TTA’s August-Sept Wrap: how health tech fared in H1 investment, Oracle’s VA EHRM contract $ bump, Verma’s rumors, Cityblock buys Homeward, sensors could save Scots millions, more!

August 28, 2026 | by | No Comments

28 August-early September 2026

It’s the last of the August Doldrums, so it’s a good time to look back, courtesy of SVB, on What Happened in Healthcare Investing this first half. (For once, health tech didn’t take a beating with its best H1 in years.) Oracle just can’t help being in the headlines, this time with a nice (and expected) budget bump in its extended VA EHRM contract, and with its Oracle Health EVP, the well-known Seema Verma, possibly under consideration by PhRMA. The only notable transaction was another acquisition in the General Catalyst family, Cityblock Health and Homeward Health. DEA may get a controlled substances telehealth rule yet. And the Scots have discovered and tested sensor-based facility monitoring that could save millions. Aye! (Will Harry and Meghan’s Cotswolds lair have it? Save on security!)

Please feel free to comment on the articles and pass along this Alert. Let me know if this is worth it to you! Also check out my personal page on Substack.

For Readers: Your Editor will be on publishing leave to mid-September. ‘Best Of’ Alerts will be out 1x weekly on Fridays after this week till then. I’ll be resting up for what may prove to be an epic September-October!

Silicon Valley Bank’s take on H1 investment: among the “have and have nots”, it was “the best half in years” for health tech

News roundup: Verma’s rumors, DEA’s new (?) telemedicine rule goes to OMB for review, Cityblock Health goes rural with Homeward buy, Scottish housing sensor tech could save millions–study

Revealed: Oracle’s extended VA EHRM contract increased by $17B as original ceiling reached this year; VA Indy EHR goes online

Last week’s headlines 

This Week’s Must Reads: how lack of focus dooms startup financing, Commure’s Sea of Red Flags Flapping, and what happens if OpenAI expires? (Doom…DOOM!)

News roundup: UHS-Talkspace $850M buy final, DocGo to buy Hicuity Health for $52M in stock/debt, R1 to buy Humata Health, PointClickCare EHR to integrate Anthropic’s AI

UK’s Alertacall sold to Constellation Software’s Volaris Group (Happily, remaining independent)

Recent Headlines and Must Reads

Why Readers can be assured that TTA is 100% Written by Humans (A handy guide to detecting AI Copy Slop and why it’s not here)

News potpourri: OpenAI sued for practicing unlicensed medicine”, Cleveland Clinic med drone delivery, Solventum separates out health info systems, Unlimited Technology RCM in 3.8M data breach, Samsung Galaxy Buds FDA cleared for hearing assist

VA moves to secure Oracle for its EHR Modernization through mid-2031 (More reasons beyond Captain Obvious)

Breaking report: Oracle drawing up plans to lay off employees in “double digit percentages” by 1 September (We’re waiting for this shoe to drop next month)

Chutes & Ladders, Oracle Edition: Surprise! Project Jupiter data center build overages, “social costs” multiply. Pentagon inks $7B, 10 year deal for software.

This week’s Must Read: the dangerous financing of AI data center buildouts–and how they resemble the 2020 health tech boom (Remember the SPAC boom that cracked and left nearly all companies and billions in the dust?)

A gloomy view on Oracle going forward: debt, cash flow, and dependence on OpenAI

 

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Silicon Valley Bank’s take on H1 investment: among the “have and have nots”, it was “the best half in years” for health tech

August 27, 2026 | by | No Comments

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), now part of First Citizens Bank, is back with a just-published roundup of 2026’s first half (H1) in healthcare investment in the US and EU. Last year was a year of contractions and skewed investments, what they called “barbells, bookends, and have-nots”, with fewer investors hotly chasing profitability and monetization. This year is considerably sunnier for health tech in terms of total investment, but SVB still calls the overall picture across four sectors: Biopharma, Healthtech, Dx (diagnostics)/Tools, and Device….

“Haves and have-nots. Winners and losers. The top of the heap and everyone else. Pick your metaphor….”

For health tech, it was the best H1 since H1 2022, with $7.2 billion versus $9.1 billion in investment, a tidy increase versus 2025 H1’s $6.7 billion. The major difference is that the number of deals is collapsing, with 203 deals this H1. If you look at 2025’s year total of 598 deals, if this deal track maintains, the 2026 full year number may not break 500. Again, the deal value is disproportionately and increasingly skewed to Series C+ deals, far more so than the past two years. Series B deals contracted and there was another uptick in Series A fundings. (Page 12)

SVB attributes the new health tech prosperity to AI-based technologies: clinical workflow automation, administrative efficiency and data infrastructure. Payviders (remember them?) also had their overdue day powered by AI: Devoted Health in the US with Medicare Advantage, and Alan in Paris (EU and Canada only). In SVB’s terms, “The bar for founders has risen toward durable growth, differentiated technology and a credible path to scale, especially those leveraging AI to address meaningful healthcare challenges.”

Exits, though, are hard to suss. There weren’t many this half for health tech. Kaia Health (Sword) in January, and in provider operations Ostro (Veeva) and Diligent (Serve). Kaia was the only one with a positive multiple on its valuation. Zelis and Virta Health might IPO this year or 2027. Or never. (Page 17). 

Looking at all four sectors, while investment dollars are growing, the number of deals continues to trend downward:

  • H1 2026 healthcare investment at $24.7 billion is slightly below H2 2025 at $25.8 billion. The absolute high water mark was $43 billion set at H1 2021, in the midst of the ‘Throw Money At Anything’ period. But the trend is still one of recovery. 
  • The big difference is that the number of deals continues its downward trend, sharply. H1 2026 had only 618 deals versus 2025’s H1 801 and H2 703. H2 is not projected to pick up this slack, again.
  • 75% of investment is in the US, with EU accounting for 25%; EU is slowly but surely increasing its share.
  • The falling investment sector is Dx (diagnostics)/Tools. Device remains steady and constant. (Health tech Readers should look over at device, since here resides WHOOP and its $575 million Series G for Giant) skewing this sector.

Most concerning is that healthcare VC fundraising has hit new lows, and the money is concentrated in a few across the seed, early, and late stages. Only a few years ago, founders had a wide choice of VC funders with fat wallets. Not nowadays. H1 2026 funding for VCs was only $10 billion. Full year 2025 was $16 billion and 2024 $26 billion. Many large “name” funds ($100 billion plus) closed this year, such as Lux, Santé, Frist Cressey Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins. What’s left in health tech? General Catalyst, Andreesen Horowitz, Redesign, Menlo Ventures. It’s a monotonous roster. Occasionally, there’s a crossover. Especially at early stages, founders have lost leverage in finding a simpatico fund. They have to show that they have a credible path to growth and profitability. (Pages 7-8)

Unlike SVB’s last report for 2025, they did not break out a fifth sector cutting across all four, Longevity and Healthspan. 

SVB will also be changing their name during Q4 2026 to First Citizens Innovation Banking. Preview page for SVB’s Healthcare Industry Trends published 25 August.  Hat tip to Megan Scheffel, head of SVB’s healthcare sector.