U.S. digital health startups raise $7.4B in first half of 2026

In September, EU-Startups reported that Stockholm-based Tandem Health raised €86.5 million in Series B funding led by the Scaleup Europe Fund, which EQT manages.

Tandem builds an AI medical assistant for European clinics. Its tools handle documentation, coding and clinical decision support, and each component is certified as a Class IIa medical device under EU rules. The company says it has offices in 14 European markets and that its product has been adopted by more than 10,000 care organisations.

How the funding wave built

Rock Health reported in July that U.S. digital health startups collected $7.4 billion over 244 deals in the first half of 2026, compared with $6.4 billion a year earlier. The median deal size rose from $12 million to $14 million. Mega-deals above $100 million accounted for 45% of all capital invested, compared with 42% last year and 22% in 2024.

Mental healthcare remained the most heavily funded clinical area. Talkiatry and Grow Therapy each raised rounds above $100 million. Weight management and obesity was second, boosted by GLP-1 demand, with eMed raising a $200 million Series A and Nourish raising $100 million in Series C.

Public exits slowed. After seven digital health IPOs in 2025, Rock Health noted none in the first half of 2026. Instead, the sector saw 115 digital health acquisitions, with 71 announced in the second quarter, the highest quarterly M&A activity since Q3 2021.

Crunchbase News reported in August that fitness- and wellness-related startup funding exceeded $3.6 billion in the first half of 2026, putting the year on pace to be about a third higher than 2025. The largest deals included Whoop's $575 million Series G in March and Eight Sleep's $50 million Series D in March. Solace raised a $130 million Series C in February to connect patients with healthcare advocates. Investors favoured devices that collect health data and use AI for personalised guidance, not standalone home-gym hardware.

Also in August, Business Insider reported that Devoted Health, which runs a Medicare Advantage plan, is negotiating a new funding round at a $25 billion valuation, up from $16 billion earlier this year. Crunchbase News listed a $366 million Series F early in 2026 for Devoted Health. Devoted Health combines health insurance and medical care for older adults in Medicare Advantage and uses its AI tool Orinoco to coordinate care. As of January 2026, its membership reached 466,000, a jump of 121% from a year earlier. Its backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Venrock, General Catalyst, Iconiq and Emerson Collective.

The UK government opened the first contests within the £100 million Sovereign AI R&D Procurement Scheme. One competition, run with the Department of Health and Social Care, will fund AI systems that automate NHS workflows, coordinate care and support decision-making. Companies keep the intellectual property they create.

The company plans to use the capital to expand its product from a medical assistant to a clinic operating system that also handles patient flow management. It has offices in 14 European markets and names Ramsay Santé, Humanitas and the NHS among its customers.

In September, TIME and Statista published their World's Top HealthTech Companies of 2026 list, which includes AI medical scribe Abridge, women's health service Maven Clinic, mental health platform Spring Health, and companies like CareMessage and Cadence that help clinicians monitor rural patients with chronic conditions remotely.

Rock Health said investors are zeroing in on companies with healthcare domain experience and those focused on orchestration. Crunchbase News said investors want AI and data rather than treadmills.