|
Good day. Venture investors deployed $2.6 billion in women’s health last year, the highest amount on record, a Silicon Valley Bank report says.
Last year’s tally was a jump from the $1.7 billion U.S. and European companies raised in 2023, according to SVB, which says venture funding in women’s health has more than tripled since 2020.
The $2.6 billion figure reflects “core” women’s-health funding, or investment aimed at conditions unique to women, SVB said. But when funding for adjacent diseases that affect women differently or disproportionately is considered, the figure grows to $10.7 billion, according to SVB.
Diseases disproportionately affecting women include autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Startups are innovating in areas such as fertility, maternal health and menopause, and researchers are learning more about the causes and biological drivers of conditions that affect women differently or disproportionately, SVB says.
Still, women’s-health companies face some of the same difficulties as startups in other areas of life sciences. In the slumping markets of recent years, few people expected startups to go public or be acquired. In 2025, SVB notes, the pressure to exit is getting stronger.
And now on to the news...
Atsena Therapeutics, a Durham, N.C.-based startup focused on leveraging genetic medicine to reverse or prevent blindness, closed a $150 million Series C round led by Bain Capital’s Life Sciences team.
Venteur, a San Francisco-based personalized health technology platform, secured $20 million in Series A financing led by Informed Ventures and American Family Ventures.
Airvet, a Los Angeles-based pet telehealth startup, landed $11 million in Series B-2 funding led by HighlandX.
Orthobrain, a Richfield, Ohio-based company helping dentists integrate orthodontics into their practices, raised $7.5 million in growth capital led by CareCapital.
Acuity Behavioral Health, an Atlanta-based inpatient psychiatric-care startup, completed a $1.5 million seed round led by Valor Ventures.
|
