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Hi readers,
A few months ago, my mom had to undergo a surgery to fix her fractured arm. During my time with her in the hospital, I was surprised at the level of transparency as well as the processes that were now digitalized.
I would receive daily updates from the hospital over email and WhatsApp about the costs for the procedures, the doctors’ fees, the medication administered, and the results of her tests, among others. This is in comparison to a few years ago when getting such information from hospitals was so rare that seeing the final bill of the overall charges could land someone back in a hospital.
In addition, I could book follow-up doctor appointments through the hospital’s platform and make payments online easily. It made me think about how healthtech platforms have enabled this digital transformation in traditional healthcare providers.
Investments in the healthtech sector during the pandemic played a big part in this process. In a recent piece that outlines Southeast Asia’s healthtech industry, I found out that the total funding amount the sector has received this year so far has already surpassed the amount raised for the whole of 2021 – when investor interest was at its peak.
However, a closer look at the data shows that everything isn’t as rosy as it seems. Over 75% of the amount raised by healthtech firms this year came from only two deals. If you exclude those, the total funds raised this year was 35% lower than 2022.
It just goes to show that the healthtech sector isn’t immune to the impact of the current funding winter.
That said, the data also showed that investor sentiment for healthtech startups still remains strong, as many VC firms have continued to back them. Some, such as East Ventures, have even launched dedicated funds for healthcare investments.
There were more insights that I was able to glean from analyzing the data and talking to industry insiders. I hope you find it helpful, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on Southeast Asia’s healthtech ecosystem.
— Collin Furtado, journalist at Tech in Asia
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Image credit: Timmy Loen
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