PitchBook News - Can Big Tech shake up patient care?

Read online | Don't want to receive these emails? Manage your subscription.

Log in

The Weekend Pitch

July 31, 2022

Presented by Masterworks

(Mara Potter/PitchBook News)

Antitrust regulators say Big Tech is such a fierce competitor that it often stymies smaller companies' efforts to grow and innovate.

That's why, when Amazon announced plans last week to acquire One Medical for $3.9 billion including debt, one of the questions that came to my mind was whether the tech giant's major foray into patient care would pose a threat to healthtech startups.

The company's interest in healthcare isn't trivial. In addition to its intention to buy One Medical, Amazon bought PillPack, an online pharmacy, in 2018 for $753 million and established Amazon Care, a health clinic for its employees.

I am Marina Temkin, and this is the Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at marina.temkin@pitchbook.com or on Twitter @mtemkin.

Amazon's ecommerce execution prowess has helped it edge out many competitors. Could it achieve the same feat in healthcare?

"It all depends on how much they want to invest, but they could become a dominant player in primary care because they've got the convenience factor consumers want," said Steve Tolle, a partner with healthcare-focused HLM Venture Partners.

However, the proposed takeover isn't scaring investors in digital health companies. In fact, it's quite the opposite—venture capitalists view this deal as a positive development.

"We think this is great news for the industry," Deena Shakir, a partner at Lux Capital, wrote in an email. "It will push other large companies to partner with other major healthtech players in the space."

Quote/Unquote

"With the ongoing war in Ukraine, high inflation, rising interest rates and declining stock market valuations, I'd be lying if I said the market wasn't affected at all by the volatility we've seen in the world and public markets. But unlike the first couple of months of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, where the market did, for the most part, grind to a halt, the secondary market in the last several months has still been open for business. Buyers are just being more selective on what types of deals they're looking for and more careful on how they're pricing transactions."

—Andy Nick, a managing director of Jefferies' private capital advisory arm, on the overall investor sentiment in the PE secondaries market over the last six months.

Deal flow

(Daniel Grizelj/Getty Images)

European VC deal value reached €54.4 billion (about $55.6 billion) in H1 2022, as capital deployment in Europe remained strong despite myriad challenges facing economies and financial markets globally.

In Q2, €25.7 billion in deal value was logged, representing a 10.6% quarter-over-quarter decline from Q1 2022, according to our latest European Venture Report.

Did you know ...

(Ada daSilva/Getty Images)

… In H1, European and Israeli startups with one or more female founders raised $6.6 billion across 765 deals, according to PitchBook data. This represents a year-over-year decline of 2.9% and 23.9%, respectively. For startups founded only by women, deal value was essentially flat YoY—but the number of rounds fell by 10%.

Learn more about how Europe's female founders are faring amid the VC downturn.

Datapoints

Q2 saw the closing of a few mega-funds—defined as vehicles of $5 billion or more—including Advent International's $25 billion fund and KKR's $19 billion vehicle, according to our latest US PE Breakdown.

Through the first half of this year, mega-funds accounted for the smallest share of total fund count, but made up a majority of total fundraising value, raising $102.8 billion. Seven mega-funds have so far closed this year, right on pace with 2021's total of 14.

Recommended reads

The porous rock beneath the Gulf Coast launched the petroleum age. Now entrepreneurs want to turn it into a gigantic sponge for storing carbon dioxide. [Wired]

If the economy is shaky, why are company profits still strong? [The New York Times]

The past decade has been good for social media giants like Twitter and Meta, but the ascent of TikTok might be the disruption needed to finally end their reign. [The New Yorker]

The US has seen six months of economic decline, but is it a recession by definition? [Forbes]

Some of private equity's top lawyers are enjoying prized access to buyout funds—a powerful tool for attracting lawyers at a time when the competition for talent among elite law firms is fierce. [Bloomberg]

Can high property prices damage the economy? [The Economist]

This edition of The Weekend Pitch was written by Marina Temkin and Ryan Prete. It was edited by Chris Noble and Sam Steele.

Were you forwarded The Weekend Pitch? Sign up at pitchbook.com/subscribe.

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

175

People

71

Companies

See what our data software can do

About PitchBook | Terms of use | Advertise with us | Contact

This email was sent to you via the PitchBook Platform.

Do you want to change your email address, get a different edition or unsubscribe? Manage your subscription here.

PitchBook News - Can Big Tech shake up patient care?

Quote/Unquote

Deal flow

Did you know ...

Datapoints

Recommended reads

Older messages

Will alt-proteins go mainstream?

Ranking the most active investors in Q2

Tracking the macro effect on M&A

A bad break for Europe's first-time funds

VC fundraising marches toward record

You Might Also Like

Jons Growth Journal #4 - How To Gain Discipline

There's just a few hours left for this training...

Marketing Weekly #177

12 Things You’ll Look Back On in SaaS And Regret

🤖 Weekend Update: Defining AI ROI

Will CVC Capital's IPO inspire others?

The Profile: Taylor Swift’s genius publicist & the man who exposed a nation’s therapy secrets

Sunday Thinking

The Profile: Taylor Swift’s genius publicist & the man who exposed a nation’s therapy secrets

TA #161: [NEW] 📚 Reading recs for communicators...