the companies backed by investors to transform digital health and oncology.* This list can also be viewed as a dataset here.
Total funding: $1.1 billion
Lead investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Polaris, RA Capital Management, Perceptive Advisors, Section 32, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Roche, Loxbridge Research
Founders: Charles Roberts, Gabriel Otte, Michael Otte, and Riley Ennis
Based in San Francisco, since 2014, Freenome has used computational biology and machine learning techniques to try to reinvent disease management through early detection and precision intervention. With the new funding secured in December, the company is accelerating its efforts to commercialize a liquid biopsy to detect colorectal cancer in a standard blood sample and continuing to develop its platform to accommodate tests for other types of cancer.
Total funding: $443.6
Lead investors: Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund, Openspace, Aviva Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Eden Strategy Institute, SpesNet
Founders: Kuldeep Singh Rajput, Maulik Majmudar, Wendou Niu
Intending to transform patient health through personalized, predictive care, Biofourmis became the latest digital health startup to hit unicorn status last month with a $300 million Series D investment led by leading global growth equity firm General Atlantic. In 2020 the company expanded into the oncology market with the acquisition of Gaido Health from Takeda Digital Ventures.
Total funding: $300 million
Lead investors: Sixth Street, Declaration Partners
Founders: Jeff Elton, Romesh Wadhwani
Working to use real-world data (RWD) and enterprise AI technology solutions for precision oncology, in March ConcertAI closed a $150 million Series C investment at a $1.9 billion valuation. In the past 36 months, the company has expanded its customer base and partnerships to more than 45 life sciences companies and contract research organizations (CROs).
Total funding: $298 million
Lead Investors: General Catalyst, Kinnevik, Human Capital, 7wire Ventures
Founders: Glen Tullman
Having announced a $200 million funding round in January, Transcarent is pushing ahead with its plans to use a combination of software, technology, health guides, and data science to give consumers unbiased information, trusted guidance, and access to high-value care. The company recently announced a new program focused on cancer care designed to help members connect with cancer care institutes, oncology providers, and appropriate clinical trials in their area.
Total funding: $288.8 million
Lead investors: GV, Novo Holdings, Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Founders: Mark Blumenkranz
Having secured a $150 Series E funding round in January, Verana plans to advance its life sciences product and service strategy across the drug lifecycle, further enhance its value proposition to healthcare providers participating in its real-world data network, and expand its data footprint through medical society and strategic partnerships. The company, which is focused on transforming multi-specialty clinical data into real-world evidence, has been working with the American Urological Association (AUA) on a research collaboration on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to outpatient care for men with prostate cancer in the US.
Total funding: $255 million
Lead investors: General Catalyst, General Atlantic, D1 Capital Partners, LabCorp, Kaiser Permanente
Founders: Aditya Khosla, Andrew Beck
In April, AI-enabled pathology company PathAI announced a multiyear drug discovery partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, focused on advancing clinical trials and drug development in oncology. The company, which raised a $165 million Series C round last year, is also working with Roche and Cleveland Clinic.
Total funding: $217 million
Lead investors: AstraZeneca, Hitachi Ventures, Leaps by Bayer NWS Holdings
Founders: Dan Vahdat, Rich Khatib
British company Huma is developing a digital ‘hospital at home’ and decentralized clinical trial platform that uses real-time health data from smartphones to help patients, clinicians, researchers, and healthcare systems. The company has several partnerships, such as its collaboration with Bayer to advance precision treatment for lung cancer.
Total funding: $133.5 million
Lead investors: Softbank Ventures Asia, Kakao Ventures, InterVest, Shinhan Investment Corporation, Guardant Health
Founders: Anthony Paek, Donggeun Yoo, Jungin Lee, Kyunghyun Paeng, Minhong Jang, Sunggyun Park
An AI-based medical diagnosis and treatment platform company co-founded in 2013, Lunit is set to go public on the South Korean Kosdaq market in the first half of this year. The company’s flagship products are an AI image analysis solution for cancer screening and an AI biomarker platform for cancer treatment.
Total funding: $119.6
Lead investors: Social Capital, Safeguard Scientifics, Ascension Ventures
Founders: Jonathan Hirsch, Tony Loeser
Based in San Francisco, Syapse has secured several partnerships to advance the use of real-world data to better understand the treatment journeys of people with cancer. The company agreed an extension to its collaboration with Pfizer earlier this year and in March announced a collaboration with Main Line Health to bring clinical trial opportunities to patients with cancer in the Philadelphia region.
Total funding: $75 million
Lead investors: CD&R, Hearst
Founders: William S. Dalton
An oncology-focused health informatics solutions company spun out of Moffitt Cancer Center, M2Gen is focused on helping patients get access to the best treatments by leveraging clinical and molecular data to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of tailored and more personalized therapies, In December, the company announced it is partnering with Microsoft to advance and scale its data-driven solutions for the discovery, research, and development of new oncology therapies.
Total funding: $56.5 million
Lead investors: Baird Capital, Oak HC/FT, BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners
Founders: Marc Fishman
Set up to deliver digital health solutions that reduce the physical, mental, and financial toll of cancer, OncoHealth recently unveiled a new digital telehealth service for people with cancer, called Iris.
Total funding: $46.9 million
Lead investors: Jazz Venture Partners
Founders: Elan Tye
A prescription digital therapeutics company dedicated to transforming mental health care for cancer patients, Bluenote is collaborating with organizations such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).
Total funding: $31.8
Lead investors: General Catalyst, 7wire Ventures, Redesign Health
Founders: Adam Pellegrini, Kira Wampler
A cancer care navigation platform for patients, their caregivers, and their healthcare provider, Jasper Health recently raised a $25 million Series A round as it expands its care guidance, navigation, and experience platform that aims to streamline and simplify cancer care.
Total funding: $27.7
Lead investors: Insight Partners, Contour Venture Partners
Founders: Avital Gaziel, Noam Geva, Tzvia Bader
A startup that matches cancer patients to clinical trials, TrialJectory secured $20 million in Series A funding earlier this year.
*Data sourced from HealthXL platform, accurate as of 3 May 2022
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