The Medical Alley Association announced that its startups recorded a record-setting year with $1.4 billion in fundraising in 2020.
Having broken the $1 billion barrier in 2019, the region topped that mark by the third quarter, raising nearly another half-million by the end of the year, according to a news release.
Bright Health and Bind Benefits, two health plan startups, along with Minneapolis-based Preventice Solutions — a developer of mobile health solutions and remote monitoring service for cardiac arrhythmias which was recently acquired by Boston Scientific — led the way in funding.
Preventice’s $137 million raised in 2020 topped medical device companies belonging to the region, while Bright raised a $500 million Series E to lead all Medical Alley companies.
Medical Alley’s device industry in total raised over $507 million. Relievant Medsystems followed Preventice at $70 million raised, while CVRx Inc. at $50 million and HistoSonics at $40 million contributed to the record-setting year.
Along with the $925 million (or up to $1.2 billion) acquisition of Preventice, 11 other Medical Alley companies were acquired over 2020, including Biothera (acquired by HiberCell) and Stemonix (acquired by Cancer Genetics), among others.
“In 2020, Minnesota’s Medical Alley remained a top destination for investment capital,” the association said in the news release. “Led by innovative health plans and bolstered by a record high year for the medical device sector, the region shattered records. We expect 2021 to be yet another record-breaking year for ‘The Global Epicenter of Health Innovation and Care.'”
