As we were planning the investment thesis for Peers Capital, our recently launched syndicate, one of the assumptions we spent a lot of time thinking about is that, in an AI world, the value captured by software itself approaches zero.

That sounds more dramatic than I actually mean it. It’s not that I think software disappears. Quite the opposite. Software becomes even more important. What changes is where the value sits. For most of the last two decades, software itself was the moat because building it was hard.

Developers were scarce, engineering teams were expensive, and execution was often the biggest constraint to turning an idea into a company. If you had a good idea and the technical ability to build it, you had a meaningful advantage because very few people could actually execute on it.

AI has started to change that equation. Software isn’t just something developers build anymore. It’s becoming accessible to a much broader group of people who wouldn’t have considered themselves technical even a few years ago. Tools like Lovable and Claude are making it easier for people without a tech background to build products, and the pace of improvement has been striking. If you look at what these tools could do a year and a half ago compared to today, the progress is pretty remarkable. It’s still somewhat limited today, but the trajectory is clear.

GitHub’s research on Copilot found developers completed coding tasks around 56% faster with AI assistance, but the exact number isn’t really the point. The direction is. If you stretch that progress out over the next two to three years, it’s not unreasonable to think that technology becomes fully democratized, where anyone with a good idea can build a product. Building software is becoming dramatically easier, which means execution becomes less scarce. Assuming that’s true, I think something much bigger starts happening.

Historically, a disproportionate amount of value sat with the developer because execution was difficult. As that constraint weakens, the value shifts towards the product manager, or more broadly, towards the people shaping taste and direction rather than the people executing them.

Even technical decisions, such as what is better to build or how to implement something, can now be cross-validated with AI tools, which further reduces the advantage of pure execution. What cannot be outsourced in the same way is taste, and that is where differentiation increasingly lies. As a result, I think teams will become smaller and more focused on understanding communities and culture rather than purely understanding technology, because deciding what should exist becomes more valuable than simply being able to build it.

So if software itself is no longer the moat, it naturally raises another question: what is?

The Only Two Moats Left

I think there are only two durable moats left: distribution and trust.

What’s interesting is that distribution itself comes in two flavours.

The first is scale. If you acquire enough users quickly enough, distribution itself becomes the moat. That’s incredibly difficult to achieve, but we’ve seen plenty of companies where scale alone turns into a durable competitive advantage.

The second form is much more compelling, particularly in healthcare, because it builds directly on the idea that software alone is no longer enough. Distribution here is about having a unique way of collecting data or interacting with customers that nobody else has, which in turn creates a more differentiated and often much stickier advantage. There’s also nuance to it. It might be hardware that enables the generation of data that nobody else can access, or the ability to integrate into existing healthcare or insurance systems in a way that creates deep, hard-to-displace relationships.

A wearable is a good example of how this plays out in practice. The hardware isn’t simply the product, it’s also the distribution. It creates a continuous relationship with the user and generates proprietary health data that another company can’t simply recreate by building better software. The same logic applies to diagnostics companies, medical devices or businesses that own unique relationships with patients.

That said, I do think there’s a valid counterpoint here. Selling more and more general-purpose wearables likely becomes incrementally harder over time as the market saturates and devices like Whoop or Oura capture a large share of consumer attention. But I still think there’s a lot of value in more specialised wearables, particularly for specific populations, that measure things existing devices can’t. In those cases, the distribution isn’t just around scale, it’s owning a unique data stream that remains difficult to replicate.

That’s important because one of the arguments people make is that OpenAI or Anthropic could eventually build many of the same capabilities that today’s health companies are building. Technically, they probably could. But they don’t have the hardware. They don’t own the diagnostics infrastructure. They don’t have those proprietary ways of collecting data. That’s the key difference. Of course, if they wanted to own all those metrics, they have the capital and capabilities to do so, but for many of them, I don’t think they want to go deep into distribution at the focal layer. I think they want to be the intelligence that sits beneath all industries because that’s a much higher-leverage move.

The second moat is trust, and healthcare is probably the easiest place to see why that matters. A useful way to think about it is why someone would trust a clinic with years of blood work but hesitate to hand the same information to OpenAI. Part of that is probably data privacy, but if we’re realistic, I think it’s mostly brand and trust.

Take Function Health as an example. It exists to improve your health. That’s what people expect it to do. You don’t spend time wondering what else they’re trying to do with your data because the purpose of the business is clear. This becomes even more critical in preventive health, where much of the market sits outside traditional regulation and the trust gap is significantly wider. When there isn’t a strong regulatory framework guiding behaviour, consumers rely much more heavily on brand and perceived intent.

Deloitte’s latest research shows trust remains one of the strongest factors influencing whether consumers are willing to adopt generative AI in healthcare, which reinforces the idea that trust isn’t simply good branding. As software becomes easier for everyone to build, trust increasingly becomes part of the product itself, and that trust is built through a consistent, end-to-end experience across every touchpoint a user has with the company.

Different Markets, Different Moats

The key point is that those two moats don’t have the same value everywhere. People often ask me about the strengths and weaknesses of building healthcare companies in Europe versus the US, but I actually think they’re optimising for different things.

The US is incredibly good at speed. Consumers are generally more willing to pay directly for healthcare, venture capital moves faster and, if a business model works, companies can scale remarkably quickly across one large domestic market. The US spends close to 18% of GDP on healthcare, more than any other developed economy, creating an enormous commercial market for new healthcare products. That creates incredible opportunities, but it also means competition moves incredibly quickly.

Ironically, I think that’s exactly why distribution becomes less valuable in the US. Because it’s easier to build, it’s also easier to displace. You can already see this happening across preventive health. Prenuvo spent years largely defining the whole-body MRI category before competitors such as Ezra entered the market with lower-cost and potentially lower-resolution offerings that aggressively target the majority of use cases.

That’s what happens when markets commercialise quickly. Categories emerge faster, but they also become competitive faster. A competitor can build similar software. A business can often raise enough capital to acquire customers. Building years of credibility around a trusted health brand is much harder. That’s why I increasingly think trust becomes the more valuable moat in the US.

Europe feels almost like the opposite. Healthcare isn’t one market. It’s dozens of different markets. Regulation changes from country to country, reimbursement changes, languages change and healthcare systems themselves are structured differently. Consumers are also generally less willing to pay directly for healthcare, which means companies are often more dependent on insurers or employers to access the market.

Building a healthcare company often means expanding country by country and insurer by insurer rather than simply scaling across one unified market. The OECD has repeatedly identified fragmented regulation, governance and health data infrastructure as some of the biggest barriers preventing digital health companies from scaling across Europe.

Most founders experience that as friction. But I think investors should see exactly the same thing as defensibility. If distribution takes years to build, it also becomes much harder to replace. Part of that is simply the nature of the relationships you’re building. If you achieve the same level of distribution in Europe, the number of decision makers is much narrower and those relationships are much easier to maintain over time. Insurers, for example, are far less likely to switch providers quickly than individual consumers.

If you’ve spent years establishing those relationships, navigating multiple healthcare systems and expanding market by market, you’ve created something that another company can’t simply replicate with better software. What feels like Europe’s biggest weakness while you’re building often becomes one of its biggest strengths once you’ve built it.

That’s why I think the value of the moat changes depending on geography. In the US, I’d increasingly over index trust because distribution can be displaced much more quickly. In Europe, I’d increasingly over index distribution because it’s extraordinarily difficult to build and, once you’ve built it, it’s extraordinarily difficult to replace.

The Investment Implication

If our assumption is right that AI continues reducing the value captured by software, I think investors need to start looking at healthcare companies differently.

The question becomes much less about who can execute best or build the most sophisticated software, and much more about who can build trust and create differentiated distribution. A huge part of that is understanding where markets are going and positioning ahead of that shift, rather than simply being able to execute once the direction is already clear.

On another side as well, trust is something that can really only be built over years, which makes it a true compounding asset. The flip side, though, is that it’s also fragile. If you misstep, you can destroy it very quickly, unlike distribution. That tension is exactly what makes it so valuable in markets where everything else can be replicated quickly.

If you take that logic through to its conclusion, I think there are only two answers: distribution and trust. In Europe, I’d pay for distribution because it’s much harder to build and therefore much harder to displace. In the US, I’d pay for trust because software can be copied, capital can be raised and distribution can be rebuilt remarkably quickly.

The underlying technology will increasingly become similar. The moats won’t.

AbbVie’s $10.9B acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, Alan’s $550M Series G, NewLimit’s $435M Series C, and Cellares’ $327M Series D stood out as some of the biggest moves this month.

Pharmaceutical companies continued expanding their pipelines through billion-dollar acquisitions and licensing agreements, and AI-native healthcare companies attracted capital across nearly every layer of healthcare delivery.

$2.37B+ in venture funding

$13.3B+ in disclosed M&A & licensing activity

$91M+ in grants and non-dilutive funding

$11M+ in strategic capital

From AI infrastructure and longevity biotech to diagnostics, women’s health, preventative care, connected devices, nutrition and consumer wellness.

1. AI as healthcare infrastructure.

A year ago, most healthcare AI companies were focused on building assistants. Now, they’re reshaping how healthcare actually works.

Alan is rethinking what insurance looks like. Prosper AI is taking on patient access. Telepatía is building something closer to an operating system for hospitals. Semble is upgrading the core infrastructure providers rely on. Frontier Health is using AI agents to handle administrative work.

Instead of selling one-off features, these companies are gradually becoming the systems that healthcare runs on.

2. Prevention continues replacing treatment.

The biggest preventative health companies this month focused on building systems.

Everlab is trying to bring everything into one preventative health platform. Cadence helps manage chronic disease before things get worse. Clair Health is focused on continuous hormone monitoring. Dexcom pushed further into metabolic health with its Nutrisense acquisition. NewLimit is moving longevity therapies closer to real clinical use.

3. Pharma continues buying innovation instead of building it.

AbbVie. Johnson & Johnson. Eli Lilly. Together, they committed billions to external innovation this month.

Instead of building everything in-house, large pharma companies are continuing to acquire or license promising science earlier in its lifecycle.

Venture funding

→ Alan: $550M Series G

French digital health insurer Alan raised a $550M Series G led by Prosus, with participation from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Index Ventures.

Alan combines health insurance, primary care, prevention, AI-powered member support and employer healthcare into one platform. The company now serves approximately one million members across Europe and plans to use the funding to expand internationally while accelerating development of its AI-powered healthcare platform.

→ NewLimit: $435M Series C

Longevity biotech NewLimit raised $435M in a round led by Founders Fund, with participation from Thrive Capital and Lilly Ventures.

Co-founded by Brian Armstrong, Blake Byers and Jacob Kimmel, the company is developing epigenetic reprogramming therapies designed to reverse cellular aging by restoring youthful gene expression. Its first clinical program targets alcohol-related liver disease before expanding into broader age-related diseases.

→ Cellares: $327M Series D

Cellares expanded its Series D to $327M after adding $50M from Prime Radiant Partners.

Rather than developing therapies itself, the company builds automated manufacturing infrastructure for cell therapies through its Cell Shuttle platform. The goal is to dramatically reduce manufacturing costs while increasing production capacity for treatments like CAR-T therapies.

→ SonoThera: $125M Series B

SonoThera raised $125M in a Series B led by Vida Ventures.

The company is developing ultrasound-mediated, nonviral gene delivery technology capable of delivering genetic medicines repeatedly without relying on traditional viral vectors. The platform is initially focused on Duchenne muscular dystrophy and polycystic kidney disease.

→ Cadence: $100M Series C

Cadence raised a $100M Series C led by Spark Capital.

The company partners with healthcare providers to manage patients with chronic diseases through AI-powered monitoring, clinical teams and remote care programs.

Rather than replacing physicians, Cadence extends their capacity, allowing health systems to proactively manage complex patient populations while reducing hospitalizations and healthcare costs.

→ Contraline: $92.5M Series B

Contraline raised $92.5M in a Series B co-led by BVF Partners and RA Capital Management.

The company is advancing both hormonal and non-hormonal male contraceptives, including its reversible ADAM hydrogel platform.

Male contraception remains one of healthcare’s most underbuilt categories. This financing suggests investors increasingly believe the market opportunity extends well beyond traditional reproductive health.

→ Nura Bio: $73.8M Series B

Nura Bio raised $73.8M in a Series B led by The Column Group.

The company develops neuroprotective therapies designed to prevent axon degeneration across diseases including ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders. The funding will advance clinical development of its lead SARM1 inhibitor.

Nura Bio is attempting to prevent degeneration before irreversible damage occurs.

→ Radical Numerics: $50M Seed

Radical Numerics raised a remarkable $50M seed round led by Emergence Capital.

The company is building an AI biointelligence platform capable of reasoning across biological systems rather than simply analyzing datasets.

→ Rhoback: $50M

Performance apparel company Rhoback secured $50M from CHAMP, a fund created by L Catterton and Patricof.

Originally known for golf apparel, Rhoback has expanded into broader performance lifestyle categories spanning running, fitness and outdoor recreation.

The investment highlights how wellness continues extending beyond healthcare into lifestyle brands built around active living.

→ Everlab: $46M Series A

Australian preventative healthcare platform Everlab raised $46M in a Series A led by Airtree Ventures.

Everlab combines diagnostics, clinicians, prescriptions, specialists, wearables and AI into a single longitudinal health record. More than 20,000 patients have already used the platform, generating over 21 million biomarker results.

→ Semble: $40.3M Series C

UK healthcare software platform Semble raised $40.3M in a Series C led by Revaia.

Semble provides practice management software that helps independent clinics manage appointments, payments, patient records and clinical workflows through one platform.

→ Forage: $40M Series B

Forage raised a $40M Series B to expand its payments infrastructure.

The company builds infrastructure enabling merchants to accept SNAP benefits online, improving access to healthy food for millions of consumers.

Healthcare increasingly extends beyond clinical settings. Companies improving nutrition access can have significant downstream health impacts.

→ Telepatía: $33M Series A

São Paulo-based Telepatía raised $33M in a Series A led by a16z.

The company combines AI documentation, clinical decision support and healthcare auditing into a unified platform serving hospitals across Latin America. Since launching less than a year ago, it has already reached more than 14 million patients.

Telepatía demonstrates that some of the most interesting healthcare AI companies are being built outside traditional US healthcare markets.

→ Prosper AI: $30M Series A

Prosper AI raised $30M in a Series A led by a16z and Emergence Capital.

The company builds AI-native voice agents that automate scheduling, insurance verification and financial clearance, replacing many of the manual administrative workflows still common across healthcare.

Administrative automation continues to be one of the largest immediate opportunities for healthcare AI because the productivity gains are both measurable and immediate.

→ TruNativ: $30M Series B

Indian nutrition company TruNativ raised a $30M Series B led by OrbiMed to expand its portfolio of protein powders, functional nutrition products, and health supplements. The company has become one of India’s fastest-growing nutrition brands by focusing on clean-label products and direct-to-consumer distribution before expanding into retail.

→ InStride Health: $30M Series C

Pediatric mental health company InStride Health raised a $30M Series C to expand access to specialized treatment for children and adolescents living with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The company combines virtual care, therapists, psychiatrists and care coordinators into an integrated treatment model.

→ Hera: $27M Series A

Hera raised a $27M Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures to build software that coordinates care for older adults across families, caregivers and healthcare providers.

Managing elderly care often requires navigating multiple providers, medications, appointments and family members. Hera aims to become the operating layer connecting those stakeholders, reducing administrative burden while improving continuity of care.

→ Rejoni: $25M

Women’s health biotech Rejoni raised $25M to advance therapies focused on uterine health and preventing intrauterine adhesions following gynecological procedures.

Historically, uterine health has received only a fraction of the investment directed toward other areas of reproductive medicine. The financing reflects a broader correction as investors increasingly recognize the size and importance of women’s health beyond fertility alone.

→ Klinic: $24M

Healthcare enablement platform Klinic raised $24M to expand its software infrastructure supporting independent healthcare providers.

The company helps providers digitize scheduling, operations, patient engagement and care delivery through a unified platform.

→ Solius Labs: $23M Series A

Solius Labs raised a $23M Series A led by Lauder Partners to commercialize its UVB light therapy platform.

The company is developing hardware that uses controlled UVB exposure to naturally stimulate vitamin D production while exploring broader therapeutic applications.

Light-based therapeutics are becoming an increasingly credible category as scientific evidence expands beyond seasonal affective disorder into metabolic health, immune function and healthy aging.

→ REMEDY: $20M Series A

Dermatologist-founded skincare company REMEDY raised a $20M Series A led by L Catterton.

Founded by Dr. Muneeb Shah, the company combines dermatologist-developed formulations with affordable pricing and broad retail distribution. Following rapid online growth, the brand recently expanded nationally through Target.

REMEDY reflects the growing convergence of medical expertise, creator-led education and mass-market skincare.

→ Rapalogix Health: $20M Series A

Longevity skincare company Rapalogix Health raised a $20M Series A to expand its Re-Q platform, which is built around mTOR biology and the role of cellular nutrient sensing in skin aging. The company is developing longevity-focused therapeutics and consumer products designed to translate aging biology into clinically validated skin health interventions.

The funding will support pipeline expansion and commercial growth as the company moves beyond skincare toward broader longevity applications.

→ The Ryl Company: $20M Series C

The Ryl Company raised a $20M Series C led by Purchase Capital to accelerate expansion of its rapidly growing better-for-you iced tea brand.

The company has significantly outperformed the broader ready-to-drink tea category by focusing on zero-sugar products with functional positioning and national retail expansion.

Functional beverages continue replacing traditional soft drinks as consumers increasingly prioritize health without sacrificing convenience.

→ Novellia: $18M Series A

Health data platform Novellia raised an $18M Series A led by Spark Capital.

The company is building infrastructure that gives patients and healthcare organizations easier access to fragmented medical records while enabling more portable longitudinal health data.

→ Gero: $17M

Singapore-based Gero raised $17M to advance its physics-first AI platform for drug discovery and aging research. Rather than relying solely on biological datasets, the company applies mathematical and physical models to predict how aging progresses and identify therapeutic targets before disease develops. The company combines physics, machine learning, and large-scale biological data to accelerate therapeutic discovery across age-related diseases.

→ Frontier Health: $16M

UK-based Frontier Health raised $16M led by Atomico to build AI agents capable of automating administrative healthcare workflows.

The company targets operational bottlenecks including scheduling, documentation and administrative coordination.

→ 01Health: $15M Series A

London-based 01Health raised a $15M Series A to expand its AI-enabled healthcare delivery platform.

The company is building technology that helps healthcare providers coordinate care, improve efficiency and streamline clinical operations through AI.

→ rocapin: $13M Series A

Paris-based wellness platform rocapin raised a $13M Series A led by Educapital.

The company develops consumer wellness software designed to improve long-term health habits through personalized coaching and behavioral support.

→ Flok Health: $12.5M Series A

Cambridge-based Flok Health raised a $12.5M Series A to expand its AI-powered physiotherapy platform.

The company delivers musculoskeletal care digitally, using AI to personalize rehabilitation programs while supporting clinicians with monitoring and treatment recommendations.

Musculoskeletal disorders remain one of the largest drivers of healthcare spending globally, making scalable physiotherapy platforms increasingly attractive.

→ Clair Health: $11.6M

Women’s health startup Clair Health raised $11.6M led by Khosla Ventures.

The company is developing a non-invasive wearable capable of continuously tracking hormonal health through biomarkers associated with inflammation, metabolism and menstrual cycles.

→ STILLE: $7M

Australian wellness and longevity club STILLE raised $7M to expand its premium preventative health model.

The company combines recovery, diagnostics, performance optimization and community into a membership-based longevity experience.

The emergence of longevity clubs reflects how preventative health is increasingly becoming a lifestyle category rather than simply a healthcare service.

→ Ladder Health: $7M Seed

Ladder Health raised a $7M seed round led by Nina Capital.

The company focuses on pediatric developmental care, helping families access earlier diagnosis and coordinated support for developmental conditions.

Earlier intervention consistently improves long-term outcomes, making pediatric developmental care one of healthcare’s highest-impact investment areas.

→ Kimba: $6.5M

Kimba raised $6.5M to commercialize its AI-powered adaptive scent therapy device.

The platform combines wearable biometric data with AI-controlled scent delivery, using functional fragrances designed to improve sleep quality, relaxation and cognitive performance.

→ Vali Health: $6M

Vali Health emerged with $6M in funding to build AI infrastructure supporting home-based healthcare.

Its technology enables healthcare providers to coordinate care beyond hospitals by improving communication, monitoring and workflow management across distributed care environments.

→ Bawi: $6M

Sparkling agua fresca brand Bawi raised $6M led by Brand Foundry Ventures.

The company is expanding distribution across retail, foodservice and hospitality while positioning itself as a healthier alternative within the flavored beverage category.

Modern beverage innovation continues to center around lower sugar, cleaner ingredients and stronger cultural brand identity.

→ Myota Health: $4.5M Series A

UK-based Myota Health raised a $4.5M Series A led by PeakBridge.

The company develops microbiome-focused nutritional products designed to improve gut health through targeted fiber formulations supported by emerging microbiome research.

→ TRAK: $4.2M

Spanish digital physiotherapy platform TRAK raised $4.2M to expand its rehabilitation platform.

The company provides digital treatment plans, clinician monitoring and patient engagement tools that improve access to physical therapy while reducing costs.

→ phab: $4M Pre-Series A

Indian protein snack company phab raised $4M to expand manufacturing, retail distribution and product innovation.

The company is building protein-rich snacks for a rapidly growing health-conscious consumer base in India.

Protein has become one of the strongest secular trends across global consumer nutrition, extending well beyond sports supplementation.

→ Valius Sciences: $3.5M

Cancer diagnostics company Valius Sciences added $3.5M to its funding round.

The company is developing technologies designed to improve cancer detection and clinical decision-making through advanced diagnostics.

→ Ovum: $2.8M Seed

Women’s health platform Ovum raised a $2.8M seed round.

The company is building an AI-powered health journal that helps women better understand symptoms, cycles and long-term health patterns.

→ WAYOUT: $2.7M

Swedish company WAYOUT raised $2.7M to expand its decentralized water production systems.

Its technology produces mineralized drinking water locally, reducing transportation requirements and bottled water dependence.

While primarily an environmental infrastructure company, WAYOUT also intersects with public health through improved access to clean drinking water.

→ HEXIS: $2.1M Seed

Irish sports nutrition platform HEXIS raised a $2.1M seed round.

The company uses performance data to generate personalized nutrition recommendations for athletes and active consumers.

Personalized nutrition continues moving beyond elite sport into mainstream consumer health.

→ Houdini Bio: $1.95M Pre-Seed

British biotech Houdini Bio emerged from stealth with $1.95M in pre-seed funding.

The company is developing DNA engineering technologies designed to improve the durability and effectiveness of gene therapies by preventing therapeutic gene silencing.

→ June Health: $1.7M

Canadian women’s health platform June Health raised $1.7M.

The company partners with employers to improve access to women’s healthcare across fertility, menopause, hormonal health and broader wellbeing.

Employer-sponsored women’s health continues expanding into one of the fastest-growing categories within workplace healthcare.

→ Creatime: $1.3M

UK startup Creatime raised $1.3M to launch its creatine-based nutrition bars.

The company is helping bring creatine into mainstream functional nutrition through convenient food formats rather than traditional supplements.

As evidence supporting creatine expands beyond athletic performance into cognitive health and healthy aging, new consumer formats are likely to follow.

Grants and non-dilutive funding

→ Solar Foods: $89.2M grant

Finland’s Solar Foods secured $89.2M in grant funding to scale production of Solein, its protein ingredient produced through fermentation.

Rather than relying on traditional agriculture, Solar Foods uses microbes, carbon dioxide and electricity to produce protein. It sits at the intersection of nutrition, food security and climate-resilient food infrastructure.

→ Impli: $1.9M grant

London-based Impli secured a $1.9M grant for its continuous hormone monitoring platform.

The company is developing technology designed to measure hormones continuously rather than relying on isolated blood tests. That could have applications across fertility, IVF, contraception, menopause and broader endocrine health.

→ FitRadar: $150K support

Latvian health and fitness discovery platform FitRadar received $150K in support from Microsoft for Startups.

The company helps consumers discover health, fitness and wellness activities, addressing fragmentation across gyms, studios, trainers and local wellness providers.

Undisclosed funding rounds

→ California Naturals

Clean personal care brand California Naturals closed a Series B led by Align Ventures.

The Los Angeles-based brand makes affordable natural hair and body care products and has expanded to more than 10,000 retail locations across Target, Ulta, Sprouts, CVS and Walmart. Since launching at Target in 2023, the company has reportedly grown more than 300% year over year.

→ Neutonic

Functional beverage maker Neutonic added funding from Second Sight Ventures.

The brand sits in the nootropic and performance beverage category, targeting energy, focus and cognitive performance through consumer-friendly drink formats.

→ RŌZ

Hair care brand RŌZ closed a funding round led by L Catterton.

The brand operates in premium hair care, with clean formulation and elevated positioning. It sits in a beauty category that increasingly behaves more like skincare, with consumers paying for ingredient quality, clinical cues and ritual.

→ Stars + Honey

Collagen protein bar brand Stars + Honey raised a minority growth investment from VMG Partners.

The company makes dessert-inspired collagen protein bars and plans to use the capital to expand omnichannel distribution, product development and manufacturing capacity.

Strategic capital

→ ElevenLabs: $11M

Poland’s state development bank-backed Vinci took an $11M stake in ElevenLabs as part of a broader push around AI Lab Poland.

ElevenLabs is not a healthcare company, but voice AI is becoming increasingly relevant across healthcare administration, patient communication, accessibility, coaching and clinical workflows.

→ Abridge

AI-native clinician intelligence platform Abridge secured a strategic investment from Eli Lilly.

The company is best known for AI-powered clinical documentation and ambient scribing tools that convert patient-clinician conversations into structured medical notes.

The Lilly investment is interesting because pharma is increasingly paying attention to workflow infrastructure. Clinical documentation is a valuable data layer across care delivery, research and real-world evidence.

M&A, acquisitions and licensing

→ AbbVie x Apogee Therapeutics: $10.9B

AbbVie agreed to acquire Apogee Therapeutics in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $10.9B.

Apogee’s lead therapy, zumilokibart, is being developed for inflammatory diseases including atopic dermatitis and asthma. The acquisition strengthens AbbVie’s immunology pipeline as the company continues navigating competitive pressure after Humira’s loss of exclusivity.

→ Johnson & Johnson x Firefly Bio: $1B

Johnson & Johnson agreed to acquire Firefly Bio for $1B in cash.

Firefly Bio is developing a degrader antibody conjugate platform focused on KRAS-driven tumors. The platform combines targeted protein degradation with antibody-drug conjugate delivery to attack difficult oncology targets more precisely.

→ Eli Lilly x AlzeCure Pharma: up to $1B

Eli Lilly entered a licensing agreement worth up to $1B with Swedish biotech AlzeCure Pharma to develop Alzheimer’s therapies focused on preventing disease progression rather than treating established symptoms.

The partnership centers on AlzeCure’s NeuroRestore platform, which targets cognitive function and neuroprotection through small-molecule therapies.

→ Bridgepoint x Obagi Medical: $460M

Bridgepoint acquired clinical skincare brand Obagi Medical from Waldencast for $460M.

Obagi is a medical-grade skincare and aesthetics brand with strong physician channel credibility. The deal highlights continued private equity interest in the intersection of dermatology, aesthetics and premium skincare.

→ Healthy Extracts x Imaraïs Beauty: $20M

Healthy Extracts acquired ingestible wellness brand Imaraïs Beauty for $20M.

The brand, co-founded by Sommer Ray and Aaron Hefter, sells plant-based gummies focused on skin, hair and overall wellness, with distribution across retailers including Ulta, Target, Nordstrom and Sprouts.

→ Applied Nutrition x Nutrablend Group: $16M

Applied Nutrition acquired assets of US-based supplement manufacturer Nutrablend Group for $16M.

The acquisition gives Applied Nutrition more control across manufacturing and supply chain as it expands its sports nutrition footprint.

→ Peloton x Skōp

Connected fitness company Peloton acquired smart Pilates reformer maker Skōp.

The deal gives Peloton exposure to connected Pilates, one of the fastest-growing areas in boutique fitness. It also moves Peloton further beyond bikes, treadmills and screens into lower-impact strength, mobility and studio-style workouts.

Pilates has become one of the most important fitness categories culturally, especially among women and longevity-focused consumers. Peloton clearly wants a stronger position in that behavior.

→ Lactalis Group x Protein Works

US dairy company Lactalis Group acquired UK protein product brand Protein Works.

Protein Works sells protein powders, snacks and functional nutrition products, giving Lactalis a stronger position in performance nutrition and everyday protein consumption.

→ Nestwell x Dwelling Health

Nestwell acquired Dwelling Health, a provider of home wellness checks.

Nestwell focuses on home health and environmental exposures, including factors inside the home that can affect long-term wellbeing. Dwelling Health expands that capability through wellness checks and home-based assessments.

→ Second Nature Brands x Tillamook Country Smoker

Better-for-you snacking company Second Nature Brands acquired meat snack maker Tillamook Country Smoker.

The deal expands Second Nature’s portfolio into protein-led meat snacks, a category benefiting from broader consumer demand for convenient, higher-protein foods.

→ MoleMap x Spotscreen

Australian skin cancer detection platform MoleMap acquired Spotscreen, a corporate skin cancer screening provider.

MoleMap combines skin imaging, dermatologist review and early detection infrastructure. Spotscreen gives it a stronger position in workplace and corporate screening.

→ Dexcom x Nutrisense

CGM manufacturer Dexcom acquired metabolic health platform Nutrisense.

Nutrisense built a consumer metabolic health product around continuous glucose monitoring, nutrition coaching and behavior change. The acquisition strengthens Dexcom’s broader consumer metabolic health strategy, particularly beyond insulin-dependent diabetes.

→ MOLEQLAR x Tomorrowlabs

German longevity supplement company MOLEQLAR acquired Austrian longevity skincare brand Tomorrowlabs.

The acquisition expands MOLEQLAR from supplements into topical longevity and skincare, bringing together two consumer-facing longevity categories.

→ Daxko x FitnessForce

Health club management platform Daxko acquired API-first membership management platform FitnessForce.

The deal strengthens Daxko’s software offering for gyms, clubs and fitness operators, especially across membership management and infrastructure.

→ WPS x Mavida Health

Health solutions company WPS acquired Mavida Health, a mental health platform supporting women through different life stages.

Mavida focuses on mental health needs across fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, menopause and caregiving. The acquisition strengthens WPS’s position in women’s health and behavioral health.

→ Danone x MADE Group

Danone acquired Australian food and beverage company MADE Group.

MADE Group gives Danone more exposure to modern food and beverage brands in the Australian market, especially across better-for-you and youth-oriented consumer categories.

Large food companies continue buying faster-moving brands to reach younger, more health-conscious consumers.

→ Danone x Saputo Dairy Australia JV stake

Danone also acquired the remaining 49% stake in its joint fresh dairy venture with Saputo Dairy Australia.

The move gives Danone full control over the fresh dairy platform, improving operational control and strategic flexibility.

In nutrition and dairy, ownership of the platform still matters. It gives large incumbents more control over product, pricing, distribution and portfolio strategy.

→ Venture Life x FemiClear and CUROXEN

UK-based self-care products company Venture Life acquired FemiClear and CUROXEN from OrganiCare Nature’s Sciences.

FemiClear focuses on women’s intimate health, while CUROXEN operates in natural first-aid products. The deal strengthens Venture Life’s self-care portfolio across consumer health categories.

→ The Zero Proof x The New Bar

Nonalcoholic beverage platform The Zero Proof acquired The New Bar.

The New Bar operates across nonalcoholic retail, hospitality and beverage discovery, giving The Zero Proof a stronger position beyond e-commerce.

The sober-curious category is moving from individual products to platforms that own discovery, retail and hospitality relationships.

→ Withings x Biosensy

French connected health company Withings acquired Biosensy, a remote respiratory monitoring platform.

Biosensy brings clinical-grade respiratory monitoring capabilities into Withings’ connected health ecosystem, strengthening its position in remote patient monitoring.

A few months ago I wrote about which preventive health path wins: wearables, apps, diagnostics, or physical spaces.

What surprised me was not really which category people chose. It was how many people pointed to something above all of them: the intelligence layer.

A system that can sit across everything, agnostic to source, and make sense of your entire health stack in one place. Wearables, blood work, medical history, behaviour, doctor conversations, even tacit data from things you mention in passing. Not just collecting it, but interpreting it and turning it into guidance.

The more I thought about it, the more logical it seemed.

If you take a 10-year view, most preventive health companies are moving toward the same end state anyway. Wearables are moving into diagnostics. Diagnostics companies are building memberships and continuous tracking. Clinics are adding software and subscriptions. Apps are integrating hardware and deeper health data.

Everyone is slowly becoming a version of a health operating system.

Which means wearables, clinics, and apps may ultimately just be entry points. The more interesting opportunity may sit one layer above them.

The Unfinished Layer

And there is logic to that.

Over the last decade, preventive health has massively improved its ability to collect data. Sensors have improved, testing has become more accessible, and consumer devices have become dramatically more sophisticated. The amount of health data the average person can generate today is far higher than it was even five years ago.

Each product explains its own data, but very few explain your health holistically. That is why so many people seem to believe something is still missing. Not another wearable, clinic, or diagnostics platform, but a layer sitting above all of them.

What also makes this interesting is that this is not untouched whitespace.

Apple Health and Google Health already aggregate large amounts of data. Companies like Ada Health, K Health, Humanity and Superpower are all trying to build some version of this interpretation layer.

And despite all of that, no one feels like they have truly cracked it.

The idea feels inevitable. What remains surprising is how unfinished it still feels.

Technology feels closer than ever. AI can already analyse blood work, interpret wearable data, summarise medical records, and answer increasingly sophisticated health questions. In theory, many of the building blocks already exist.

Which raises a different question.

If the technology is improving this quickly, why does the opportunity still feel so open?

That suggests the gap is much larger, and much harder, than simply building better software.

Interpretation Is Not Enough

But there is a subtle disconnect in how this gets framed.

People assume the hard part is interpreting the data, but in practice, interpretation only matters if the user believes it.

And belief in health is not created through a dashboard. It is created through repeated interaction, context, lived experience, and small moments where the system proves useful over time.

That is what makes this category different from most software.

A finance app can be slightly wrong and people will tolerate it. A music recommendation algorithm can miss occasionally and nobody really cares. Health is different.

Once you move from reporting data to guiding decisions, the emotional and behavioural stakes become much higher.

People are not just asking whether the system is technically correct. They are asking whether they trust it enough to change how they sleep, eat, train, test, supplement, or seek treatment.

That is why this becomes more than an intelligence problem.

It becomes a relationship problem.

The company that earns people’s trust is the one that becomes embedded deeply enough in someone’s routine that its guidance starts to feel credible, personalised, and difficult to replace.

The Three Relationship Models

Which is why the entry point matters more than it first appears.

If you simplify the space, there are three core models.

Apps and diagnostics platforms are the most accessible. They have the lowest cost of entry, the fastest distribution, and the ability to reach millions quickly. But switching costs are low. Unless the data becomes deeply longitudinal and the experience compounds over time, the front end can be replaced.

Wearables are more intimate. They sit on your body, capture passive data, and create daily interaction. Over time, that builds habit. You check them without thinking. They become part of your routine, and in some cases part of your identity.

That creates a stronger relationship layer, but also introduces constraints around retention and hardware cycles.

Physical spaces are the most tangible. You go somewhere, speak to someone, and get scanned. It feels real and high value. You can personalise deeply and build community, which is increasingly important in a digital-first world.

But the loop is slower. Most people engage episodically, and geography limits scale.

Each model optimises for a different type of relationship: apps optimise for reach, wearables optimise for habit, and locations optimise for depth.

So if they are all moving toward the same end state, the question becomes which relationship compounds fastest over time.

The Window To Build Is Open

At the same time, there is a macro dynamic that makes this moment particularly important.

Most preventive health companies today did not exist before 2015. The category is still early, but company formation has accelerated quickly. We are moving from exploration into early consolidation.

That creates a timing mismatch. The funding environment is tight, but category timing and capital cycles are not aligned.

Waiting for easier capital might mean entering a market where a small number of players have already built strong relationships with users.

And in this category, relationships compound. Longitudinal data, daily habits, and identity create switching friction over time. The longer someone stays in one system, the harder it becomes to leave.

So we are in a good window to build, because the next few years will likely define who earns that relationship.

The Most Valuable Layer

This is not a new idea. The industry has been moving towards it for years.

And yet, when asked what is missing from preventive health, a surprising number of people still describe the same thing: not another wearable, clinic, or diagnostics platform, but a layer that can make sense of everything.

Which is why I keep coming back to the same thought: the preventive health company people keep describing still does not really exist.

Isomorphic Labs’ $2.1B Series B led the month, while Musely’s $360M non-dilutive financing and OLIPOP’s $200M raise were among the other notable deals.

1. $4.2B+ in venture funding

2. $205M+ in strategic & fund-level capital

3. $350M+ in IPO & public market activity

4. $8.5M+ in disclosed M&A activity

From AI drug discovery and healthcare infrastructure to metabolic health, brain health, functional CPG, fertility, food systems, and wellness experiences.

Two dynamics stood out:

1. AI continues at the center across healthcare and life sciences. Forus, Vi, Commure, Clara, Shyld AI, Tokaido Health, and Century Health all raised capital around AI-enabled infrastructure, automation, clinical workflows, or drug development.

2. Investors continued backing consumer health and wellness brands. OLIPOP, waterdrop, Khloud, MOSH, BRAMI, Bathhouse, Proper Wild, Jesse & Ben’s, Padel Social Club, and Sleep or Die all show that investors are still backing brands built around better-for-you habits, recovery, performance, sleep, nutrition, and daily routines.

Venture funding:

→ Isomorphic Labs: $2.1B Series B

One of the largest AI biotech financings to date. Founded by Demis Hassabis, Isomorphic Labs is building AI-native drug discovery infrastructure and will use the capital to scale its drug design engine, advance therapeutic programs toward clinical trials, and expand its scientific and engineering teams.

→ Musely: $360M

The direct-to-consumer telemedicine platform secured non-dilutive capital from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund. Musely focuses on compounded treatments across skin, hair, and menopause care, and the structure allows it to scale customer acquisition without taking traditional equity dilution.

→ OLIPOP: $200M

The functional soda brand raised new capital after M&A discussions ended without a deal. The raise reflects continued investor conviction in modern soda and better-for-you beverages as consumers shift away from traditional soft drinks.

→ Forus: $160M

Forus is building AI infrastructure to automate prescription pathways. The round points to growing demand for tools that reduce friction across providers, payers, pharmacies, and patients.

→ Oishii: $150M Series C

Oishii operates automated vertical farms producing pesticide-free fruit. The raise supports the continued scaling of controlled-environment agriculture, where food production, automation, and sustainability increasingly overlap.

→ Vi: $145M

Vi develops AI agents for healthcare, life sciences, and wellness enterprises. The company raised at a $1.64B valuation, signaling continued demand for AI systems that can support complex clinical and operational workflows.

→ waterdrop: $117M

The Vienna-based hydration company raised more than €100M in its largest round to date. Capital will support European expansion, retail growth, and product development as functional hydration continues to scale across global markets.

→ Nourish: $100M Series C

The dietitian-led metabolic health platform raised at a $1.75B valuation. Nourish is building around nutrition-first chronic care, GLP-1 support, and preventative metabolic health, with plans to expand its provider network and AI tools.

→ Fresha: $80M

The beauty and wellness booking platform raised from KKR, reaching a valuation above $1B. Fresha supports salons, spas, and wellness businesses globally, processing millions of appointments each month while expanding its AI-powered features.

→ Commure: $70M

The AI-native healthcare platform raised at a multi-billion-dollar valuation. Commure supports health systems with ambient workflows, revenue cycle automation, agentic AI, and operational infrastructure across thousands of sites of care.

→ UroMems: $60M

The French urinary incontinence technology company raised funding to advance its smart implant platform. The company it’s at the intersection of medical devices, chronic condition management, and connected therapeutic hardware.

→ NVision: $55M Series B

The German company is developing quantum-powered imaging technology for tumor metabolism. Its work is focused on improving how cancer metabolism is detected and monitored, adding another layer to precision diagnostics.

→ ClearNote Health: $52M Series D

ClearNote is developing epigenetic diagnostics for early cancer detection. The funding supports continued commercialization of blood-based testing designed to catch cancer earlier and improve screening accessibility.

→ Accro Bioscience: $50M Series C

The clinical-stage biotech is focused on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The round will support its ulcerative colitis program and broader immunology pipeline.

→ Bathhouse: $35M

The upscale bathhouse and recovery brand raised capital to support expansion beyond New York. As sauna, cold plunge, and recovery concepts become mainstream, Bathhouse is building at the intersection of wellness, hospitality, and social ritual.

→ BRAMI: $33M Series B

The protein-fortified pasta maker raised funding led by VMG Partners. BRAMI is benefiting from continued consumer demand for high-protein, better-for-you staples that fit into everyday meals.

→ 9amHealth: $26M Series B

The virtual specialty care platform focuses on metabolic health and chronic conditions. The raise supports the continued move toward virtual-first models for diabetes, obesity, and cardiometabolic care.

→ Tokaido Health: $25M

Tokaido Health is building an AI-enabled medication benefits platform. The company is focused on improving how patients access, understand, and manage medication coverage.

→ Reps: $23.6M

Reps develops road energy production systems that convert vehicle movement into electricity. While more infrastructure than traditional wellness, the company sits within the broader health-adjacent sustainability and energy transition landscape.

→ Lucis: $20M Series A

The Paris-based preventative health platform analyzes 110+ blood biomarkers across metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular systems. The company combines lab results, longitudinal tracking, and physician-reviewed recommendations as it expands across Europe.

→ Signos: $20M

Signos raised funding from GV, Dexcom, and BCBS Alabama to scale its CGM-enabled metabolic health platform. The company uses continuous glucose data to help users connect nutrition, behavior, and metabolic outcomes.

→ Sound Wave Innovation: $16.7M Series C

The Japanese company is developing ultrasound therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. The financing supports a growing area of interest around non-invasive approaches to neurological conditions.

→ Khloud: $15M

Khloé Kardashian’s high-protein popcorn brand raised funding to expand distribution across Target, Walmart, Starbucks, and other major retailers. The brand is positioned around the protein boom, olive oil, and female-forward marketing.

→ Vital Signals: $15M

Vital Signals announced funding for blood pressure management technology. The company fits into the broader move toward remote monitoring and preventative cardiovascular care.

→ The Path: $14.3M seed

The AI mental health platform co-founded by Tony Robbins raised seed funding. The company is building in a category where mental health, coaching, and AI-guided support are increasingly converging.

→ Meatly: $14M Series A

The UK-based cultivated meat startup raised funding to continue advancing alternative protein production. The company sits in the food tech segment of health and sustainability, focused on changing how animal protein is produced.

→ Shyld AI: $13.4M seed

Shyld AI builds autonomous AI systems for hospital operations. Its technology focuses on areas like infection control, operating room efficiency, compliance, and regulated clinical workflows.

→ MOSH: $13M Series A

The brain health nutrition brand co-founded by Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger raised funding led by Main Street Advisors. MOSH makes protein bars with nootropics and adaptogens aimed at focus and long-term cognitive health.

→ Clara: $12M pre-seed

Clara launched as an AI primary care platform. The company is building around the idea that AI can improve access, navigation, and support in primary care delivery.

→ PlayerData: $12M Series A

The Scottish performance analytics platform raised funding to support athletes and sports organizations. PlayerData sits within the growing sports tech and performance intelligence category.

→ Knit Health: $11.6M seed

Knit Health launched with seed funding to build a collective clinical intelligence platform. The company is focused on turning fragmented clinical information into more usable insight.

→ Proper Wild: $11M

The better-for-you energy shot brand raised funding from existing investors. The company is expanding beyond energy shots into functional gummies as demand grows for cleaner, functional energy products.

→ Jesse & Ben’s: $10M Series A

The frozen potato brand raised funding led by Greycroft. Founded by restaurant operators, the company is scaling quickly in frozen foods and better-for-you comfort staples.

→ Village: $9.5M

Village raised funding led by Upfront Ventures for its AI-powered pediatric care platform. The company is applying AI to child-focused care delivery, a segment of healthcare that remains underserved.

→ Kin Health: $9M

Kin Health raised funding for its AI notetaker for doctor appointments. The company is building tools to help patients capture, understand, and act on medical conversations.

→ Ditto: $8.9M

The Dutch AI companion for medical appointments raised funding led by Heal Capital. Ditto is focused on supporting patients before, during, and after appointments, helping bridge the gap between clinical visits and everyday understanding.

→ Neurosoft Bioelectronics: $7.5M seed

The Swiss brain-computer interface company raised an oversubscribed seed round. Neurosoft is developing soft, stretchable cortical electrode arrays designed for clinical use and future AI-enabled brain-interface applications.

→ Padel Social Club: $7.5M

The UK-based padel operator raised funding with participation from Stormzy. The round reflects continued investment in social fitness, racquet sports, and experience-led wellness infrastructure.

→ SOND: $7M

SOND emerged with funding for sleep-coaching earbuds. The company is building in the sleep technology category, where hardware, coaching, and behavioral data continue to converge.

→ XCaliber Health: $6.5M seed

XCaliber Health is developing an agentic operating system for healthcare administration. The company is focused on automating workflows that currently create friction across care delivery.

→ Banagua: $5.5M

The organic banana water brand raised investment from Hingham Growth Partners. Banagua sits in the functional beverage and natural hydration category.

→ Century Health: $5M seed

Century Health is building AI infrastructure for clinical research. The company is focused on helping life sciences organizations access and use clinical data more effectively.

→ VIOLETTE_FR: $5M

The French clean beauty brand raised funding to support growth. VIOLETTE_FR sits at the intersection of beauty, wellness, and consumer brand building.

→ Oli: $4.7M Series A3

The Australian maternal and fetal health wearables company raised funding to advance its platform. Oli is building technology for pregnancy monitoring and maternal-fetal health insights.

→ Thea: $4M pre-seed

The AI aesthetics startup raised a pre-seed round led by General Catalyst. Thea is building “AI doctors” for skincare, hair, anti-aging, and related consumer health categories.

→ Roxberry: $4M seed

The better-for-you soda brand for kids secured seed funding. The company is part of a broader wave of healthier beverage brands targeting families and younger consumers.

→ Kids Help Phone / Toronto Metropolitan University: $3.2M grant

The Canadian mental health organization and university secured grant funding to develop AI-led training for youth mental health advocates. The project sits at the intersection of mental health access, youth support, and AI-enabled training.

→ Clean Slate Clinic: $3.1M

The Australian virtual alcohol detox platform raised funding. Clean Slate Clinic is focused on making alcohol dependency treatment more accessible through virtual care.

→ Feel Peptides: $3M

The peptides platform raised funding led by Sugar Capital. The company is building in a category moving from fringe biohacking toward more structured health and performance use cases.

→ Rogue: $2.5M pre-seed

The protein snack maker raised pre-seed funding. Rogue is another signal of investor appetite for protein-forward consumer packaged goods.

→ Fields Good: $1.8M pre-seed

The functional better-for-you cookie brand raised funding led by Female Founders Fund. The company is building around the continued demand for snacks that combine indulgence with functional nutrition.

→ Tolemy Bio: $1.6M pre-seed

The Cambridge-born AI-native cell and gene therapy company raised pre-seed funding. Tolemy Bio is building at the intersection of AI, cell therapy, and next-generation therapeutics.

→ Regulate: $1.6M seed

The Munich-based breathwork app raised funding led by 4impact capital. Regulate is part of the growing market for nervous system regulation, breathwork, and stress management tools.

→ NEX Health Intelligence: $1.2M

The UK-based infection prevention platform for hospitals raised funding. The company is focused on helping healthcare facilities reduce infection risk and improve operational safety.

→ Sleep or Die: $1M

The sleep wellness startup secured funding from True Beauty Ventures. The company launched with mouth tape products and expanded into sleep strips formulated with ingredients like L-Theanine, GABA, 5-HTP, and melatonin.

→ B-SIDES: $500K seed

The upcycled better-for-you protein snack brand added seed funding. The company sits at the intersection of sustainability, protein, and snack innovation.

Strategic & fund-level capital:

→ Gaia: $100M debt facility

The fertility financing and insurance platform secured a debt facility to expand access to reproductive care. The structure reflects continued demand for financial infrastructure around fertility and family planning.

→ Wisdom Ventures: $77.7M Fund II

Wisdom Ventures closed an oversubscribed fund focused on AI innovation in the well-being economy. The firm plans to back startups using AI to improve health, wellness, connection, and resilience.

→ Factory Capital: $18M fund

The Australian investment firm raised capital to invest in menopause care companies. The fund reflects growing recognition that menopause remains underfunded relative to market size and consumer need.

→ Mother Ventures: $10M fund

Mother Ventures closed a fund to support companies building healthier futures for mothers and families. The fund sits within a broader wave of capital moving toward women’s health, family care, and maternal wellbeing.

M&A:

→ Function acquired SuppCo

Function acquired the supplement intelligence platform to connect biomarker data with supplement quality and effectiveness. The deal strengthens Function’s push to close the loop between diagnostics, recommendations, and outcomes tracking.

→ TimelyCare acquired Alongside

The school-based care provider acquired an AI-enabled mental and emotional support platform for schools. The deal expands TimelyCare’s position in student mental health and digital support.

→ Birchwell Consumer Health acquired Bag Balm

Birchwell, an investment platform from Avista, acquired the therapeutic skincare brand. The transaction reflects continued interest in heritage consumer health brands with trusted use cases.

→ Bel Group acquired Ingenuity Foods / Brainiac

Bel Group, the operator of Babybel and GoGo squeeZ, acquired Ingenuity Foods, maker of brain health snack brand Brainiac. The move brings functional nutrition deeper into a global food portfolio.

→ Balance Company acquired Lux Health Club

The Portuguese fitness operator acquired four-site operator Lux Health Club. The deal reflects ongoing consolidation in fitness and wellness infrastructure.

→ NeuroVision Imaging acquired Durin Life Sciences

The retinal imaging and brain health company acquired the blood-based diagnostic platform Durin Life Sciences. The transaction strengthens NeuroVision’s position across brain health diagnostics.

→ Sunrise Beverages acquired Days

The London-based drinks company acquired nonalcoholic beer maker Days. The deal reflects continued momentum in alcohol alternatives and better-for-you beverage portfolios.

AI drug discovery raised the biggest check. Healthcare infrastructure kept attracting capital. Consumer wellness brands continued scaling. And M&A activity showed larger platforms continuing to buy capabilities across diagnostics, supplements, student mental health, functional foods, and alcohol alternatives.

The US market is incredibly good at speed. Capital moves faster. Consumers adopt faster. Companies scale faster. Entire categories emerge faster.

GLP-1s moved from diabetes treatment into a mass cultural phenomenon almost overnight. Continuous glucose monitors became consumer products. Wearables evolved from fitness trackers into preventative health infrastructure. At-home diagnostics exploded. Peptides went from niche longevity conversations into mainstream wellness culture.

The American market is extremely good at taking something new and accelerating it into consumer behaviour.

But the more time I spend looking at Europe’s longevity ecosystem, the more I think Europe may end up building something very different.

Potentially slower, more fragmented, and tougher to scale. But also more trusted and more durable long term. If distribution takes longer and consumer trust is slower to earn, companies that break through may also end up building much stronger long-term relationships.

And I genuinely think trust is one of the most important assets in the entire longevity market.

Consumers aren’t just buying products, they’re increasingly looking for platforms they trust to help them make sense of increasingly complex health decisions.

In longevity, brand is more than marketing infrastructure, it’s part of the health experience itself.

This is becoming much bigger than longevity

Longevity is still often framed as a niche.

People picture biohackers, supplements, cold plunges, and wealthy people trying to live forever. But the market is much larger than that.

Europe is getting older.

More than 21% of the EU population is already over 65. Healthy life expectancy across Europe sits at roughly 63 years, whilst total life expectancy is closer to 81. That difference between how long people live and how long they stay healthy is creating the longevity market.

Millions of people are now spending longer portions of their lives dealing with chronic disease, metabolic dysfunction, cognitive decline, frailty, and growing dependency on healthcare systems.

Consumers are increasingly realising that reactive healthcare alone probably cannot solve this, and that treating problems later is often the far more expensive option long term.

That is one of the biggest reasons preventative health is growing so quickly.

Europe already had the foundations for longevity

Europe already had many of the ingredients for longevity long before the category became mainstream.

Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, and parts of France spent decades building medical hospitality, preventative clinics, wellness tourism, and private healthcare infrastructure.

Clinique La Prairie and SHA Wellness existed long before longevity became a venture-backed category.

What is changing now is that diagnostics, wearables, and consumer health platforms are turning prevention into something measurable.

For the first time, consumers can run their own health experiments and actually track what changes before and after.

Whether every intervention is necessary is a separate conversation. But preventative health is becoming quantifiable at the consumer level for the first time.

The rise of preventive diagnostics

The companies becoming commercially successful are not the ones promising radical life extension.

They are the ones making prevention feel measurable, recurring, and consumer-friendly.

Take Neko Health as an example. The company raised $260M earlier this year and reportedly has more than 100,000 people on the waitlist across Stockholm and London. That is one of the clearest indicators in European preventative health right now.

What makes Neko interesting is not simply the technology, but the interface. It doesn’t really feel like a traditional healthcare company. It feels more like a consumer product built on top of healthcare infrastructure.

Fast onboarding, clear outputs, recurring engagement, and low friction. It’s prevention as an experience in itself, almost merging with entertainment and consumer lifestyle.

Whether the level of spend and consumerism that is developing in the category is necessary or not, I would still argue that spending money on preventative health, diagnostics, recovery, or fitness is probably a healthier form of consumer behaviour than endless fast fashion or constantly upgrading gadgets.

Europe is seeing an entire ecosystem forming around this idea through companies like CARE, Ahead Health, Lucis, YOU(th), Stride, Calibre Health, Zoī, AYUN, GlycanAge, Hertility, and others.

Different models, same idea: consumers want ongoing visibility into their health rather than waiting until something breaks.

Europe may benefit from moving slower

The US still dominates speed. Take peptides and GLP-1s. In the US, both categories exploded almost immediately, alongside all the debates around side effects, misuse, dependency, and regulation.

Europe is only really entering parts of that cycle now and by the time it adopts some of these categories more broadly, a lot of the early chaos has already happened somewhere else first.

The hype has already been stress-tested. The risks are more visible. Doctors are more cautious. Consumers are more informed. It creates a very different environment.

The US has an unmatched ability to create momentum, but when you actually think about the fundamentals of healthy living, Europe already has many of the underlying conditions people are trying to recreate artificially elsewhere.

Walkable cities. Stronger food culture. Slower daily rhythms. Less car dependency. Stronger social infrastructure.

That may not always create better conditions for startups, but it creates better long-term conditions for actual healthspan.

Europe’s Preventative Health Stack

Europe may not produce the loudest longevity companies. The US will probably continue dominating cultural attention, consumer acceleration, and large-scale health-tech narratives.

Ironically, even many of Europe’s strongest longevity companies still rely on the US for scale and consumer acceleration. Oura became a global brand largely through US adoption, and companies like Neko are increasingly expanding through those same dynamics.

Europe may not dominate speed, but it may still produce the most trusted longevity ecosystem.

The foundations of that ecosystem are already forming.

On the diagnostics side, companies like GlycanAge, Muhdo, epiAge, Gentastic, Lucis, and Aware are all trying to make aging more measurable and preventative health more continuous.

The clinic layer is also becoming increasingly sophisticated. Lanserhof, HOOKE, YEARS, and The Longevity Suite are all building different versions of premium preventative health experiences across Europe.

Then there is the wearable and monitoring layer through companies like Oura, NOWATCH, Withings, Hilo, Empatica, and Luminous Labs, all trying to push health tracking closer toward continuous interpretation rather than simple fitness data.

At the same time, Europe is building a serious therapeutics and biotechnology ecosystem around aging itself. Companies like Shift Bioscience, SENISCA, Genflow Biosciences, Cellvie, Refoxy Pharma, Cleara Biotech, Nuritas, and TreeFrog Therapeutics are all approaching different parts of aging biology, regeneration, and cellular health.

And underneath all of that, a large consumer and supplement layer is also forming through brands like Avea, Bioniq, MoleQlar, Biogena, Purovitalis, ProLon, Sunday Natural, Lunaray, and Vitabay.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that these categories are no longer developing independently. Diagnostics are starting to feed directly into clinics, clinics are integrating wearables and continuous monitoring, supplements are becoming more personalised through biomarkers and AI, and therapeutics are increasingly being positioned alongside prevention rather than separate from it. The ecosystem is still far from fully integrated, but the first signs of a broader preventative health stack are beginning to emerge.

That may ultimately prove to be Europe’s advantage. By largely skipping the optimisation hype cycle that has shaped much of the US longevity industry over the last 2–3 years, Europe has an opportunity to build a more balanced and sustainable approach to increasing healthspan. Less focused on performance theatre or living forever, and more focused on helping people stay healthier for longer. That is likely the more sustainable market.

Right now, longevity is a $720B category inside a wellness market projected to reach $8.5T by 2027. Over $8B went into longevity companies in 2024 alone. Thousands of startups are building across diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventative care.

From the outside, the narrative feels clean. Extend healthspan. Prevent disease earlier. Move from reactive to proactive care.

But there is a second layer that runs across the space. What’s the actual end goal of longevity, and by what means should it be achieved?

How modification becomes normalized: Lessons from the cosmetics industry

The easiest way to see the tension is to look at what already happened in cosmetics.

In 2022, 26.2M cosmetic procedures were performed in the US. One in four Americans has had one. Botox was approved for cosmetic use in 2002, and now the market is projected to double again to $120B by 2030.

The baseline changed very quickly.

It started with small, reversible interventions. Then social platforms accelerated it. The “Instagram face” effect was documented as early as 2017, linking digital self-perception to real-world procedures. “Zoom face” followed, with constant self-exposure driving another wave of demand.

Now, limb lengthening consultations are up 300% since 2020. A $70K-$150K procedure involving breaking the femur is becoming something people actively consider.

None of this felt like a breaking point. Each step felt reasonable in isolation. That’s the pattern. Once a category normalises modification, it creates a direction.

That same direction is now showing up in longevity.

On one side sits what defines the space today. Dexcom, Levels, Prenuvo pushing diagnostics earlier, improving visibility, extending biological function. On the more advanced end, Altos Labs working on cellular reprogramming, Unity Biotechnology targeting senescent cells, and David Sinclair’s Life Biosciences recently receiving FDA clearance to begin human trials around cellular rejuvenation therapies. Still grounded in biology, but pushing much closer to the edge of what longevity is becoming.

At the same time, another layer is accelerating.

Neuralink has already implanted devices into humans. The near-term use case is paralysis. The long-term vision is human-AI symbiosis. CRISPR therapies reached FDA approval in 2023, with treatment costs around $2.2M, opening the door to editing biology at a fundamental level.

Individually, these developments sit in different categories. Increasingly, they’re discussed as one, and that’s where things start to blur.

The boundaries inside longevity are becoming harder to separate

One way to frame the space is through three layers that, in practice, are getting mixed together.

• Therapeutic: restoring or maintaining function within a normal human range. Diagnostics, metabolic health, prevention. This is where longevity builds credibility.

• Enhancement: pushing beyond that baseline. Peptides, nootropics, performance interventions. Still emerging, but increasingly normalised.

• Transcendence: changing the underlying system. Brain-computer interfaces, germline editing, non-biological extensions of life.

The layers themselves aren’t necessarily the issue. What’s interesting is how quickly they’re starting to merge into the same broader narrative around optimisation, enhancement, and extending human capability.

Cosmetics already showed how quickly cultural baselines can change. Step by step, surface-level changes made deeper interventions feel increasingly normal and accessible.

Longevity is following a similar path, just faster.

The split emerging inside the longevity movement

Bryan Johnson is probably the clearest public signal of where this debate starts to split. One camp inside longevity is focused on extending healthy lifespan as much as possible. Better sleep, nutrition, exercise, metabolic health, diagnostics, and earlier intervention. In many cases, the fundamentals still create the biggest measurable impact on long-term health outcomes.

That’s the part of longevity that feels the most grounded in biology. Improve how the body functions, reduce disease risk, extend the number of healthy years lived, and by default lifespan likely increases alongside it.

Most people still massively underestimate how far the basics move the needle. Sleep, nutrition, movement, metabolic health, and preventative care are still doing far more for long-term outcomes than most experimental interventions ever will.

But there’s another camp with a very different goal entirely.

Not just improving healthspan, but radically extending how long humans live.

That’s where longevity starts moving away from optimisation and into something more experimental. Because if the ambition is no longer ‘just’ adding healthier years, but dramatically pushing beyond biological limits altogether, then living healthy alone probably isn’t enough.

That’s where the conversation starts moving toward gene editing, cellular reprogramming, AI integration, brain-computer interfaces, and interventions that increasingly blur the line between human biology and technology.

At that point, longevity stops being purely about health and starts becoming something closer to adaptation.

Whilst prominent figures like Bryan Johnson and David Sinclair do optimise for healthspan today, they are actively working toward radical life extension. Something that many find interesting in theory but poses serious questions as it becomes closer to a future reality.

The further that goal moves along, the more the space starts converging with technology, augmentation, and interventions that go far beyond simply living healthy.

How quickly impossible becomes normal

It also connects to a broader convergence that’s hard to ignore: longevity, AI, and brain-computer interfaces are starting to sit in the same conversation. Extending biology and augmenting or bypassing it are no longer cleanly separated.

AI already showed how quickly the cultural baseline can move once adoption reaches a certain threshold.

In 2020, most people still viewed AI as something experimental or niche. Within a few years, it went from generating novelty outputs and answering simple questions to automating workflows, reshaping creative industries, replacing parts of knowledge work, and becoming embedded into everyday life at a speed very few people predicted.

What felt unrealistic very quickly became normal.

That same acceleration effect matters in longevity too. Once technologies move from fringe to useful, the conversation transitions fast from whether they should exist to how broadly they get adopted.

This isn’t a critique of the industry. The core progress is clear. Early detection, better diagnostics, preventative care. These are meaningful advances that will scale.

But there’s a question the space reflects on too little: by what means should longevity be achieved, and where is the line between extending biology and adapting it entirely?

Who actually gets access to longer life?

There’s another consideration that will become even more prominent as radical life extension becomes plausible. Access.

There’s a 14.6-year life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest populations in the US. Longevity, today, is largely being built for those already at the top of that distribution. Programs cost $20K-$40K per year. Advanced therapies reach into the millions.

The stated mission is to extend healthspan, but the current trajectory risks splitting it further.

Because if the wealthiest populations are consistently able to extend lifespan first, they also gain something else: more time to compound assets.

More time to accumulate capital. More time to compound influence. More time to stay physically and cognitively dominant inside systems already designed around wealth concentration.

Over decades and generations, that creates a very different kind of inequality.

The conversation around longevity often focuses on access to treatments today. The bigger question may be what happens socially and economically if lifespan itself becomes unevenly distributed.

At that point, longevity stops being just a healthcare issue and starts becoming a structural one.

The industry spends a lot of time asking how fast it can move, and much less time asking by what means.

Those are not the same question.

Extending biological life and redefining what it means to be human are fundamentally different trajectories, even if they’re often framed as one.

Today, longevity isn’t just healthcare. It’s starting to define the boundaries, and if those boundaries aren’t made explicit, they won’t stay undefined. They’ll get set by default.

Once progress starts, can humanity actually slow it down?

What happens next may not even come down to whether a line gets drawn at all.

Because history keeps showing that once a technology creates enough utility, convenience, productivity, or competitive advantage, the line rarely holds for long.

AI is probably the clearest recent example.

There was a period where many researchers and operators argued advanced models should never be connected directly to the internet until they were sufficiently tested and controlled. That boundary disappeared incredibly quickly once the competitive pressure accelerated.

Even some of the people who publicly warned most aggressively about AI eventually started building themselves. Elon Musk is one example. The logic became: if this is inevitable, then the only way to influence the outcome is to participate in building it.

That’s what makes this difficult.

As individuals, people may choose not to adopt certain technologies. But at the level of markets, nations, and humanity itself, there is almost always someone willing to push further for an advantage.

More productivity. More intelligence. More capability. More time.

That creates an inherent flywheel around technological progress where slowing down becomes incredibly difficult once momentum builds.

Longevity may follow the same pattern. Once extending human capability becomes increasingly possible, the pressure may shift from whether we should pursue it to who gets there first.

Maybe the bigger question isn’t where the line gets drawn.

It’s whether humanity has ever really shown the ability to pause technological progress once advantage becomes attached to it.

If life becomes indefinite, does meaning change too?

I also think there’s a philosophical question underlying all of this that the longevity space rarely talks about openly.

Most people would agree that having more healthy years is a positive thing. Nobody wants the final decade of life dominated by sickness, loss of mobility, or cognitive decline.

Extending healthspan feels intuitively good because it improves the quality of the finite time we already have. And to a certain extent, most people probably also assume living longer is inherently better. I’d agree with that too, at least within reason.

But I think there’s a meaningful difference between extending healthy lifespan and pushing toward the outer edge of trying not to die at all.

Because once longevity moves toward radically extending lifespan indefinitely, the conversation stops being purely biological and starts becoming existential.

A huge part of what gives life meaning may actually be the fact that it ends.

Time gives weight to decisions. It gives urgency to learning, building, relationships, ambition, and achievement. Spending time with people matters partly because we know the time is limited.

If time became effectively infinite, does each individual moment start carrying less weight?

The choice to spend a week of quality time with someone is meaningful because I have a limited amount of times I can do so. But if we had infinite time, theoretically I could spend infinite weeks with infinite people forever. The scarcity disappears.

And once scarcity disappears, meaning may start changing too.

The same thing applies to achievement.

If someone finishes a marathon in two hours, that feels impressive because the time constraint creates context. If someone completes the exact same marathon over eighteen days, walking small sections at a time, it feels very different.

I think life itself works similarly.

A founder building and selling a company at 20 feels fundamentally different than doing it at 60, even if the end outcome is similar. The compressed timeframe changes how we perceive the accomplishment.

Time-bound effort is often what creates meaning in the first place. Humans are deeply driven by constraints. Deadlines. Urgency. Limited opportunity. The awareness that time is moving.

So the more longevity moves from improving healthspan toward radically extending life itself, the more interesting the philosophical tradeoff becomes.

At what point does extending life start altering the meaning of time?

Some people deeply inside the longevity world would argue that if a moment feels meaningful now, future moments would feel meaningful too, regardless of how long life becomes.

But I’m not convinced it’s that simple.

A lot of meaning seems to come from the awareness that our time, relationships, achievements, and experiences are limited.

The closer longevity moves toward removing that limit entirely, the more we may end up changing not just human biology, but the human experience itself.

So maybe the bigger question isn’t just where the line gets drawn, but whether we’re building an industry grounded in biological science, or one that slowly absorbs the broader transhumanist agenda under the same banner.

And beyond that, whether humanity has ever really shown the ability to pause technological progress once advantage becomes attached to it.

Longevity is no longer a niche. It’s becoming a core layer of a $5.6 trillion wellness economy projected to reach $8.5 trillion by 2027 (~8.6% CAGR). Within that, longevity is already a ~$720 billion category, spanning diagnostics, metabolic health, supplementation, wearables, and preventive care.

On top of that, capital has moved fast. In 2024 alone, longevity companies raised $8.49 billion across 331 deals, up ~220% year over year. Early 2025 estimates put the category closer to $9-10 billion annually.

Company formation followed the same curve. More than 3,200 longevity startups now exist globally, within a broader ecosystem of 62,000+ wellness companies. Roughly two thirds were founded after 2015. In 2024 alone, 400+ new startups launched. Sector maps now track 680+ active companies, up ~47% year over year.

That means more capital, more companies and more claims, but not more clarity.

The Trust Gap

That lack of clarity is structural.

Longevity operates in regulated ambiguity. Supplements don’t require pre-market FDA approval. Many biomarker platforms, biological age tests, and preventive diagnostics exist without standardized validation.

At the same time, innovation is accelerating. Wearables, at-home diagnostics, and AI-driven health insights have scaled rapidly since around 2015. Regulation has not kept pace.

Innovation moves faster than regulation. In software, that gap is manageable. In health, it’s not.

Consumers are being asked to act on highly consequential health signals they cannot fully verify. Outcomes take years. Mechanisms are complex. Standards are inconsistent.

We are asking people to trust what they cannot fully understand.

Skepticism is rational.

NIQ’s 2025 global survey (~19,000 consumers) shows 70% actively engage in health behaviors and 55% are willing to spend more than $100 per month. But 82% say labels need to be clearer and 62% do not trust health claims. 66% of consumers feel overwhelmed by wellness claims. 71% have tried products they did not fully understand.

Adoption is growing. Doubt is growing faster.

Trust is the constraint, and everything else builds on that. In a market where outcomes are hard to verify, this makes brand the only scalable way to build a durable competitive edge.

Brand As the Foundation of Trust

If trust is the constraint, brand is the mechanism that resolves it.

The limiting factor in longevity is not only awareness and demand. It’s trust.

And that problem doesn’t go away. Longevity will always sit at the edge of science. Regulation will always lag. The most innovative products will continue to exist in grey zones.

Waiting for regulation means falling behind.

That leaves one scalable lever: brand.

Defining Brand

Brand is not only a logo, but also, and more importantly in the health and wellness space, it’s the system people use to decide whether something is safe.

It’s how a company thinks, how it communicates, how the product behaves, how data is presented, and how consistently all of that shows up over time.

In markets where users cannot verify quality directly, they rely on signals.

Trust research breaks those signals into three dimensions: ability, integrity, and benevolence.

Brand is how those signals are expressed. Repeatedly, coherently, and across every touchpoint.

Better Brand = Better Outcome

When brand is coherent end to end, people engage. When there is even a small break, they leave. There is no margin for inconsistency.

Digital health data shows a large share of users drop off within the first 30 days. In a category that depends on long-term behavior, that means outcomes never materialize. No engagement, no outcome, and no business.

Trust is the infrastructure that determines whether the product works at all.

In longevity, adoption follows belief before it follows proof. Outcomes take time. Science is complex. Feedback loops are long. So people default to what feels credible. That is where brand wins.

There is also a capital dynamic. The strongest brands are often the best funded, and it is fair to argue that capital enables better brand execution. But brand is not something that starts with capital. It starts in the founder’s vision and the company’s underlying ethos, long before it is externalized. That early clarity shapes product, communication, and experience, and investors respond to it, whether they explicitly acknowledge it or not.

Brand creates a flywheel → Trust drives adoption → Adoption drives retention → Retention attracts capital → Capital reinforces brand.

It’s possible to see this at the market level. Intangible assets now represent ~90% of the S&P 500’s value, up from ~17% in 1975.

In health and consumer categories, brand is a core part of that value. Companies with strong trust show up to 40% lower churn and 50-60% higher lifetime value.

In M&A, buyers pay for brand. Because brand equals distribution → Brand equals retention → Brand equals durability.

Brand and trust become economic infrastructure.

Longevity Is the Ultimate Luxury

These dynamics are reinforced by a broader cultural change.

Status signals have always evolved. They started with physical scarcity like gold and precious materials. Then moved into craft like silk, tailoring, and stitching. Over time they became more abstract, with brands carrying meaning beyond the product. More recently, quiet luxury pushed this further, where the signal is subtle and only legible to those who know what to look for. From visible to subtle. From easy to copy to hard to fake.

And increasingly, toward health. Biomarkers like VO2 max, HRV, and biological age sit at the far end of that spectrum. You cannot fake them. You cannot buy them once. They require time, discipline, and capital. That is what makes longevity powerful.

And it is already visible.

Longevity programs cost $20,000 to $40,000 per year. Ultra high net worth individuals spend ~$67,000 annually on health optimization.

In markets like Dubai and Singapore, spending on longevity treatments is growing ~40–50% year over year.

Wellness tourism alone is a $651 billion market, heading toward $1 trillion.

This gets criticized, but it follows every innovation curve. It starts at the top. Then it scales, and longevity will be no different. What is elite today becomes accessible tomorrow. But the signal remains. Longevity shifts luxury away from consumption and toward optionality.

Not what you own, but what you can sustain.

Convergence + Consolidation: The Window Is Now

This market will not stay fragmented.

Industries follow patterns → Early concentration → Rapid fragmentation → Then consolidation.

Longevity is in the middle phase. There is still meaningful room for new companies over the next 5–10 years. This is a build phase, where new entrants can define categories and capture trust before the market compresses.

Thousands of companies, overlapping products, and competing claims that don’t last.

Two macro forces are shaping the space.

First, convergence of models. Healthcare becomes consumer. Consumer becomes medical.

Second, consolidation of players. Fragmented categories compress into platforms.

Both are already happening.

Over 100 healthtech M&A deals in the first half of 2025 alone. Over $100 billion in deal value. ~$75 billion in quarterly activity at peak. Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical is one of those signals.

When this happens, trust compounds. Brand becomes the layer that connects everything, allowing companies to expand across categories and transfer trust. This is the window. The companies that build brand now are the ones that become category leaders as the market consolidates.

Longevity will not scale through products alone, but through trust architectures where science, design, and credibility reinforce one another over time. This is the window to double down on brand: as convergence accelerates and consolidation concentrates the market, a small set of household names will emerge, and early trust will compound into lasting advantage. Now is the time to invest in brand and build in this space, and speed is of the essence.

Lilly’s $7B Kelonia deal and Gilead’s $5B Tubulis acquisition led a wave of pharma scale, while Noom, Function, and Oura pushed further into vertically integrated health stacks.

1. $760M+ in venture funding

2. $14.0B+ in potential deal value (including milestone-based structures)

3. $200M+ in strategic & fund-level capital

4. $350M+ in IPO and public market activity

From AI infrastructure and longevity biotech to fertility, diagnostics, peptides, and better-for-you CPG.

What actually drove the month

Two dynamics stood out:

1. Pharma scale returned in a meaningful way. Lilly and Gilead alone accounted for ~$12B in potential deal value, both structured with large upfront payments and milestone-based payouts. These are long-term bets on next-generation modalities.

2. Consumer and digital health platforms kept moving toward vertical integration. Noom, Function, and Oura are all pulling more of the stack in-house, from diagnostics to data to treatment layers.

Venture funding:

→ Opus Genetics: $155M

Non-dilutive financing from Oberland Capital to advance gene therapy programs in inherited retinal diseases. Structured capital like this is becoming more common in biotech as companies look to extend runway without heavy dilution.

→ Chapter: $100M Series E

Led by Generation Investment Management. The company is building infrastructure around Medicare navigation and financial decision-making, an area becoming increasingly important as healthcare costs rise.

→ Life Biosciences: $80M

Funding to support human trials in epigenetic reprogramming. One of the more advanced players in a space still largely pre-clinical.

→ Stedi: $50M Series C

Led by Addition with participation from Stripe and USV. Focused on modernizing healthcare payments and claims infrastructure, processing over a billion transactions annually.

→ Cala Health: $50M

Financing to scale its FDA-cleared neuromodulation device for tremors, reflecting continued interest in non-invasive therapeutic hardware.

→ Tava Health: $40M Series C

Behavioral health platform expanding employer-driven mental health access.

→ Luminai: $38M Series B

AI agents automating administrative workflows for providers. Positioned as infrastructure rather than a point solution.

→ Yuzu: $35M Series A

Building a full-stack third-party administrator for health plans, replacing fragmented legacy systems with a unified platform.

→ MINISH Technology: $22M

Dental tech investment targeting modernization of clinical workflows.

→ ONTO Health: $20M Series A

Reproductive health and longevity platform combining diagnostics and long-term care planning.

→ SquareMind: $18M

AI-driven dermatology platform using robotics for full-body skin imaging.

→ Eigen: $15M

AI platform focused on loneliness and behavioral health, an emerging but underexplored category.

→ Patronus: $12.9M

Wearable for elderly care, targeting fall detection and independent living.

→ BlinkLab: $12.6M

AI diagnostics for autism and ADHD, using behavioral data for early detection.

→ Coral: $12.5M

Automating administrative workflows across healthcare systems through AI integration with existing infrastructure.

→ wet hydration: $10M

Functional beverage brand backed by athletes, expanding the hydration category.

→ Ultralight: $9.3M

AI-native operating system for preventative health practices.

→ Foresight Health: $8.5M

Building an AI-driven provider model focused on prevention and early diagnosis.

→ TeiaCare: $8.2M

AI platform for aged care facilities, optimizing staffing and patient monitoring.

→ Osteoboost Health: $8M

Vibration therapy device targeting bone density and aging populations.

→ Protocole: $6M

Seed round building infrastructure around peptide therapies, a market moving from informal to clinical frameworks.

→ Neutonic: $6M

Functional beverage and supplement brand scaling retail distribution.

→ Flora Fertility: $5M

Preventative fertility platform offering subscription-based access to diagnostics and treatments.

→ Future Fertility: $4.1M

AI tools improving IVF outcomes and decision-making.

→ Nomio: $4M

Performance-focused wellness shots built around naturally derived compounds.

→ dehaze: $3.7M

Munich-based startup focused on early disease detection through AI-driven analysis of underutilized healthcare data. Positioned around improving outcomes while reducing system-level costs.

→ SOLO60: $3.3M

Private microgym operator expanding its footprint in premium fitness.

→ cadootz!: $3M+

Better-for-you kids snack brand scaling early distribution.

→ Betterness: $2.5M

AI-driven healthy lifestyle coaching platform.

→ brainjo: $2.35M

VR-based mental health platform targeting cognitive training and therapy.

→ Connectome Health: $2M

Neurotech platform focused on longitudinal brain data tracking.

→ Symex Labs: $1.8M

Hormonal health wearable focused on fertility and IVF optimization.

→ SOLLOS Yerba Mate: $1M

Better-for-you energy drink brand preparing for launch.

→ Ivory: $1M

Brain health platform focused on early cognitive decline.

→ Audicin: $1.9M

Neurotech platform using audio-based stimulation for stress and sleep.

→ NightWare: $1.4M

Digital therapeutic for nightmare disorders.

→ PROTOCOL: $1M

Early-stage preventative health platform.

Undisclosed deals:

→ NOVOS: Minority investment from Unilever Ventures.

→ Folly: Follow-on funding round.

→ Amulet: Investment backed by strategic and celebrity investors.

→ Chlorophyll Water: Strategic funding to support growth.

→ NUR: Early-stage backing.

→ Lucille Health: Multi-million-dollar funding round.

→ ALL THINGS: Investment to support expansion.

→ Timeshifter: Funding round led by strategic investors.

→ Leisure Hydration: Series A round (undisclosed).

These deals were reported without disclosed amounts and are excluded from the venture funding total.

IPO and public market activity:

→ Galera Therapeutics x Obsidian Therapeutics: $350M private placement

Reverse merger structure to take Obsidian public, backed by institutional investors.

→ Suja Life: IPO filing (targeting up to $100M)

Signals continued appetite for better-for-you CPG in public markets, though execution risk remains.

Strategic & fund-level capital:

→ Spain biotech fund: $200M

Public-private initiative connecting Spanish biotech with Boston’s ecosystem, highlighting continued government-backed investment in life sciences.

M&A and acquisitions:

→ Eli Lilly x Kelonia Therapeutics: up to $7B

$3.25B upfront with milestone-based payments. Focused on in vivo cell therapy for oncology.

→ Gilead x Tubulis: up to $5B

Expanding into antibody-drug conjugates, one of the fastest-growing areas in oncology.

→ Unilever x Grüns: $1.2B

Acquisition of a fast-scaling gummy supplement brand, reinforcing the shift toward daily, habit-driven wellness products.

→ Anthropic x Coefficient Bio: $400M+ (est.)

Acqui-hire of an AI-native biotech team, signaling growing overlap between frontier AI and life sciences.

→ Mark Anthony Group x Finnish Long Drink: $325M

Expansion of better-for-you alcohol alternatives.

Undisclosed deals:

→ Infinite Epigenetics x Tally Health

→ Noom x Tailor Made Compounding

→ Function Health x Getlabs

→ Oura x Galen AI

→ Backcountry x Coalatree

→ Nivora Group x AAVRANI

→ EIIC x Joe & The Juice (minority stake)

These moves point toward vertical integration, brand consolidation, and ownership of data and distribution layers.

April shows a market splitting in two: Large-scale capital concentrating in pharma and infrastructure, while early-stage funding continues to seed new categories across peptides, AI health, and consumer wellness.