The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

2024 Digital Health Year End Review | CEO of Rock Health Advisory, Megan Zweig

Dec 30, 2024

Megan Zweig, President and CEO of Rock Health Advisory, dives into the captivating shifts in digital health for 2024. She discusses how funding rebounded to $10 billion with a focus on sustainability. AI made waves, capturing 40% of investment dollars despite fierce competition. Additionally, Zweig highlights the surprising resilience of past unicorns and strategic partnerships, like Eli Lilly's with Ro, which signals a new era in weight care. The conversation also touches on the growing importance of women's health and innovative care solutions.

38:19

Episode guests

Megan Zweig

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

In 2024, digital health funding rebounded to $10 billion, reflecting a shift towards earlier-stage investments prioritizing sustainable business models over rapid growth.

AI-enabled companies captured 40% of investment dollars, indicating a strong trend toward integrating technology in mental and weight care within the healthcare landscape.

Deep dives

Funding Trends in Digital Health

In 2024, investment in U.S.-based digital health startups is projected to reach about $10 billion, equating to levels observed both in 2023 and adjusted for inflation from 2019. The landscape has shifted dramatically, with fewer large investment deals compared to the surge seen in 2020 and 2021, leading to a preference for earlier-stage funding, such as seed and Series A rounds. This change reflects a new ethos among investors who prioritize sustainable and profitable business models instead of sheer growth. As a result, venture capital is increasingly concentrated among a few key players, which shapes the future of innovation and funding in digital health.

Intro

2min

Shifting Trends in Digital Health Investment

18min

Navigating Changes in Obesity Treatment and Food as Medicine

2min

Evolving Health Policies and Women's Health Initiatives

4min

Evolving Healthcare Landscapes

8min

Resilience in Healthcare: Navigating Change

5min

From the return of "historic norms" in funding to the rise of AI and strategic pharma partnerships, 2024 was quite the year for digital health. Rock Health Advisory CEO Megan Zweig joins us on this episode to unpack a year defined by resilience, consolidation, and the 'revenge of the Goliaths.' We look at the funding data, reveal how the industry's unicorns survived their valuation hangovers, and share why 2024 might be remembered as healthcare's boiling point.

We cover:

💰 How digital health funding returned to 2019 levels at ~$10B, with fewer mega-deals but healthier fundamentals

🤖 How 40% of investment dollars went to AI-enabled companies despite growing incumbent competition

🔄 Why M&A hit decade-lows as buyers and sellers struggled to align on valuations

🏢 The concentration of power among top VCs, with just nine funds raising 50% of all venture capital

🏥 The surprising resilience of 2020-2022's unicorn cohort in navigating the downturn

💊 Eli Lilly's strategic partnership with Ro and what it means for the future of weight care

👥 The rise of women's health, from Maven's success to Midi's innovative health system partnerships

---

Show Notes:

---

About our guest:

As President and CEO, Megan leads Rock Health Advisory, a digital health strategy group that helps enterprise companies understand and act on opportunities, craft novel solutions, and succeed in an evolving landscape. Previously, Megan served as COO of Rock Health and oversaw Rock Health’s membership offering and research efforts. Prior to joining Rock Health, Megan worked at The Advisory Board Company, where she led the Physician Executive Council, a best practice research membership supporting Chief Medical Officers at over 1,300 hospitals and health systems nationwide. Megan received an MBA from Berkeley Haas, where she graduated valedictorian of her executive MBA class in January 2020. Megan graduated cum laude from Duke University, earning a B.A. in Public Policy Studies with a focus on health policy.

---

🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!

---

📍 Connect with us:

Heart of Healthcare website

Twitter

---

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.