Venture Capital Favors Health IT
By
John Pulley
Venture capitalists continue to view health IT companies favorably.
Investment by VC funds in the health IT sector increased 22 percent last year over the 2010 total, far outpacing the overall 10 percent increase in the amount of capital raised across all industry sectors, according to a Jan. 20 report by Dow Jones VentureSource.
Venture capital firms invested $633 million in 86 health IT deals last year, according to a news release. That's a 26 percent increase in the number of deals done in 2010.
Overall, venture capitalists invested $8.4 billion in the health-care sector in 2011, up only slightly from the $8.3 billion invested in 2010. Biopharmaceuticals led the category, followed by medical devices.
Venture capitalists poured $32.6 billion into 3,209 deals across all industry sectors, according to the release.
The full report is available online for VentureSource subscribers.