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
- Oracle Health partnered with Theator, a company transforming intraoperative surgical video into structured, actionable clinical data, to provide AI-powered surgical intelligence solutions to Oracle Health customers in the U.S. With Theator’s solutions, which capture surgical video footage and use AI to analyze it and cross-reference EHR data, surgical teams can benefit from automated reporting that is more clinically accurate, optimized for billing, and tailored to individual preferences, with no transcription or dictation required
- RAISE US launched with $500 million in funding from tech and other interests to help American workers adapt to artificial intelligence. The effort is led by two former governors, Democrat Gina Raimondo and Republican Eric Holcomb, who raised the funds from AI companies, major corporations and philanthropies. To begin, the money will seed pilot programs in a handful of states aimed at easing the economic transition for workers disaffected by the AI boom
AI News
- UCLA Health launched the Innovations and Outcomes Validation of AI (INOVAi) Center, a center committed to the real-world evaluation of Artificial Intelligence safety and implementation practices in health care through testing and research
- OptimizeRx, a provider of healthcare technology solutions helping life sciences companies reach and engage healthcare providers and patients at the most important decision points, launched its patent-pending Natural Language Audience Builder, an AI-powered tool designed to be embedded within both demand-side platforms and agency media planning platforms
- Ambience Healthcare, an AI platform for clinical documentation and revenue integrity, announced an expansion of its nursing suite with the introduction of Nursing Summary and Ambient Flowsheet Documentation, which captures the narrated patient assessment into structured flowsheets, eliminating manual data entry
- Imperial Executive Education partnered with Emeritus, an EdTech startup that provides accessible and affordable educational programs, to launch its Chief Data and AI Officer Programme, designed to prepare for senior leaders shaping enterprise data and AI decisions to define enterprise AI strategy, build strong data and governance foundations and deploy AI initiatives that drive innovation and operational impact
- Mexico’s Ministry of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation and the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency partnered with universities and public research centers to create the National High-Performance Computing and AI Cluster to consolidate Mexico’s fragmented computing and AI resources into a coordinated national framework
- Carnegie Mellon University’s National Science Foundation AI Institute for Societal Decision Making and Meta’s AI for Good partnered to develop dynamic situation reports aimed at helping first responders better address natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes and severe winter storms
Really big financings:
Healthtech:
- Alan, a provider of online digital insurance services that modernizes the way individuals access and manage their healthcare, raised a €480 million Series G funding round led by Prosus, alongside existing backers Index Ventures and Teachers’ Venture Growth, as well as new investor Dara Holdings
- Assort Health, an AI agent platform for the patient journey, from scheduling and intake to referrals, forms, document processing, medication refills, and payments, raised a $120 million Series C led by Menlo Ventures along with Lightspeed Venture Partners, Felicis, First Round Capital, Chemistry, Joe Montana, Tau Ventures, and Quiet Capital
- RQ Bio, a private biotechnology company developing long-acting antibody therapeutics for the prevention of influenza in high-risk and immunocompromised populations, raised $115 million in Series A financing led by Frazier Life Sciences, with participation from new investors EQT Life Sciences, Forbion, Monograph and Wellington Management alongside founding investor LifeArc Ventures, as well as shareholders Oxford Science Enterprises and the University of Oxford
- Cadence, a clinical AI company managing chronic care for older adults, raised a $100 million Series C, led by Spark Capital. Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Coatue, B Capital, Corewell Health Ventures, Memorial Hermann, and Duke Health participated in the round
Big financings:
Healthtech:
- Lycia Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics designed to degrade disease-causing extracellular proteins, with an initial focus on addressing autoimmune, inflammatory and allergic diseases, raised a $75 million Series D financing co-led by existing investor Janus Henderson Investors and new investor Balyasny Asset Management, and included new participation from Adage Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments and OrbiMed as well as continued support from Eli Lilly and Company, Franklin Templeton, Invus, RTW Investments and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners
- Nura Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing neuroprotective small molecule therapies, raised a $73.8 million Series B financing led by The Column Group, with participation from Euclidean Capital, Samsara BioCapital, and Sanofi Ventures
- Lumitron, developer of a unique x‐ray system that enables new capabilities for high‐fidelity imaging, raised $50 million from Hancock Prospecting
- xCures, a healthcare data company focused on improving healthcare outcomes solutions, raised $46 million in a Series B funding round led by Innovius Capital, with participation from iGrow, GKCC, Spring Mountain Capital, and existing investors.
- Prosper AI, an agentic AI platform that powers administrative tasks from patient scheduling to insurance verification and patient billing, raised $30 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Base10 and continued support from Emergence Capital, Y Combinator and Company Ventures
- Hera, a company building a new profession of senior care experts with human-centric AI, raised $27 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures with continued participation from Accel and IA Ventures and angels including the CFO of Mount Sinai
- CroíValve, a medical device company focused on the development of a novel transcatheter device for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation, raised a $20 million Series B expansion financing from new investors BGF and EIC, along with participation from current investors including the MedTech Syndicate
- Rapalogix Health, a biotechnology company advancing a science-first approach to cellular longevity and skin health, raised a $20 million Series A financing co-led by GordonMD and Woodline Partners
- Upside, a housing stability platform purpose-built for healthcare, raised a $20 million Series A led by Aquiline with Flare Capital Partners and continued support from existing investors including 645 Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Triple Impact Capital and Techstars
- Vanna Health, a value-based health technology company that provides integrated mental and chronic health support through community-based coaching, raised a $17 million funding round co-led by a national insurer and AlleyCorp, with participation from Health Velocity Capital
- Frontier Health, a developer of a patient pathway tracking and clinical administration coordination platform, raised $12.8 million in a round led by Atomico, with participation from firstminute capital and XYZ Venture Capital
Not so big financings:
Healthtech:
- Xella Health, a women’s precision health platform that combines advanced multi-omic testing with personalized telehealth care, raised $4.7 million in angel and pre-seed funding from Precursor Ventures, Capital F, Ulu Ventures, Swizzle Ventures, and other funds as well as strategic angel investors across healthcare, diagnostics, and consumer technology
- Pathway Labs, builder of AI that helps clinicians catch heart disease earlier, raised an $8.5 million seed round led by AlleyCorp and Breyer Capital
- Ladder Health, a virtual-first pediatric developmental care company, raised a $7 million Seed financing round led by Nina Capital, with participation from Mairs & Power Venture Capital, South Dakota First Capital, and incubating partner 25madison Health
- Maple Aviation, a healthcare drone logistics startup, raised €4 million in seed funding from Bayern Kapital, ES KAPITAL, Rüdiger Schmidt, Stefan Eishold, Martin Giese of Cambridge Ventures, Bernd Baezner, and superangels. Maple Aviation also received grant support from the Regierung von Oberbayern and the European Space Agency
- Ovum, a health technology platform described as an intelligent health journal and AI assistant designed specifically for women, raised $4 million in seed funding in a round led by Admiralty Capital Group with participation from Antler, Giant Leap, Brisbane Angels and more. LaunchVic also increased its investment through the Alice Anderson Fund
- Neubond, developer of wearable devices for stroke mobility rehabilitation, offering autonomous assistance and therapy during daily activities, raised £1.5 million in seed funding from Waseda University Ventures
- Houdini Bio, a company developing a machine learning-powered platform designed to improve the performance and durability of gene and cell therapies, raised £1.5 million in a round led by SCVC, with participation from Deep Science Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise
- Intu Diagnostics, a startup developing a platform for completely lab-free molecular diagnostics, raised a €1.1 million strategic bridge round from BSV Ventures, Saxonian Development Bank, and business angels
- WAIIS, a startup specializing in smart shared mobility, raised a €1 million funding round from Hiberus
- illumicell AI, a healthtech company developing proprietary 3D imaging and AI to make biological samples machine-readable, raised a $500,000 investment from Tim Draper.
Edtech:
- Zeraki, an edtech company that developed digital learning and school data analytics platforms, raised $1.8 million in seed funding led by Acumen Fund. The Nairobi Business Angels Network and Melvyn Lubega participated in the round, as did Save the Children Impact Investment Fund, Verdant Frontiers Fintech, and Logos Ventures
Policy and government
- Sen. Bill Cassidy unveiled a legislative discussion draft to statutory update the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a US federal initiative requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide significant outpatient drug discounts. The draft contains measures such as allowances for drug manufacturers to offer upfront discounts or rebates following the submission of claims data, as well as regular reporting from participating nonprofits on their 340B revenues, costs and eligibility
- Norway announced it is imposing a near ban on the use of generative AI tools by elementary school pupils while also restricting their use in the education of older children to prevent a negative impact on learning. Students from first through seventh grade, aged 6 to 13, should as a general rule not be using AI, while those in lower secondary school, aged 14 to 16, can cautiously adopt tools under teachers’ supervision, the government said
Random news
- Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel and his wife, supermodel Miranda Kerr, have helped pay off $550 million in medical debt for more than 261,000 Californians. The couple made a multimillion-dollar donation to Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that provides debt relief to people in financial need. The organization acquires medical debt in bulk from hospitals, physician groups, collection agencies and other groups for a fraction of the cost
