Digital Health Innovation in 2025: Six Areas Shaping Momentum Heading Into 2026

As 2025 concludes, healthcare leaders are evaluating where digital health activity has intensified and where it continues to mature. Using the Rock Health Innovation Maturity Curve, analysts examined research volume, venture funding, and partnership activity across core innovation domains to assess traction and identify signals indicative of momentum heading into the new year. This year’s analysis includes three returning areas—next-generation wearable form factors, patient phenotyping and digital twins, and climate health innovation—and introduces longevity, AI mental health chatbots, and a new category of alternative employer benefits solutions termed “health benefits 2.0.”

Patient phenotyping and digital twins advanced from nascent to emerging. Increased research activity in oncology and metabolic and endocrine conditions highlighted how simulation-based approaches are uncovering insights less accessible through traditional analytics. Commercial progress, however, remained uneven. While Twin Health raised $53M at a valuation near $1B, overall funding dropped to 0.5% of digital health investment, and enterprise partnerships remained limited. Key factors expected to shape future adoption include data governance, regulatory clarity around simulation-based evidence, and the reliability of models as new inputs are introduced.

Next-generation wearable form factors progressed from emerging to developing. Rings proved central to category expansion, with Oura raising $900M at a nearly $11B valuation and reporting more device sales in just over a single year than in the previous decade combined. New research explored continuous monitoring of complex cardiovascular indicators, while launches such as Apple’s heart rate–enabled AirPods and Lumia’s blood-flow–tracking earrings broadened the range of sensor-enabled devices. As more entrants approach the diagnostic boundary, companies will need to determine whether to pursue regulatory pathways or remain in consumer wellness.

Climate health innovation remained nascent. Despite increasing evidence linking environmental conditions to health outcomes and new global guidance on climate-health data integration, investment and partnership activity remained modest. U.S. regulatory shifts contributed to limited commercial traction, with most venture activity occurring outside the domestic market. Future movement will depend on solutions that demonstrate concrete health and operational outcomes tied to climate-driven events.

Longevity entered the curve as developing. Companies explored whether personalized biological baselines can meaningfully support ongoing care models. Function Health’s $298M raise at a $2.5B valuation underscored interest in broad diagnostics, while Midi and Hone Health expanded offerings centered on metabolic and hormonal insights. Success in this category will hinge on translating long-range biological patterns into actionable guidance that encourages sustained engagement.

AI chatbots for mental health were categorized as emerging. Pre-scripted tools faced regulatory and ethical challenges, yet investor and commercial interest persisted. Slingshot secured a $93M raise, and established players including Talkspace, Lyra, and Spring Health announced AI-driven initiatives. At the same time, reports of consumers turning to general-purpose chatbots underscored safety and oversight concerns. Regulatory scrutiny is expected to intensify, with companies weighing narrower use cases and safety frameworks such as VERA-MH.

Health benefits 2.0 also emerged as employers and consumers faced increasing cost pressures. Growth in ICHRAs and supporting startups, expansion of pharma’s employer-facing access programs, and competition among alternative PBMs and cash-pricing models signaled changes to the benefits landscape. As more costs shift to consumers, the benefits experience may increasingly resemble a set of adjacent marketplaces rather than a traditional single-plan structure.

Together, these six areas illustrate how AI advances, regulatory shifts, and macroeconomic pressures have shaped digital health’s trajectory. With 2026 approaching, signals from research, investment, and partnerships will remain essential for forecasting which areas sustain momentum and which face correction.

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