Health IT marketplaces are giving startups a stage

• AI-enabled chatbots for self-triage
• Virtual assistants for providers
• AI-enabled medical coding software
• Data retrieval and integration platforms for healthcare 

The Artificial Intelligence Deals Tracker: ~12K Deals Across 19 Industries In One Heatmap. AI companies are seeing deals and dollars across nearly every major industry. We track where AI is heating up, from health to finance to entertainment. Read it here.
 

[Client Research] How Conversational AI Can Save Time And Money For Patients And Providers. Advances in clinical language understanding are creating new opportunities for conversational AI in the healthcare space. We look at the top use cases to monitor. Read it here.
 

[Client Research] ESP Vendor Assessment Matrix — Digital Pharmacy In Healthcare. This report uses the CB Insights Execution & Matrix Strength Positioning (ESP) Matrix to analyze vendors that deliver digital pharmacy solutions in healthcare. Expert Intelligence clients can read it here.
 

[Client Research] Telehealth Cos Are Seeing A Wave Of Consolidation. Here’s What That Means For The Future Of Virtual Care. Using CB Insights’ data, we map out pandemic-era M&A activity in the telehealth space. Read it here.
 

[Client Research] Top Investors Fueling The Electronic Health Record Ecosystem. Deals and funding in the electronic health records space are rebounding as specialty-specific solutions and international markets drive renewed demand. We take a look at where top investors are placing their bets. Read it here.

Mental health chatbots. Mental health software startup Limbic launched three new products — Limbic Self-Care, Limbic Care, and Limbic Prevent. The products use conversational AI to provide on-demand mental health support, such as digital cognitive behavioral therapy.
Med-Tech Innovation News
 

Amazon Care’s 1st employer client. Virtual primary care provider Amazon Care signed fitness company Precor as its first employer client. Precor employees will have access to the telehealth app and can receive in-home doctors’ visits when required.
Business Insider
 

Bigfoot’s big FDA approval. Bigfoot Biomedical received FDA 510k clearance for its Bigfoot Unity Diabetes Management System. The system combines data collected from a continuous glucose monitor to provide automatic insulin dose recommendations to patients.
MobiHealthNews

A(MindMaze)ing DTx partnerships. Digital therapeutics (DTx) company MindMaze entered four new partnerships with Surgicorp, Alkholi, Guttmann Barcelona, and Swiss Rehabilitation. These agreements will help MindMaze expand its existing portfolio of DTx products to treat neurological conditions.
MindMaze
 

Maternal care partners. Maternal care provider Oula inked a partnership with Mount Sinai West to extend child-delivery hospital services to Oula’s patients. Looking forward, Oula plans to open its own birthing center in Manhattan.
MedCityNews
 

DEALS
 

RWE goes global. Real world evidence company Aetion secured a $110M Series C, led by Warburg Pincus. It plans to use the funds to expand its business in Europe and Asia. CB Insights clients can read more about real world evidence platforms here.
 

Microbes printing money. Ginkgo Bioworks — which calls itself “the organism company” — is going public via a SPAC that values it at $17.5B. Backed by Bill Gates, the company has built a number of partnerships across industries.
 

RNA for days. Moderna’s founder has launched another RNA company company — Laronde — with $50M in funding from Flagship Pioneering. The company will develop therapies with “endless RNA” that can increase the amount of protein produced by cells.

$1B for 37. Virtual clinical trials company Science 37 is going public via a SPAC that values it over $1B. The deal will provide the company with $250M in cash, which will be used to fuel continued growth. 
 

Caris on my wayward son. Personalized medicine company Caris Life Sciences raised $830M in a financing that values it close to $8B. It will use the funds to continue developing a pan-cancer liquid biopsy test. 
 

PERSPECTIVES
 

Let’s go on a trip. The first phase 3 trial with psychedelic-assisted therapy was just completed, with significant improvements for patients with severe PTSD. It may only be a matter of time before the FDA grants approval for psychoactive compounds to be used therapeutically.
NY Times
 

83 pages on racial equity. The American Medical Association has vowed, in a new strategic plan, to dismantle racism in healthcare. The report has been criticized by some in the medical community as “lacking in targets, timelines, and teeth.”
STAT News