Healthtech is taking off as the must-fund sector

Castlight Health, GoHealth, Kinnser Software, Airstrip lead in healthtech investments this year

Summer swimsuit season is upon us and a lot of people are trying to get their health back on track, even the high and consumer tech business sectors. 

A new report by healthcare accelerator Rock Health gathered all the digital health companies, that received at least $2 million in investments, and found that those deals are up 73% compared to last year. In total,$675 million in digital health investments occurred in the first six months of this year, compared to $390 million at this point last year.

Throughout 2011, 92 companies collected at least $2 million in investment, as so far this year, the industry is already at 68 deals, once you add in the deal that went through last week for Valence Health to the tune of $30 million.

The report found that four segments of digital health have gotten the most attention: physician tools, sensors, home health and data/analytics. 

And the clear earner in investments is that fourth segment, with health juggernaut Castlight Health, which helps collect the analytics about different procedures, healthcare providers and payments so that, for the first time ever, a patient can see just how much they will have to pay before they walk into a procedure or office. Just a few weeks ago, Castlight Heatlh raked in the biggest health tech investment ever with a $100 million Castlight Health deal.

Other notably sizable investments this year included the $50 million injection from Norwest Equity Partners that GoHealth received (another cost comparison site in a similar space to Castlight), a $40 million investment from Insight Venture Partners to Kinnser Software, and a $39 million allotment from Sequoia and Qualcomm Life to Airstrip Technologies. 

And while Rock Health found that the Bay Area is clearly the hub for health tech investments and startups, bringing in $189 million of investments this year, Austin, Chicago, Boston, New York CIty, San Diego, Pittsburg and Indianapolis also have drawn investors' attention for their steps to bring high tech to the health field. 

When I spoke with Giovanni Colella, the CEO and co-founder of Castlight Health about the new funding his company was able to secure, he was extremely excited by the newly fueled focus on health technology and what it would mean for the everyday consumer.

"Health and medical expenses are something that every person grapples with," he told me. "And we are finally pulling back the cloak of secrecy that has been keeping consumers uninformed and giving them the power to control their own health future, which is a completely new way to see the health and medical sphere."

With companies from personal fitness tracking technology like FitBit, all the way to big data software businesses like Castlight Health, it looks like the way we view, manage and pay for our health and medical is forever changing.