Healthtech and edtech are two of the fastest growing sectors, with the healthtech market size to reach $3.1 billion by 2033, while the global education technology market size is projected to reach $348.41 billion by 2030.
Each week will do a roundup of the top news, fundings, and IPOs from these two sectors.
Top News
- The Bezos Earth Fund announced a $2 million grant to the University California, Davis, the American Heart Association and other partners to advance “Swap it Smart” as part of its AI for Climate & Nature Grand Challenge. The funding will support research that could help redesign foods, for example optimizing for flavor profile, nutritional properties and lower costs and environmental impact
- Educational technology company Chegg said it would cut 388 roles globally, or about 45% of the workforce, to reduce costs and streamline operations as it works to adapt to the growing shift toward AI-powered tools. The company, which offers textbook rentals, homework help and tutoring, said the “new realities of AI and reduced traffic from Google to content publishers have led to a significant decline in Chegg’s traffic and revenue”
AI News
- University of Idaho partnered with Google to give students no-cost access to the company’s most advanced artificial intelligence tools and training, offering access to Google AI tools, AI training and Google Career Certificates through the new Google AI for Education Accelerator
- The University of Pittsburgh partnered with Anthropic and Amazon Web Services to create an AI-enabled Campus of the Future, with Pitt becoming the first university to secure an institution-wide agreement for the AI model Claude for Education integrated with AWS, which will be deployed across its Pittsburgh and regional campuses
- Google partnered with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Miami Dade College to develop and pilot AI-powered solutions to support both learning outcomes and operational efficiency, while also investing in training faculty on Gemini and launching a new global learning platform
- Capital One partnered with the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science to establish the Capital One AI Research Neighborhood and launch the Capital One Ph.D. Fellowship Awards in order to accelerate artificial intelligence research and education while helping to create the next generation of AI leaders in financial technology
- Fairfield University’s masters in marketing analytics & strategy program partnered with the Category Management Association | Shopper Insights Management Association to launch new specializations including one in AI
- Datavault AI partnered with Wellgistics Health, a logistic company that focuses on streamlining healthcare technology and pharmaceutical from manufacturer to patient, to co-develop PharmacyChain, a blockchain-enabled smart contract system designed to optimize prescription distribution
- MindHYVE.ai, a provider of agentic artificial intelligence and adaptive learning technologies, partnered with the Prime Institute of Health Sciences in Islamabad, introducing a dual-sector AI deployment, bringing ArthurAI to the classrooms and ChironAI to the hospitals of PIHS
- Machinify, a healthcare intelligence company with expertise across the payment continuum, acquired Performant Healthcare, which helps organizations enhance revenue and contain costs by preventing, identifying and recovering outstanding and improperly paid assets
- ThinkBio.Ai, an AI-powered platforms and solutions company that bridges the biological complexity and personalized medicine, acquired InfoHealth Solutions, a hospital asset management software provider
Late Stage Fundings:
Healthtech:
- VentureMed Group, a medical device company specializing in vessel preparation and access management technologies for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease and arteriovenous fistulas and grafts, raised a $28 million Series C financing round led by S3 Ventures, and joined by existing investors including Endeavour Vision
Early Stage Fundings
Healthtech:
- Arya Health, an AI company helping home health and post-acute care providers automate scheduling, compliance, and other administrative operations, raised an $18.2 million Series A funding led by ACME Capital, with participation from Ridge Ventures, Twelve Below, executives from OpenAI, and post-acute care providers
- Zag Bio, a biotechnology company developing thymus-targeted medicines, raised $80 million in financing, co-led by Polaris Partners with the T1D Fund, with participation from Mission BioCapital, AbbVie Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, KdT Ventures, Regeneron Ventures, Boxer Capital and Pear VC
- LATTICE MEDICAL, a company specializing in tissue engineering, raised a Series B fundraising round of €43 million led by the SPI Fund, managed on behalf of the French government as part of France 2030 by Bpifrance, and supported by Blast.Club, Sprim, qualified investors grouped within TIDJEE, as well as long-standing investors EIC Fund, Captech Santé, Nord France Amorçage, and FIRA Nord Est
- Curve Biosciences, a biotechnology company that focuses on precision medicine for chronic diseases, raised $40 million in funding led by Luma Group with participation from First Spark Ventures, Techas Capital, Micah Spear, Civilization Ventures, LifeX Ventures, Incite, Mintaka VC, NZVC, and others
- ISA Saúde, which brings hospital-quality healthcare to people’s homes across Brazil, raised a $30 million Series B round led by the International Finance Corporation, along with IDB Lab, Dalus, and Endeavor Catalyst
- Archy, a dental practice management software that integrates patient care, communication, and reporting into a single platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by TCV along with Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, Entrée Capital, and 25 practicing dentists
- Pluro Fertility, a company that partners with successful independent IVF specialists across India through a clinical partnership model that preserves doctor autonomy while offering centralised operational support, raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners with Vikram Chatwal, Dharmil Sheth and Hardik Dedhia, Salil Musale, Shalibhadra Shah and Niket Shah, and Karan Kapur also participating
- Cellcolabs, a biotech company focused on industrial-scale production of mesenchymal stem cells, raised $12 million in primary funding from Titian Capital via its life sciences platform, Titian Life Sciences
- Primaa, which provides AI-based software for pathologists to detect cancer biomarkers and analyze medical images efficiently, raised €7 million in a round supported by MH Innov’, Elaia’s partnership fund, SWEN Capital Partners, Super Capital, and members of the Wendel family
Edtech:
- Housr, a platform for finding student housing in the UK and US, raised $10 million from Ashta Capital and Juniper Equity
Seed Fundings
Healthtech:
- Honey Health, an all-in-one back office AI platform for healthcare organizations, raised $7.8 million in seed funding led by Pelion Ventures, with participation from Streamlined, Burst Capital, and 8-Bit Capital
- Human Health, a patient-first precision health platform, raised a €4.7 million seed round from LocalGlobe, Airtree, Skip Capital, Aliavia, and Scale Ventures, with participation from angels including Arvind Rajan, Eric Salama, and David Shein
- Adaptam Therapeutics, a biotech company developing cancer immunotherapies specifically targeting immunosuppressive myeloid cells, raised a €3 million pre-seed financing round led by Criteria Bio Ventures
- Surgical Automations, a stealth-mode surgical-robotics company leveraging AI and automation to transform gastrointestinal endoscopy, raised a $3.4 million seed round, co-led by Dr. Fred Moll and TurboStart
- Heading, an interventional psychiatry practice focused on delivering mental health protocols for conditions including severe trauma, stress, anxiety, and depression, raised $1.5 million from BrainsWay
Edtech:
- RePlayce, a company specializing in exploratory career education for middle and high school students, raised ¥1.8 billion from Genesia Ventures, Nissay Capital, Oriental Land Innovations, NTT Docomo, and AlphaDrive
- Ginia connects students with employers before graduation, using AI to guide them through every step of their early career, raised a $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Wollef with participation from NFX and Latitud
Going public
- Medical supply company Medline filed for an IPO. The company is one of the largest privately held manufacturers and distributors of medical supplies, including surgical equipment, gloves and laboratory devices used by hospitals worldwide
Fund News
- HealthBridge Innovation Partners, a healthcare-focused growth equity firm, announced its official launch, bolstered by a strategic partnership with MPowered Capital. HealthBridge focuses on investing in high-performing, growth-stage healthcare companies across healthcare information technology, digital health, and medical products with defensible intellectual property
- Maple Bridge Ventures announced the first close of its debut $20 million CAD venture fund at $10.2 million CAD, backed by anchor investors Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and Realize Capital Partners. Maple Bridge Ventures invests in immigrant founders building high-growth technology companies across agrifoodtech, healthtech, and enterprise solutions
- Global Healthcare Opportunities, a European specialist investor in global healthcare, announced the final close of its fourth fund, GHO Capital IV LP, raising over €2.5 billion of capital available to invest
- Blume Ventures announced the initial close of its latest flagship investment fund, Fund V, $175 million. Fund V continues the firm’s focus on supporting early-stage Indian startups across technology-led sectors such as healthtech, consumer products, fintech, and deep tech
Policy and government
- The Trump administration must release millions of dollars in grants meant to address the shortage of mental health workers in schools, a federal judge ruled. Congress funded the mental health program after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The grants were intended to help schools hire more counselors, psychologists and social workers, with a focus on rural and underserved areas of the country. But President Donald Trump’s administration opposed diversity considerations used to award the grants and told recipients they wouldn’t receive funding past December 2025
- The Trump administration issued an interpretive rule that undermines state laws forbidding the inclusion of medical debt on consumers’ credit reports. The guideline published in the Federal Register Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received quick condemnation from patient and consumer advocacy groups. Though not legally binding on its own, they said the publication is likely to play a factor in ongoing or future litigation against states’ laws
Random news
- Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported that an AI-powered lifestyle intervention app for prediabetes reduced the risk of diabetes similarly to traditional, human-led programs in adults. In the study, the researchers tested whether a fully AI-driven program could provide adults with prediabetes similar health benefits as yearlong, group-based programs led by human coaches. After 12 months, the study team found 31.7% of AI-diabetes prevention program participants and 31.9% of human-led diabetes prevention program participants met the CDC-defined composite benchmark for diabetes risk reduction
(Image source: entrepreneur.com)
