Global venture funding in artificial intelligence-based healthcare startups continued its record-breaking upward trend in the third quarter of 2019, totaling almost $1.6 billion across 103 deals, according to a new CB Insights report.
The funding influx far surpasses the previous record set in the second quarter, when AI startups raised $864 million across 75 deals. Third-quarter funding was driven in large part by the $550 million Series C funding round Babylon Health closed in August, which the London-based startup claimed was the largest-ever funding round for any digital health startup in the U.S. or Europe.
Overall global VC-backed healthcare funding remained flat in the third quarter; the $12.5 billion total is approximately the same as the year's first two quarters. While digital health represents almost one-third of year-to-date VC funding in healthcare, digital health deals slowed in the third quarter: The sector experienced a significant drop from the record-setting $5.2 billion raised across 389 deals in the third quarter of 2018, down to $3.2 billion across 328 deals during the same time period this year.
View the full report here.
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