The U.K.’s Spex Capital has debuted a $120 million fund to support digital healthcare and MedTech startups.
The Spex Venture Health-Tech Fund, announced in a Monday (Feb. 27), will support early-stage HealthTech ventures with investments of up to $6 million and arrives at a time when consumers are increasingly using digital-first health services.
“Even before COVID-19, the drive for countries to make better use of digital technology in healthcare had already begun,” Spex founder and CEO Claudio D’Angelo said an announcement.
“With this fund, our partnership with MedCity and a broad network of high caliber senior advisors, we will have unparalleled access to invest in the best startups within this space.”
The MedCity partnership provides the firm with a connection to the U.K.’s National Health Service, which can help early-stage founders in the sector create “stronger, more scalable businesses,” per the announcement.
The launch comes as the healthcare industry has shifted to a hybrid but digital-first model, with half of all consumers engaging with healthcare providers via a mix of digital and physical channels.
According to “How Digital Has Changed the Consumer Healthcare Experience and Expectations,” a PYMNTS and CareCredit collaboration, digital options have expanded healthcare services access to the 73 million patients who otherwise wouldn’t have the time or money for an in-person doctor’s visit.
The study found that healthcare options were most popular among financially struggling consumers who were drawn to lower costs and more flexible solutions.
Meanwhile, further PYMNTS research found that the rise of provider portals and unified digital platforms is altering how people pay for healthcare.
According to “The Digital Platform Promise: How Patients Want to Streamline Healthcare Payments,” a PYMNTS and Lynx collaboration, 29% of consumers used a digital portal at least once to pay a medical bill in the last year, and a quarter of patients said it is their preferred way to pay, marking a major shift away from in-person and other traditional methods.
The study found that 75% of consumers in the U.S. made at least one payment for a healthcare product or service in the past 12 months, with an increasing number choosing digital channels.
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