Key Takeaways
Our Healthcare Investments and Exits report shows a surge in biotech AI investment, strong early-stage momentum and mixed signals from valuation trends.
$5.6B Invested in biotech AI in 2024
Driven largely by mega-deals, investment in biotech AI nearly tripled.
Nearly 40% Of all healthcare deals with a declared Series went to seed-stage companies
Seed and Series A rounds claimed a majority of healthcare deals in 2024.
1 Number of healthcare subsectors experiencing a drop in down and flat rounds
Market corrections may be starting to wind down in biotech, devices and diagnostics/tools.
Biotech AI investment outpaces 2021
With protein discovery and structure platforms leading the space, biotech AI was one of the very few tech groups that surpassed their 2021 investment levels.
The biggest impacts of AI are still emerging and most clinical trials take at least five years, so VCs are investing now with an eye toward putting themselves on the cutting edge later this decade.
Note: Deals $100M and above are considered mega-deals. All 2024 data is as of 11/30/2024.
Source: PitchBook Data, Inc., and SVB proprietary data and analysis
Note: Analysis includes only rounds with a declared Series round
Source: PitchBook Data, Inc., and SVB proprietary data and analysis
Early-stage rounds are taking off
A majority of deals with a declared Series in 2024 went to Series A and seed-stage companies, with seed rounds alone accounting for nearly 40% of total deals.
This early-stage momentum was most significant in healthtech, where seed deals outnumbered Series A deals two to one.
Down rounds have begun to level off
Down and flat rounds have decreased for biopharma, and levelled off in other sectors for the first time in four years.
However, the number of undisclosed rounds has increased, suggesting market valuations may still be resetting.
Note: Up rounds are defined as deals where the pre-money valuation is higher than the prior deal’s post-money valuation. Only deals with a reported deal size are considered for this analysis. Total rows and columns may not add up due to rounding or companies in stealth.
Source: PitchBook Data, Inc., and SVB proprietary data and analysis
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