15 May 2021. Venture funding for start-ups providing artificial intelligence services in health care climbed to a record high volume in the first quarter of 2021. In the first three months of 2021, venture financing for companies providing A.I. services for health care or using A.I. for product development reached nearly $2.5 billion worldwide, in 111 transactions, according to a report on health care venture capital by technology industry analysts at CB Insights (registration required).
The $2.494 billion raised in the first quarter of 2021 is the fifth consecutive quarterly increase in A.I. venture funding for health care, beginning in Q1 2020. The 111 deals is up slightly from the 102 transactions in the previous quarter. CB Insights says venture funding rounds of $100 million or more dominated the first quarter deals. These so-called mega-rounds accounted for $1.5 billion of the total.
The mega-round trend for A.I. enterprises in health care appears to be continuing in the second quarter of 2021. As reported by Science & Enterprise since the beginning of April, a company using machine learning to create engineered viruses to deliver gene therapies and a biotech company designing vaccines for viral diseases with A.I. are each raising $100 million in their first or second venture rounds.
Health care overall remains a prime target for global venture capital, according to CB Insights. In the first quarter, health care venture investors placed some $31.6 billion, a record high dollar volume, in more than 1,500 deals, the second largest number of transactions in 12 quarters.
More from Science & Enterprise:
- Infographic – Global Venture Funds Hit Record High
- Infographic – Biotech Index Dips in Q1
- Infographic – Top Venture Investor in Each State
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